This past Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in an 8-1 decision, that now it’s possible for a police officer to stop your car based on a mistaken understanding of the law without violating the Fourth Amendment. Now watered down by Heien v. North Carolina, the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires police to meet a reasonableness standard, before a search can be made of your person or property. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. Until this case, the police could not search your person or your car if they are mistaken on the law. Now the Supreme Court has said that a mistake of law by the police can make an otherwise unconstitutional search a lawful search. North Carolina law only requires vehicles to have one working stop lamp. Until this Supreme Court decision, a police stop and search based on a single non-working tail-lamp was prohibited. No more. Justice Roberts, writing for the U.S. Supreme Court wrote: “In…
Mistake of Fact By Police OK’s Otherwise Unlawful Searches
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Resources for tracking activity, bills during the 84th Texas Legislature
I've done this before, but as we approach Texas' 84th legislative session in January, Grits thought it prudent to iterate a few handy sources for those following the action from outside the pink dome.Capitol website: Search by bill number or perform word searches. (Be sure it's set to the appropriate session.) Or review all current Texas statutes online. Especially useful for bill research are the reports sections, both the general, pre-defined reports and narrower ones you specify. The capitol site also provides a password-protected, personalized bill tracking service and bill/meeting alerts. These are the equal of professional services that cost thousands of dollars and have improved every session. For example, this session for the first time, pdf versions of bills on the capitol website include hyperlinks to the underlying statute they're changing. (The Legislative Reference Library has a tool that previously assisted with that and will still be needed…
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India May Be Softening Stance on Shami Witness
India Home Minister Rajnath Singh gave a statement to Parliament about the arrest of Shami Witness yesterday. "The interrogation of Mehdi Biswas has indicated that his activities were limited to posting and reposting of pro-ISIS (as the IS was... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Former Online Mortgage Broker Employee and Broker Sent to Prison
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Jarrod Beddingfield, 38, Waxhaw, North Carolina, a former online mortgage broker employee, and Steve Rosene, 43, Newport Beach, California, Beddingfield‘s California-based mortgage broker conspirator, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. for their roles involving computer theft of mortgage leads from a nation-wide online mortgage broker. Beddingfield was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Rosene was sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Judge Conrad also entered forfeiture money judgments of $1.9 million for Rosene and $60,000 for Beddingfield. Both defendants were ordered to pay restitution to the company, the amount of which will be determined by the court at a later date. According to filed court documents and court proceedings: Beddingfield, a former employee of the victim company, sold company-employee log-in credentials to California-based…
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Notable NPR coverage of the "Human Casualties Of Mandatory Sentencing"
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"Survey: Teen marijuana use declines even as states legalize"
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"Survey: Teen marijuana use declines even as states legalize"
The title of this post is the headline of this notable new USA Today article reporting on new data that seems likely to be trumpted by those advocating for continued reform of marijuana laws. Here are the basics: Marijuana use among teens declined this year even as two states, Colorado...<img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/Xhjx_GtXUTE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Man Pleads Guilty In Multimillion-Dollar Real Estate Investment Fraud Scheme
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Abbe Edelman, 50, Livingston, New Jersey, admitted his role in a real estate investment scheme that bilked victims out of more than $5 million. Edelman falsely claimed that he had long-standing relationships with banks that provided him unique access to purchase foreclosed properties below market prices and could guarantee an easy resale and profit for investors. The defendant pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark federal court to an information charging him with wire fraud. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Beginning in 2004, Edelman operated through several companies alleged to be in the business of buying and selling real estate. He allegedly engaged in a real estate investment fraud in which he obtained millions of dollars from victims who invested in his scheme. Edelman told investors that he had significant past real estate experience, including a purported history of successfully…
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Academia, Stark Raving Mad
I am seldom left speechless by the incantation of brain-dead platitudes by our friends on the Left -- having grown accustomed to them -- but this letter from a Harvard Law student has done me in. The gist of the letter is that law student demands for a postponement of exams to give them time to "recover" from the "trauma" of the events in Ferguson and Staten Island, and the grand juries' decisions not to indict the police officers involved, is not a sign of weakness but of strength.If I attempted to paraphrase this mishmash of psychobabble and Marxism, I would be accused of trying to make its author look bad. And it's not that I wouldn't be tempted, let me tell you; it's that I lack the ability. On the other hand, I doubt anyone has the ability. Instead, I'll just post word-for-word Scott Johnson's presentation:When students at Columbia and other law schools around the country…
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Redford & Powell on Dynamics of Intervention in the War on Drugs
Audrey Redford and Benjamin W. Powell (Texas Tech University - Free Market Institute and Texas Tech University - Free Market Institute) have posted Dynamics of Intervention in the War on Drugs: The Build-Up to the Harrison Act of 1914 on...
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Can I Get Limited Driving Privileges In My OVI Case?
Q. Can I get limited driving privileges during the pendency of my OVI case? A court may grant privileges to a person who has had their license suspended pursuant to a pending OVI. The Ohio Revised Code, 4510.021 limits driving to the following purposes: (1) Occupational, educational, vocational, or medical purposes; (2) Taking the driver’s or commercial driver’s license examination; and (3) Attending court-ordered treatment. A court is granted broad discretion to impose restrictions so long as the restrictions are [Read the full post. . .]
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But For Video: A Mistake of Law
Following the Supreme Court’s watering down of police expectations in Heien, a few people asked for examples of what they were talking about when they approved “objectively reasonable” mistakes of law. Fortunately, there is a video out of Victoria, Texas. Dashcam video from the incident posted by Raw Story, above, shows officer Nathanial Robinson, 23, pull over Pete Vasquez, 76, at Adam’s Auto Mart in Victoria, Texas, as “Under Ground Kings” by Drake blares from the cruiser’s radio. Vasquez gets out of the car, walks behind it and gestures toward the license plate and to the office of the dealer, where he works. He later told the Victoria Advocate newspaper that he was explaining that the dealer tags on the car make it exempt from inspection. Victoria Police Chief Jeffrey “J.J.” Craig confirmed to the paper that the car was exempt. Is it objectively reasonable that the police officer, 23-year-old Nathaniel Robinson,…
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Day 8: Consulting Hours
One randomly selected winner will receive a complimentary 3-hour consultation with one of our experienced FCPA attorneys. This consultation opportunity allows you to ask compliance questions or to simply learn more about industry best practices. Our business-friendly and practical approach is sure to make the call worthwhile! Our attorneys will work with you to develop compliance solutions that are appropriate for your organization’s size, industry, geographic footprint and culture. Our anti-bribery consulting and advisory services cover a wide range of anti-bribery issues, including, but not limited to, FCPA counseling, enhanced due diligence investigations, risk assessments, More…
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Liberating turn in coastal bend saga: Hannah Overton free on bail
A trial judge ordered Hannah Overton released on bail yesterday after spending five years in prison for allegedly poisoning her foster son with salt. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in September overturned her conviction but a bail hearing was ordered because the DA has said he will seek a new trial. Members of her church congregation covered a $50,000 bond. See coverage from:Texas MonthlyCorpus Christi Caller TimesSan Antonio Express-NewsKRIS-TV Corpus Christi ABC NewsThe Guardian (UK) The DA may want a second bite at the apple but thanks to developments described well in the Texas Monthly story (a key state witness switched sides), it seems increasingly unlikely that will happen. In many ways, Overton's case was the turning point when the Court of Criminal Appeals began to openly acknowledge the weaknesses in the law that spurred the Legislature to create Texas' new junk science writ and the CCA to interpret it so that it affects bad scientists, not just…
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The Debit Card, the Grandfather and the Sneakers
This post examines a recent opinion from the Supreme Court, Appellate Division – New York concerning a juvenile delinquencyproceeding: In the Matter of Luis C., 2014 WL 6779210. The court begins its opinion by explaining how the case arose:The facts in this juvenile delinquency proceeding are undisputed. The appellant, Luis C., used his grandfather's debit card number, without permission, to buy sneakers on the Internet. There is no evidence that Luis ever took or possessed the card itself. After a fact-finding hearing, the Family Court found that Luis had committed acts which, if committed by an adult, would have constituted the crimes of grand larceny in the fourth degree under Penal Law § 155.30(4) and criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree under Penal Law § 165.45(2). Those sections, as relevant here, relate to the theft or possession of property that `consists of a . . . debit card’ (Penal Law §…
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Imwinkelried on Evidence of a Third Party's Guilt
Edward J. Imwinkelried (University of California, Davis - School of Law) has posted Evidence of a Third Party's Guilt of the Crime that the Accused is Charged with: The Constitutionalization of the SODDI (Some Other Dude Did It) Defense 2.0...
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Illinois Continues to Enforce DUI 'Trace' Law Despite Calls for Change
As part of its DUI statute, Illinois has a provision that provides that any amount of cannabis or controlled substance in a driver's system may be the basis for a DUI charge. This is the only part of Illinois DUI law that permits a charge of driving while under the influence - even if there is no evidence that the person was impaired or intoxicated. The most commonly cited example of the law is the person who may have smoked marijuana days or weeks earlier and then is stopped for a minor moving violation or as a result of an accident. If the officer has any reason to believe that the person had smoked marijuana at some point, the officer may seek testing. Often the situation arises in the case of an accident where the person was injured, taken to a hospital and testing is conducted, revealing the presence of a by-product of marijuana, called a 'metabolite'. The most recent example of the absurdity of the law is the case of Scott Shirey. In December 2011, Mr.…
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On the limits of citations and arrests for combating panhandling and homelessness in San Antonio
An opinion column by John Brodesky in the Express-News (Dec. 12) lamented the limits of citations and arrests for dealing with panhandling and homelessness in downtown San Antonio. The article opened:In its never-ending war on panhandling, the San Antonio Police Department has been deploying vice detectives to issue citations for aggressive solicitation.All through the summer, vice detectives arrested people such as Rafael Alvarado for begging for money and wandering into traffic at busy intersections.If the goal was to waste lots of time and energy, the tickets were a slam dunk. An analysis of city documents reveals an aggressive campaign against panhandlers — likened to a quota by one expert — that has produced plenty of citations and little else.Most everyone agrees citing panhandlers is a waste of time. But public pressure to do something, the short-term benefit of moving people out of a problematic area and a lack of other options keep the citations…
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One Vehicle Crash Eastbound I86 near the Airport Way Exit 56
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: 12/17/14 7:35 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office Idaho State Police is currently investigating a crash in the east bound lanes of Interstate 86 near milepost 56, near the Airport. Currently the eastbound lanes are blocked due to emergency personnel assisting at the scene. Please use caution in the area and expect delays. Further information will be provided as it becomes available. DSP Initials ks / do -------------
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Traffic Violations Bureau Held Not A Court
NYS Department of Motor Vehicles In a recent decision, Acting Bronx Supreme Court Justice Miriam Best ruled in People v. Serrano that the Traffic Violations Bureau is not a court for purposes of the attachment of double jeopardy. In Serrano, the defendant was found guilty by default of un-licensed operation under VTL 509(1), a violation. He was simultaneously charged with criminal un-licensed operation (i.e., driving when one knows or should know that he or she is suspended) in criminal Court. Serrano argued that he could not also be charged in criminal court because the Traffic Violations Bureau determination already determined the issue and that the criminal proceeding was therefore duplicative. In ruling against him, Judge Best explained that the Traffic Violations Bureau is not a “court” for purposes of double jeopardy. Judge Best pointed to the different level of proof in a TVB court (clear in convincing evidence versus guilty beyond a reasonable doubt) as…
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