Retired Supreme Court Justice Major Harding wrote in a letter to Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston's attorney Sunday that Winston was cleared of all code of conduct allegations against him. In Justice Harding's letter it was cited that, "[i]n sum, the preponderance of the evidence has not shown that you (Winston) are responsible for any of the charge violations of the Code." For a little over the past year Jameis Winston has been the focus of an alleged sexual assault against a former FSU student after the two left together from local bar Potbelly's. In spite of Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs declining to file criminal charges against Winston, FSU went forward with their own Title IX investigation, electing to allow the option of one of three retired Florida Supreme Court Justices to sit as the finder of fact. In using this process, both Winston's attorney and the accuser's attorney could veto one of the three…
Jameis Winston Cleared of Code of Conduct Charges
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Beat Stafford County Full Time and Attention Tickets
If you’re charged in Stafford County under the local ordinance 15-126 for failing to pay full time and attention while driving, you may have a defense to the charge. The ordinance in this case is actually very simple. It simply says that you have to pay full time and attention while driving. Well, what does full time and attention mean? Ordinances and laws are required to be read against the Commonwealth so we construe them in the favor of the defendant. And we also use the plain language that’s given unless there’s some specific definition provided. What does that mean in a full time and attention case? It means that this ordinance is construed to mean exactly what it sounds like. It’s a plain language statute saying that you have to pay attention while driving. If you’re distracted or impaired for some reason where you’re not paying attention then that would be a violation of the statute. However, if you’re paying attention and…
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A Career Prosecutor for US DAG
President Obama has nominated Atlanta U.S. Attorney Sally Yates to the number 2 spot at USDoJ, Deputy Attorney General. Andrew Grossman and Devlin Barrett have this article in the WSJ.A graduate of the University of Georgia law school, Ms. Yates has 2½ decades of experience as a federal prosecutor. Her career includes the prosecution of Eric Rudolph, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to bombing the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Her husband, Comer Yates, ran unsuccessful campaigns for Congress as a Democrat, in 1994 and 1996, and has donated to Democratic candidates, including Mr. Obama. But Ms. Yates's career as a prosecutor could help her win confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate. "I know Sally Yates well and she has been an outstanding U.S. Attorney," said Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican from Ms. Yates's home state of Georgia. "She will have my full support."My informal inquires to Georgia…
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Davies on Holmes, Coase & Blackmail
Ross E. Davies (George Mason University School of Law) has posted Holmes, Coase & Blackmail (Green Bag 2d, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 93-104, Autumn 2014) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: From beginning to end, the Holmes-versus-Milverton story is...
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Elonis Podcast, Claremont Edition
My teleforum on the Elonis case with John Eastman of the Claremont Institute is now available as a podcast. It's about 10 minutes.
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Sore Losers? What You Can Do When Experiencing DUI Blowback
Statistics show that the majority of people who face Los Angeles DUI charges stand a good chance of having those charges dropped. Unfortunately, being declared innocent does not mean that you won’t face consequences. The Kraut Law Group is familiar with “DUI defense blowback” – when some people may resent your legal success — especially among celebrities and authority figures. DUI defense blowback can be painful and embarrassing. Several exonerated people have been lambasted on social media and in public. For example, Texas judge Nora Longoria was angrily told she should resign and was a “disgrace to the… legal system” after her July 2014 charges were dismissed. These people may also face guilt, anger, and depression. Victims of DUI defense blowback need not wallow in their circumstances, however. Instead, they can use valuable tips to help deal with the fallout. These include the following: • Know the…
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Compensation difficult for wrongfully convicted to obtain - even in states with statutes
Stories in the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free-Press this weekend highlighted the immense challenges that exonerees, in California, Michigan and states around the country, can face when seeking compensation for wrongful convictions. Although 30 states and the District of Columbia have statutes that provide for some form of compensation to the wrongfully convicted, a number of barriers often stand in the way. In California, the Times reported, some who have been wrongfully convicted never filed a claim because they cannot afford a lawyer or one who is willing to take on the case. Additionally, applicants seeking compensation in California not only have to prove actual innocence, they must also show that they had not '"contributed to their conviction' ... by pleading guilty, running from police or belonging to a gang." (According to data compiled by the Innocence Project, nearly 10 percent of the nation's 325 DNA exonerees pled guilty to crimes…
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Dunaway hearing...cont
We reject the defendant's contention that he was deprived of the effective assistance of trial counsel. Viewing defense counsel's performance in its entirety, we conclude that the defendant was afforded meaningful representation. Moreover, the defendant's pro se contention that he has been denied the effective assistance of appellate counsel is premature. There is no merit to the criminal defendant's contention that the court committed reversible error when it denied his application for a Dunaway hearing, finding that he was collaterally estopped from re-litigating the issue of whether or not there was probable cause for his arrest. The defendant was arrested in February of 1987 in connection with numerous separate criminal transactions. He was first prosecuted in Suffolk County where, following a hearing, the County Court determined that probable cause had existed to justify his arrest. Thereafter, based upon the same deprivation of liberty, albeit after…
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News Scan
Habitual Felons Charged in CA Bank Robbery: Police in Northern California have arrested three repeat felons in connection with the robbery of a credit union. KCRA News reports that the suspects, two men and a woman, all have lengthy criminal pasts and have been arrested on a variety of charges including burglary, robbery, theft, drug, and weapons offenses. One of the suspects, 41-year-old Maurice Hill, is also a suspect in several armed robberies throughout the Bay Area. Parolee Accused in Cop Killing: A Florida man is behind bars and awaiting murder charges after authorities say he shot and killed a police officer Sunday morning. Alejandro Alba of the New York Daily News reports that 23-year-old Marco Parilla Jr., a fugitive wanted for a parole violation, shot the officer after he was approached about a noise complaint. This has been a deadly weekend for police officers around the country, on Saturday, two officers with the New York Police Department…
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**Update** Westbound Interstate 84 blocked east of Rupert for crash
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 12/22/14 3:15 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office **Update** On December 22, 2014, at 8:47 a.m., Idaho State Police investigated a crash on Interstate 84 at milepost 214. Charles Howe, 47, of Denver, North Carolina, and his passenger, Ricky Jarrell, 48, of Lincolnton, North Carolina, were westbound in a semi tractor-trailer three miles east of Rupert. Howe was wearing his seatbelt, and Jarrell was in the sleeper portion of the tractor. Howe fell asleep while driving. The semi struck the northern guardrail, and the passenger side of the vehicle caught fire. Both men were able to exit the semi before it was fully engulfed by the fire. Howe and Jarrell…
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Man charged with killing his parents agrees to plea deal, state takes death penalty off the table
A man accused of shooting and killing his parents will not face the death penalty on the two murder charges. The state and the man's attorneys reached a deal this month where he will plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, receive to life sentences for both crimes and the state will withdraw its initial intent to seek the death penalty, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. In this Jacksonville Murder Case, both sides avoid a lengthy, expensive trial and the sentence is locked in. Because he was charged with first-degree murder, there were only two possible sentences: life in prison or the death penalty. One interesting piece of this plea deal is the state did not come down at all on the charge. In many recent Jacksonville Murder Cases, the state would charge first-degree murder, file a notice to seek the death penalty, then agree to let the defendant plead guilty to second-degree murder. Because second-degree murder does not carry a mandatory life…
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Woman Indicted for Stealing Money from Elderly Real Estate Investor
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Crystal Perkins, 32, Mansfield, Ohio, has been indicted for defrauding an 82-year-old man of more than $50,000 in an alleged real estate investment scam. A Richland County Grand Jury indicted Perkins on two counts of theft from the elderly, a second degree felony. The Indictment is now public after being handed down last week. Perkins allegedly formed a relationship with her elderly victim and over the course of several months took more than $50,000 from him in an alleged real estate investment scam. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office announced the charges. The Ohio Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Unit, a division of the office’s Consumer Protection Section, conducted the investigation with help from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and Richland County Prosecutor’s Office. An attorney from the Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Unit has been appointed as a special…
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Jennifer McKinney (MckMama) Update… Another Foreclosure!
It has been quite a while since I have written about professional con artist Jennifer McKinney, known by some as MckMama from her blogging days. Previously, we have discussed her bankruptcy fraud (debts NOT discharged and forever payable by her thanks to her dishonesty about her income and assets), her repeated lies about paying off […]
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Petitioner now moves for re-argument or renewal
This is a motion for re-argument of our recent order denying a second application for reinstatement to practice law. A Nassau Criminal Lawyer said that, petitioner, 55 years old, was admitted to practice in this department in 1955. In 1968 he was disbarred after a complaint that he had converted a considerable sum of money constituting the legacy of the estate of his wife's aunt, which he had represented. Petitioner had voluntarily offered his resignation in the face of this criminal charge. In 1969, after his disbarment, he was indicted for grand larceny first degree in connection with this conversion of funds, and in 1971 he was convicted of the Class A misdemeanor of petit larceny on the basis of a negotiated plea. He was sentenced to three years probation with a condition of continued restitution. He was discharged from probation in November 1974. Since his disbarment he has worked as an editor for West Publishing Co., operated a hobby supply shop, worked as a…
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Change in Federal Law Regarding Marijuana Enforcement is Important for Massachusetts
A new federal spending law enshrines in statutory form the policy that federal agents will no longer seek to interfere with medical marijuana retail establishments in states where they are legal. As Massachusetts law with regard to marijuana possession and use continues to evolve, this change lessens the likelihood that Massachusetts residents will find themselves federally prosecuted for the sale or possession of marijuana for medical use. However, federal prohibitions on, and penalties for, possession of marijuana remain far broader and harsher than those under Massachusetts law, and the new provision affects only medical marijuana; Massachusetts residents therefore remain vulnerable to federal prosecution for conduct that is not criminal under state law. Massachusetts law regarding marijuana possession has undergone major changes in the last few years. First, in 2008, voters passed a ballot question (question 2) decriminalizing (but not legalizing)…
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Texas Rep Wants Interrogations Recorded
Representative Terry Canales of Texas introduced two bills on Wednesday which he says would promote transparency and ensure responsible law enforcement practices in the state. House Bill 541 would require police to record custodial interrogations, the questioning led by police once a suspect has been taken into custody, either in audio or video format. The current law only requires that any confessions resulting from interrogations be recorded in writing. "Full recordings of interrogations provide more accurate representation of what actually occurred during an interrogation and clarify what was said or not said, rather than the current practice of police typing a statement and giving it to the defendant to sign," Rep. Canales told the Valley Town Crier. "As various innocence groups have found, about 25 percent of DNA exonerations involved false confessions," Canales said. "Additionally, three of Texas' 36 DNA wrongful convictions involved…
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Prosecutor’s Motion to Throw Out Rape Conviction Appeal of Death Row Inmate Denied by Mississippi Supreme Court
In 1993, 48-year-old Charles Ray Crawford was convicted of rape. Today, he is sitting on death row in Mississippi for the murder of Kristy Ray in Tippah County, according to a news article at Gulflive.com. Crawford believes that he was given the death penalty in the murder case because of the 1993 rape conviction. Now, 20 years later, he is appealing the rape conviction based on ineffective counsel in the case. Essentially, Crawford may not remain on death row if he can win his appeal of the rape conviction. He was charged with rape and aggravated assault in 1992, and while free on bond, arrested for murdering Kristy Ray. In 1993, he was convicted on the rape charges and sentenced to 66 years in prison. Shortly thereafter, Crawford was convicted of murdering Ray in 1994 and given the death penalty. Prosecutors in the murder case argued for the death penalty, maintaining that Crawford’s criminal history as a rapist was an aggravating factor that justified he be given the…
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Falsely Accused? Be Proactive in Mounting Your Defense
Anyone facing false allegations of committing a crime needs to be proactive in mounting a defense. Especially if the person being falsely accused ends up going to trial to let a jury decide their fate. The majority of the general public who actually show up in criminal court when summoned for jury duty, hold law enforcement in such high regard and seem to forget that all police officers, prosecutors, and other types of law enforcement officers are human and make mistakes. Having questioned numerous jury panels during jury selection in Orange County criminal trials, it is eye opening to hear some of the responses potential jurors give to questions relating to their views of law enforcement. Of course there are those who have had bad experiences with police officers and divulge that information when they are questioned as a potential juror, but the majority of potential jurors feel if the defendant was arrested by a police officer, they must…
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Sony Reversal: "The Interview" Will Be Released Xmas Day
Sony has changed its position and will offer screenings of "The Interview" after all on Christmas Day. It won't be in a huge number of theaters, maybe 200 to 300 around the country. Here's Sony's tweet making the announcement. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Sex offender registry not the answer
12-23-2014 National: Let’s get real folks! Ariel Castro (Ohio), Jerry Sandusky (PA) and many others we hear and read about were not on any public registry and that is exactly the point. The public has been groomed to believe all they have to do is check a registry and be aware of “those on it” and their family will be safe. The truth of the matter is that according to credible studies the
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