… I’ve got your back. (Eat your heart out, Reposa.) Copyright © 2013 Houston criminal-defense lawyer Mark Bennett. This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, the page you are viewing infringes the copyright. (Digital Fingerprint: 9fddc86334d71f22cfdb4b70fe23bb0e (74.220.156.219) .)
2015.43: Don’t Worry, Be Happy …
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Arrested On Spring Break for Alcohol Possession or DUI In Okaloosa County or Walton County?
Okaloosa County and Walton County Law Enforcement preparing for Spring Breakers…. again. That’s right. Get ready. Every year, thousands of college students come to the beautiful Florida Panhandle Beaches. They are expecting to have a good time, relax, hang with their friends and perhaps meet a few more. Unfortunately, of those thousands, literally hundreds leave after being charged with Possession of Alcohol by a Person Under 21 Years Old. The odds of being charged are that high because police place multiple teams of officers all along the beaches. Their job is to observe and identify anyone who might be drinking, then either arrest or give criminal citations to each person under 21. And in Florida, consumption doesn’t matter. It’s possession. Even people who aren’t actually consuming the alcohol end up being charged if the police believe that the student was near the alcoholic beverage. That’s called constructive possession of alcohol.…
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Don't Run People Over With Your Car
Don't Run People Over With Your Car It may seem like common sense, but we really shouldn't run people over with our cars. Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of this going around lately and not just by Suge Knight. Using a car as a weapon is often a crime. This type of conduct would normally charged as Assault With a Deadly Weapon under California's Penal Code Section 245. It could even be considered attempted murder or even worse if someone dies. There is only a legal defense if you are using reasonable and necessary force to defend yourself or another from an immediate threat. Furthermore, if you hit someone and flee the scene afterward, you could be charged with felony hit and run causing injury – California Vehicle Code Section 20001. If there is serious injury, you could face years in prison. Also, fleeing the scene of an accident tends to make us look guilty, even if we are not. In the legal field it is what we call "consciousness of…
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Drivers Must Possess “Actual Knowledge” of a Motor Accident to be Found Guilty of Charges in a Hit-and-Run Case
The Florida Supreme Court recently ruled that drivers must possess “actual knowledge” of a motor accident to be found guilty of charges in a hit-and-run case. Zachariah Dorsett hit a teenager with his heavy pickup, after the teen fell off a skateboard into the road. Mr. Dorsett was pulled over and arrested by police roughly three miles from the scene of the accident and was charged with a serious offense, leaving the scene of a crash involving injury by the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office. Nicholas Savinon, was dragged roughly 40 feet on North Ocean Boulevard in Boca Raton, Florida. He suffered numerous injuries: traumatic injuries to the brain, both a dislocated and fractured hip, along with fractures and various other injuries to his face. When questioned, Dorsett claimed he did not even know that he hit the teenager; he explained that the radio was blasting at full volume, his windshield wipers and AC were running, and all of his…
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Santa Ana Man Charged with Murder After Fatal DUI
A Santa Ana man was charged with murder and felony hit and run causing death after killing Pearleen Hopkins on January 28, 2015. Dallas Reichstein, 46 faces 34 years to life in prison after his SUV struck Hopkins on West MacArthur Boulevard in Santa Ana while she was crossing the street. Hopkins died at the scene while Reichstein fled the scene. Reichstein had been previously convicted in 2011 of driving under the influence in Orange County Superior Court.
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Criminal Defense Overview
Criminal Defense Overview Being charged with a crime is stressful, and the consequences of being found guilty are serious. That’s why selecting an experienced criminal defense attorney is so important. In Nevada, people may face criminal charges for violating state or federal laws. Sometimes these laws conflict with each other. Even when they agree, changes to the laws are frequent. It’s reasons like these that make hiring a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney vital. You need assistance from someone who has built a career through staying informed regarding the most complex criminal codes. For gathering relevant evidence, advising you of your rights and ensuring the protection of your interests, you can’t go wrong with a competent criminal defense attorney.
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H and H Bagels Owner Arrested...Cont
Whatever the recipe, the dough was a little too sticky. According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and a Grand Jury has indicted a bagel wholesaler for Grand Larceny, Offering a False Instrument for Filing and violating the labor law through unemployment insurance tax rate manipulation. Prosecutors allege that the bagel wholesaler, the owner of H & H Bagels, collected, but failed to pay, $369,318.77 withheld from his bagel business employees. This occurred during a six year period from 2003 through his arrest in 2009. According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office: “The investigation further revealed that during the period of this criminal indictment, the bagel wholesaler filed State and City withholding tax returns under six successive company names. Sporadically, he made nominal payments to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance even though he knew he was obligated to turn over all withheld tax. Through shell companies,…
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MOTORCYCLIST WITH NO ALCOHOL IN HIS BLOOD WAITS FIVE MONTHS BEFORE DUI CHARGE IS DISMISSED
In September of 2014, CW was driving his motorcycle in northwestern New York and collided with another motorcycle. A police officer responded to the accident scene and reportedly noticed the odor of alcohol on CW. The officer asked CW to take a breath test, and CW refused. The officer ultimately obtained a blood sample from CW and charged him with DWI (known as OVI in Ohio). The officer then sent the blood sample to be tested. The test revealed a blood alcohol content of 0.00. Last week, five months after CW was charged with DWI, the case was finally dismissed, as reported by the Genesee Sun. If this case occurred in Ohio, it would have likely gone through the same process. When an officer in Ohio suspects a driver is under the influence, the officer requests a breath test, blood test, or urine test. In cases where a blood test or urine test is used, the results of the test are not immediately known to the officer. Despite not having the test results, officers routinely charge…
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Field Sobriety Tests in Washington: Taking the Walk and Turn, Heel to Toe Test
The Walk and Turn, Heel toe test one of the most common SFST’s administered in Washington State. A person will first listen to instructions, then walk in a straight line to show divided attention between mental tasks and physical tasks. The mental tasks include comprehension of verbal instructions, processing of information, and recall of memory. The physical tasks include balance and coordination while standing still, walking, and turning. The test is administered in two stages, the instruction phase and the walking phase. Both are required. During the instruction phase, the officer will instruct the individual not to start walking until told to do so and to stand erect with their right foot in front of their left. The officer will have the individual balance in this position while he continues to give them the rest of the instructions. Because this initial position is not a stance that people normally will take of his or her own choosing, attention is divided between…
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Are Conservatives Better than Liberals at Criminal Justice Reform?
The Federalist has a piece up positing that Conservatives are outdoing Liberals at criminal justice reform. Until recently, I would not have taken an article like this seriously. I’m now a few weeks into my time as the Legislative Chair of the Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyers. In that time, I’ve watched a groundbreaking new eyewitness identification bill make it out of the Senate unanimously. And I testified as a witness before a subcommittee of the Georgia House Judiciary Non-Civi Committee on a very progressive DUI implied consent bill to limit forced blood draws to only the most serious cases. I was impressed with the level of engagement as well as the pushback when a line of prosecutors testified. We may be permanently a red state, but I’m pleasantly surprised. And I think the Federalist society may be right. The post Are Conservatives Better than Liberals at Criminal Justice Reform? appeared first on Georgia Criminal Appellate Law Blog.
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Top 10 Dumb Mistakes Made by People Under the Influence of Alcohol
A recent post on our Los Angeles DUI blog, we spoke about how alcohol affects the brain’s ability to care about mistakes. There’s never a shortage of news to justify that finding. Here are ten of the dumbest mistakes people have made while intoxicated: 1. A drunk man in Florida caused a scene and repeatedly called 911 after being told he was not allowed to bring his kitten into a strip club. He was arrested for misuse of 911 and public intoxication. 2. An intoxicated Louisiana man rode his horse into a bar and lassoed a patron, attempting to drag him into the parking lot. 3. Police arrested an inebriated man in Pennsylvania after catching him trying to resuscitate a dead opossum on the side of the highway. 4. Police arrested a man in Cincinnati after he drank too much alcohol, streaked nude though his yard, and somehow ended up in his neighbor’s dryer. 5. Police…
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Perilously Close
Linda Carty is on death row in Texas, convicted of the abduction and murder of her neighbor, Joana Rodriguez. Lise Olsen in the Houston Chronicle:Her conviction rested on the prosecution's theory that Carty, a former school teacher from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, directed three men with criminal histories to storm the victims' apartment, steal $1,000 and carry out the mother and child's abduction at gunpoint.The idea was that Carty was so desperate for a child that she was going to steal Rodriguez's newborn.Her lawyer spent all of two weeks preparing for the trial. The prosecutors, on the other hand, are alleged to have pulled out all the stops. In particular,In affidavits separately supplied to Carty's current defense team in 2014, the agent and two of Carty's co-defendants allege that Harris County prosecutors crossed ethical boundaries and threatened them to ensure Carty's conviction.Retired DEA Special Agent…
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Next week's criminal law/procedure arguments
Issue summary is from ScotusBlog, which also links to papers: Monday Ohio v. Clark: (1) Whether an individual's obligation to report suspected child abuse makes that individual an agent of law enforcement for purposes of the Confrontation Clause; and (2)...
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Spousal Maintenance & “Karon Waivers”: The #1 Rule That Every Judge (and attorney) Should Know (15-04)
KARON WAIVERS: The vast majority of divorces are resolved by agreement of the parties. With regard to spousal maintenance, many agreements include what are commonly referred to as “Karon waivers.” Karon waivers are prepared by the attorneys and approved by the court. On close examination, however, many “Karon waivers” do NOT contain crucial language required by both statute and case-law. In other words, a large number of “Karon waivers” presented to the court for approval are defective and legally unenforceable. This is a potential problem that is easily avoidable. Gossman v. Gossman, 847 N.W.2d 718 (Minn.App.2014). This update explains what “Karon waivers” are and will discuss the #1 rule that judges, attorneys and divorcing parties should know in order to ensure that “Karon waivers” are valid and enforceable. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO READ MORE: PendletonUpdate.15-04
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A Rose By Any Other Name
byWilliam t. Easton, aka "Bill", aka "Billy" In recent years our firm has noted the prosecution’s increased use of monikers or “a/k/a”s in the captions of indictments, especially for those defendants charged federally with gang-associated offenses such as Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) crimes, CCE (Continued Criminal Enterprise) crimes, and defendants charged state-side with gang-related offenses. Oddly, this firm has not detected a similar increase in our white collar practice, even in conspiracy cases involving multiple defendants. Thus, a defendant in a white collar case who is widely known as “Chip,” “the Chipster” or “Biff” will usually be indicted under his or her own proper name, while a “blue collar” defendant who has a nickname of “Money,” “Killer” or “Smooth” will…
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Supreme Court DUI Ruling Regarding the Use of Blood Tests in Determining BAC
DUI or driving under the influence is a criminal term used to refer to the crime of driving a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol. In the case of alcohol, a typical test referred to as the blood alcohol content is administered to determine the level of intoxication that the driver has. There is a specific threshold that forms the basis of the criminality of the driver’s actions. Precisely, if the if the blood alcohol content of the driver exceeds this threshold, the driver is deemed to have committed a DUI offense and is therefore liable to any legal ramifications that are attributed to DUI. There have been several Supreme Court decisions regarding DUI in the recent past. One of the most notable Supreme Court DUI rulings regards the use of blood tests in determining an offender’s blood alcohol level. A blood test is indeed one of the most reliable ways of ascertaining a driver’s blood alcohol level but there have been various issues surrounding…
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Connecticut High School Cyber-Bullying Victims Need Uniform Anti-Bullying Laws In Place Now More Than Ever
Bullying and cyber-bullying in the Stamford, Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Fairfield and New Canaan public and private highs schools and middle schools can wreak havoc on a child and their parents if not addressed swiftly and appropriately by school administrators. As parents of millennials know all too well these days, cyber-bullying and harassment in Connecticut high schools do not always end at the last school bell. The bullying and harassment is often extracurricular—spilling over to social media websites and iphone apps like Facebook, SnapChat, Kik and Twitter. Parents of cyber-bullying victims in Stamford, Greenwich and Darien are often frustrated, as they do not know how to protect their children from cyber-bullying. They often look to the school for assistance, but there still are not clear-cut procedures and penalties in place to protect victims of bullying in Greenwich, Westport and Fairfield high schools. While schools try, they often fail, due to lack of…
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"The Politics of Botched Executions"
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Willacy County facing economic devastation after riot at entrepreneurial private prison leaves unit 'uninhabitable'
Riots in Willacy County at a private prison housing federal immigration prisoners last week has been called "predictable" and has left the facility "uninhabitable." Texas Prison Bidness reminded us that "An ACLU report [last year] detailed squalid conditions, rampant abuse, and little to no medical care at the facility."The detention center is run by the Management and Training Corporation, which operates ten other facilities around the state, employed 373 workers at the site, about half of whom live in the Raymondville and Willacy County areas while the rest live across the Rio Grande Valley." Those folks are now looking for work. According to the McAllen Monitor, "The prison pays [Willacy County] for every inmate it holds, pumping more than $2.7 million into county coffers last year." In addition, "In Raymondville, City Manager Eleazar Garcia said the prison’s closure could mean the loss of about $50,000 a month in…
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