I'm done here for the day, having used all my blogging time to write about the Dershowitz/Virginia Roberts story. If I had more time, I'd also write about Celebrity Apprentice. It's very entertaining this season. I hope Geraldo and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Tuesday Open Thread
↧
↧
Another Brooklyn Man to be Exonerated
On Monday, another Brooklyn man, Derrick Hamilton, learned that he would be exonerated for a murder for which he served nearly 20 years. The case is one of the many cases handled by retired detective Louis Scarcella that is being reinvestigated by Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson. The conviction review unit formed by Thompson found major problems with the testimony of the only eyewitness to the 1991 murder of Nathaniel Cash. The eyewitness was Cash's girlfriend. She told the first detective on the scene that she didn't see the shooting. However, after being interviewed by Scarcella and his partner, her story completely changed with her naming Hamilton as the shooter. The review unit found that her testimony clashed with other evidence in the case. For instance, she claimed that Cash was shot in the chest, but a consultation with the medical examiner's office showed that Cash was shot in the back. Ballistics also showed that more than one gun was used.…
↧
McSweeney on Pardoning in Medieval England
Thomas J. McSweeney (William & Mary Law School) has posted The King's Courts and the King's Soul: Pardoning as Almsgiving in Medieval England (40 Reading Medieval Studies 159 (Special Issue: Law's Dominion: Medieval Studies for Paul Hyams), 2014) on SSRN....
↧
How & When to tell your boss you have to go to court for DUI
One issue that seems to come up with regularity is whether to tell one's employer or boss that they were arrested and charged with a DUI or other criminal event. Certain people with high levels of clearance or security may be required to inform their employer upon any infraction of the law. However, the majority of people do not have such strict limitations placed upon them. Some people may be concerned because their employee manual may speak to ramifications of a DUI arrest or they may have heard stories about other folks similarly charged. For the normal person who does not have a clear and absolute obligation to tell their employer, we would generally suggest waiting until the matter is resolved in court, and even then we might consider the necessity of sharing such personal information. The initial problem that comes to mind with being charged is that a charge is not a conviction and therefore going to one's boss and indicating they were charged with a…
↧
Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer Tip #163: Child Neglect
Take a look at the picture above. Is there anything that troubles you about this picture? I'm bothered by the distance between the adult and the two small children that are walking several feet behind the man. Even more troubling is the time and place that this occurs. This picture was taken about 8:20 a.m. near the intersection of Philips Highway and University Boulevard on a Monday morning as I drove to my office. By the time the man made it to the intersection, he did finally stop and wait for the children. However, I wondered if he would have simply kept going if traffic had allowed him to continue. As a Jacksonville criminal defense lawyer, I sometimes find it hard look at the world surrounding me and not break out into a legal analysis of situations that I encounter from time-to-time. When it comes to situations that involve children, I suppose I wear my father hat and my Jacksonville criminal defense attorney hat at the same time. I immediately began to…
↧
↧
Is Using a Smart Watch Texting While Driving?
Could you get a texting while driving ticket in Virginia for using your smart watch? Well, nobody can stop the officer from writing the ticket, but I think you have a solid defense to that ticket, and I’d love to talk to you about it if that happens. © marketing for Andrew Flusche, 2015. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh The post Is Using a Smart Watch Texting While Driving? appeared first on Andrew Flusche.
↧
Washington v. Lawson - Voyeurism Conviction Upheld
In Washington State, voyeurism is a crime defined in RCW 9A.44.115. It is when a person, for the express purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire, knowingly views, photographs, or films another person without his or her consent when there is a reasonable expectation of privacy or seeing the intimate areas of another person in circumstances where the expectation of privacy is reasonable. Recently, a voyeurism charge was challenged by the defendant in Washington v. Lawson, who argued before the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II, that voyeurism does not constitute a "crime against a person or property" such as what would be needed to justify a related charge of burglary. The appellate court rejected the defendant's argument and affirmed his convictions.
↧
"Reverend" Al
Al Sharpton has come up a number of times in discussions on this blog lately. Dennis Saffran has this article in City Journal to remind us who Al Sharpton really is. One thing he is not is a minister.
↧
To kill, or not to kill? Maryland answers the question.
Kudos to the people of Maryland for finally putting an end to state sanctioned homicide. All life is precious, including the lives of those who may not "deserve" to keep living. But, an interesting thing happened on the way to humanity. What is Maryland to do with its "inventory" of formerly suitable gurney candidates? A recent Wall Street Journal article notes that the state is giving a permanent stay-of-execution to the condemned, a welcome Christmas present. It notes that only 35 people were executed in America in 2014, and only seven states joined in the historical passtime. A tip of the hat to outgoing governor Martin O'Malley, who said that executing Maryland's final four death row inmates "does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland."
↧
↧
Just how lewd can I be in this Country, anyways?
Salvador Cisneros came to the United States to realize the American dream, and part of his dream might have ranged from fondling breasts in public to joining the mile high club. Having been discovered in the United States without permission to be here, he applied for a "cancellation of removal" under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Due to his record of being convicted of public lewdness under 21.07 of the Texas Penal Code in 2006, the immigration judge denied his petition categorically, stating that public lewdness was per se a crime involving moral turpitude,and therefore makes one subject to deportation. Texas Penal Code 21.07 states: (a) A person commits an offense if he knowingly engages in any of the following acts in a public place or, if not in a public place, he is reckless about whether another is present who will be offended or alarmed by his: (1) act of sexual intercourse; (2) act of deviate sexual intercourse; (3) act of sexual contact; …
↧
Still Guilty, After All These Years
Here's a red-hot news flash. Sirhan Sirhan is guilty of the murder of Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.In 1996, Congress clamped a one-year statute of limitations on petitions for writs of habeas corpus when used as collateral attacks on criminal judgments. In 2013, the Supreme Court held in McQuiggin v. Perkins, 133 S. Ct. 1924, 1928 that actual innocence is, in effect, an exception. (I have no quarrel with that holding as a matter of policy and did not file a brief in that case to oppose making the exception, but as a matter of statutory interpretation I don't think the opinion holds water.) But look who crawls out of the woodwork claiming innocence. Later in 2013, the federal magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation rejecting Sirhan's claim. It begins,This case may be the final chapter in an American tragedy. On June 5, 1968, moments after declaring victory in the California Democratic primary,…
↧
Are Police Doing Their Job When it Comes to Drunk Driving?
Statistics indicate that drinking and driving is one of the most prevalent offenses throughout America. With nearly 300,000 drunk driving incidents occurring across the country every single day, you'd think that putting an end to driving under the influence would be the number one priority for law enforcement. But it's not – and why is this the case? Police officers are well aware that drunk drivers kill thousands of people on the road each year. They know that DUI offenses regularly go unpunished. They're also mindful that if the problem isn't taken care of, it will only persist and perhaps even become worse. Unfortunately, all of this awareness isn't going to fix the problem. Doing something about it takes both resources and time – two things many police stations don't seem to have readily available, according to a recent article from TIME Magazine. One traffic safety enforcement expert at the Pacific Institute for Research and…
↧
Jain on Arrests as Regulation
Eisha Jain (Georgetown University Law Center) has posted Arrests as Regulation (Stanford Law Review, Vol. 67, No. 3, 2015 Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For some arrested individuals, the most important consequences of their arrest arise outside the...
↧
↧
Just how lewd can I be in this Country, anyways? (Part Two)
However, Texas' public lewdness statute proscribes a wide range of conduct, including the consensual touching of breasts outside the clothing in public. Sec. 21.01. defines: (1) "Deviate sexual intercourse" means: (A) any contact between any part of the genitals of one person and the mouth or anus of another person; or (B) the penetration of the genitals or the anus of another person with an object. (2) "Sexual contact" means, except as provided by Section 21.11, any touching of the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of another person with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person. (3) "Sexual intercourse" means any penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex organ. The Fifth Circuit noted the Texas' Attorney General decision in the Matter of Silva-Trevino, whereby Texas' highest lawyer opined that even indecency with a child is not a per se a crime of moral turpitude, because the law…
↧
BVGer Urteil A-788/2014: Whistleblowing-Stelle der Eidgenössischen Finanzkontrolle ist eine Datensammlung, die beim EDÖB angemeldet werden muss und ein Bearbeitungsreglement verlangt
Im Zusammenhang mit Meldungen, welche die Eidgenössische Finanzkontrolle (EFK) als Whistleblowing-Stelle erhält, bejahte das BVGer in seinem Urteil A-788/2014 vom 16. Dezember 2014 u.a. das Vorliegen einer Datensammlung (Art. 3 lit. g DSG), deren Anmeldung beim EDÖB (Art. 11a Abs. 2 DSG) und die Notwendigkeit eines Bearbeitungsreglements (Art. 21 VDSG): Die EFK hielt u.a. fest, die von ihr abgelegten Whistleblowing-Meldungen seien nicht als Datensammlung zu qualifizieren. Die erhaltenen Meldungen zu Missständen und illegalem Verhalten innerhalb der Bundesverwaltung würden weder abschliessend erfasst noch enthielten sie in jedem Fall Personendaten. Vielmehr seien diverse Meldungen kaum erschliessbar und auch nicht systematisch erfasst. Im Übrigen würden keine Kategorien von Personendaten festgelegt und ein Zugriff sei nur mit entsprechendem Spezialwissen möglich, über welches lediglich die Mitglieder des "Team Verdacht"…
↧
"Hands Up, Don't Shoot" -- The Truth this Time
The "Hands up, don't shoot" narrative that fueled the rioting in Ferguson and elsewhere, and the murders of two policemen in New York City, was fake. Forensic evidence and reliable eyewitness testimony showed that Michael Brown's hands were not up, and he was not attempting to surrender, when he was shot.Today, however, we saw on film a true version of "Hands up, don't shoot." It is shown in a picture of a policeman in Paris, who was shot with a machine gun at pointblank range by an Islamic terrorist. Eleven others (so far) were murdered in this incident. The story of the attack is carried by the Wall Street Journal. Even those who are usually complacent and dismissive about terrorism, and who have less than no use for the police, are likely to be shocked by barbarity this grotesque.The terror attack was on the staff or a weekly satirical magazine that had ridiculed the Prophet Mohammed. The policeman pictured had…
↧
Invested: Three new judges and other odds and ends
Congratulations to new Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judges Bert Richardson, Kevin Yeary and David Newell, whose investiture your correspondent attended this morning at the capitol. Good luck, gentlemen. Make us proud. And here's wishing the outgoing judges Cathy Cochran, Tom Price and Paul Womack all the best as they re-enter private life. In the meantime, while I'm focused away from the blog today, here are several unrelated items which deserve Grits readers attention. Rolling Stone has a feature story on a corrupt drug task force in South Texas that routinely stole drugs and money while on the job.State Rep. David Simpson from Longview offered strongly supportive comments about medical marijuana at a local constituent forum. Sen. John Cornyn tried and failed last fall to remove penalties for non-compliance with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), with which readers will recall Rick Perry said Texas won't comply. For the record, the original…
↧
↧
News Scan
Teen Accused of Murder While on 'Day Pass' from Juvenile Hall: Police in Stockton, CA report that a teen accused of murdering a man Sunday afternoon was on a weekend pass from juvenile hall. News 10 Sacramento reports that the juvenile detention center allows inmates to go home for the weekend in order to work on homework and build relationships with their family. They are prohibited from hanging out with friends and are required to be accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times. The teen, along with another juvenile accomplice, now face charges of felony robbery and murder.Murderer Sentenced to Life Without Parole: A Michigan man convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend's five-year-old niece has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP). The Associated Press reports that 23-year-old Darnell Cheatham kidnapped the young girl from her home in July 2011 and raped her before strangling her and…
↧
Untaxed Cigarette Sting Leads to 21 Arrests...cont
Individuals charged in this investigation, for the first time, will be under new enhanced New York State laws expressly targeting these tax crimes. Also charged is: Gary Burstell (DOB 11/06/56 ) 55 Lockwood Road, Cortlandt Manor , NY with one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony. Warrants were executed at various locations in the New York Metropolitan Area resulting in the closure of a fraudulent tax stamping operation being run out of a storage facility in the Bronx. New York State imposes an excise tax on cigarettes in the amount of $2.75 per pack of twenty cigarettes. Additionally, New York City is permitted to impose an additional $1.50 per pack, bringing the total combined tax rate to $4.25. New York State collects the cigarette tax through the sale of tax stamps, which are sold to licensed New York State stamping agents. An agent must affix the stamps to packages of cigarettes in order for those…
↧
Insurance Law § 5102 (d
A Kings Car Accident Lawyer said that, this is an action to recover damages for personal injury allegedly sustained by plaintiff, as a result of a motor vehicle collision that occurred on May 15, 2003, at the intersection of Driggs Avenue and Grand Street in Brooklyn, New York. Plaintiff was a passenger in a motor vehicle owned and operated by defendant which was struck by a motor vehicle owned by defendants. Plaintiff alleges that defendants' negligence proximately caused her injuries. In her bill of particulars, plaintiff alleges that she sustained, inter alia, central disc protusion C2-C3, central disc herniations C5-C6, disc bulge C3-C4, right cubital tunnel syndrome, lower back pain, ulnar neuropathy and right and left rib contusion. A Kings Auto Accident Lawyer said that, defendants move for an order, pursuant to CPLR 3212, granting summary judgment dismissing the complaint on the ground that plaintiff did not sustain a serious injury as that term is defined by…
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
