Justice slow but sure.If you've just been arrested Tampa Bay the first thing to know is that the criminal justices system in Clearwater, Florida runs as slow as your uncle's old chevy with half a million miles. Florida's criminal justice system was not designed for speed though one might have hoped it would have been designed to provide justice. It doesn't matter if you're innocent or guilty, your trip thru the criminal courts of Florida will be numbingly time consuming, sapping your life energy, challenging your hopes and destroying your relationships. And all of this will happen even before your first court appearance. Be warned that the process of arrest for a criminal felony or misdemeanor is merely the beginning. Once you've paid bond or hired a bondsman usually for ten percent of the total bond, you'll be free to wait for six months or longer for your case to be resolved. The first hearing date you'll be given is the…
AFTER YOUR ARREST, THEN YOUR FIRST HEARING DATE FOR CRIMINAL COURT IN CLEARWATER, FLORIDA
↧
↧
BCS Facilitates Dialogue Between the Court and Bronx WorkforceTraining Programs
Over the past ten years, Bronx Community Solutions has developed strong relationships with Bronx judges and have broadened their sentencing options, even designing special initiatives that address large, systemic issues. A couple of months ago, a Bronx Judge expressed to us a wish to address the employment needs of misdemeanor offenders who are arrested for selling drugs, administrative untaxed code violations and/or other crimes associated with poverty. Armed with a charge to combine innovation with tangible solutions, Bronx Community Solutions was asked by this judge to facilitate a discussion between him and relevant community programs around workforce issues, community resources, program eligibility, and general employment readiness barriers. The judge’s specific goal was to discuss the feasibility of creating a direct vocational training pathway in arraignments through community-based collaboration targeted toward the specific needs of Bronx misdemeanor defendants.…
↧
The Problem with Social Justice Warriors
There are times when it seems that the old saying, “There’s no convincing some people,” needs revision, editing, shortening, whatever: “There’s no convincing people.” As a lawyer, I see this as a troubling development. Now, in all honesty, I don’t know if what seems to be the case really is the case. It’s entirely possible that the Internet, which can serve as a megaphone for all speech, regardless of quality of content, has simply made encountering the roadblocks to convincing people more obvious. The problem is, for most people, the voice you hear first, and the most, is the one that determines how you will think. For reasons that would require at least a whole ‘nuther blog post, after that you don’t easily change your beliefs. This is why so many work as hard, or harder, on silencing oppositional speech, rather than arguing their point: particularly the modern “social justice warrior,” or as…
↧
The First Day of Spring Should Not Be Spent Behind Bars in Iran
Friends from Scholars at Risk taking the Nowruz action Former Iranian prisoner of conscience Maziar Bahari said “the prisoner’s worst nightmare is the thought of being forgotten.” The first day of spring is a particularly painful time for those incarcerated in Iran because it is Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, an ancient holiday that is the occasion for joyous celebration with family and friends. That is why it is so important to remind prisoners of conscience that they are NOT forgotten at Nowruz time. This year marks the seventh year that Amnesty International USA is asking activists to take the Nowruz action, to mail Nowruz greetings to prisoners of conscience and their families. We know that in the past, families of prisoners have received hundreds of Nowruz cards and they have reported how much it meant to them to know they were not alone. This year we ask activists to remember talented physicist Omid Kokabee, women’s rights activist…
↧
Impersonating an Officer in Las Vegas
Defenses to Charges of Impersonating an Officer It’s something that’s frequently seen in the movies and on television. A character impersonates a police officer or other public official in order to gather information or to fulfill some nefarious purpose. Sometimes it’s played for laughs. However, someone who impersonates a police officer in Nevada may find themselves charged under NRS 199.430. Under this state law, any person who presents themselves as an armed forces member, a police officer or judge but does not hold one of these positions may be charged with a crime. It isn’t necessary for the person to be dressed like one of these officials. If they present themselves in one of these capacities with the intent to injure or defraud, they may be booked on charges under NRS 199.430. Impersonating a police officer in Las Vegas can carry penalties of fines and jail time. Fortunately, several defenses are available. A qualified Nevada criminal defense…
↧
↧
Haugh on Overcriminalization's New Harm
Todd Haugh (Indiana University - Kelley School of Business) has posted Fishy SOX: Overcriminalization's New Harm Paradigm (Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 68 (2015), Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The harms of overcriminalization are usually thought of in a...
↧
//blawgsearch75.rssing.com/chan-6519914/article10707-live.html
United States v. Zaragoza-Moreira, No. 13-50506 (Gettleman (N.D. Ill) with Reinhardt and Gould) --- The Ninth Circuit reversed the denial of a motion to dismiss a drug-trafficking indictment, holding that the government violated the defendant's due-process rights when it destroyed a videotape of the pedestrian line at a port of entry, the footage of which could have supported the defendant's claim of duress. This opinion cautions the government to conduct plea negotiations against a backdrop of full disclosure of evidence requested by the defense, which did not happen here.The defendant was seen in line at a port of entry in San Ysidro, California, standing shoulder to shoulder with another woman. This behavior led to the defendant being sent to secondary inspection, during which she admitted that she had packages of drugs taped to her body. A search revealed 340 grams of heroin and 420 grams of methamphetamine. In a post-arrest interview, she explained that…
↧
IP Address Tracking Leads to Weston Man's Arrest
Our Palm Beach and Broward County criminal defense lawyers know that in the age of the Internet, crime tracking by law enforcement agencies has (to a significant degree) shifted from the physical to the intangible. Case in point: a Weston man was arrested yesterday after police used his computer's IP address to implicate him in a child pornography distribution scheme. This incident is yet another reminder that just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there. In other words, simply erasing web history and/or making up fake usernames on the Internet won't make you immune from tracking, arrest and prosecution by determined law enforcement agencies.
↧
High Schooler Tweet, Suspension Raises First Amendment Issues
The case of a Minnesota high school student who is suing his former school as the result of a suspension has come back into the light at the online site of the American Bar Association (ABA) Journal. While the Twitter incident which led to the student suspension occurred at the beginning of 2014, the circumstances […] The post High Schooler Tweet, Suspension Raises First Amendment Issues appeared first on Salt Lake Criminal Defense.
↧
↧
Arrests for Drunk Driving at Border Less Likely Than Los Angeles DUI
Are people in the U.S. without proper documentation getting a pass when it comes to getting picked up on DUI charges? Judicial Watch, a political watchdog group, claims that directives from the U.S. government encourage officials to look the other way when it comes to arresting illegals suspected of DUI along the U.S. and Mexican border. (Too bad such protections aren’t offered to southern Californians, who usually need to hire a Los Angeles DUI attorney if they’re suspected of driving under the influence.) An article in the online Examiner quoted sections of memos to Border Patrol agents from the Department of Homeland Security. One sentence reads, “There is no legal requirement for a Border Patrol agent to intervene in a state crime, including DUI.” Another reads, “There is no duty to detain the alcohol-impaired individual, but if you do this option can raise potential liability for the agent or the agency.” Border patrol agents could be…
↧
What must the injured party prove in a pedestrian accident lawsuit?
If filing a pedestrian accident lawsuit in Bensalem, the burden of proof is on the injured pedestrian to prove the four key elements of a successful claim. These include duty, negligence, cause and damages.All Drivers Owe Others a Duty of CareAn injured pedestrian must prove the motorist who was involved in the accident owed him a reasonable duty of care to prevent the accident. All drivers owe this duty of care to others who share the road. For instance, a Bensalem driver must operate a motor vehicle at safe speeds and must avoid distracted driving or drunk driving. He must yield to pedestrians at crosswalks, obey all traffic signs and signals and drive in a manner appropriate for the existing traffic and weather conditions.Proving Negligent ActionsThe pedestrian must prove the motorist was negligent and violated his duty to provide a reasonable standard of care to the pedestrian. If the motorist was driving in an impaired state or using a cell phone while driving, his actions…
↧
Better Call the Right Cab If You’re Worried about DUI in Los Angeles
Motorists who know they’ve had too much to drink do the right thing when they call a cab to take them home. But if they get into the wrong cab, they could end up talking to a Los Angeles DUI lawyer, not as a client but as a witness. Television station KSBY, which serves California’s central coast, reported in early March that taxi driver Christel Mona Wikstrom is facing DUI charges after smashing into parked vehicles at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez Valley. Wikstrom’s taxi, a white Toyota van, damaged three cars. According to police, the cab driver’s blood alcohol content at the time of the incident measured more than twice the legal limit. Of course, cab drivers are human, and they make mistakes just like everyone else. A Google search reveals multiple incidents of cab drivers in various states arrested for DUI over the past year. Last July, a Bluegrass Taxi driver in Lexington, Kentucky, William Maddox, started talking to police at a convenience…
↧
Prof. Richard Epstein on Ferguson
To follow up on Kent's post, it's not just the Lt. Gov. of Missouri who sees the disgraceful, race huckstering role played by the Department of Justice in the Ferguson shooting. There is also the brilliant Prof. Richard Epstein of NYU Law School, who writes:The DOJ must acknowledge that the killing of Michael Brown was a justifiable homicide. It must abandon its contrived legalisms and defend Wilson, by condemning unequivocally the entire misguided campaign against him, which resulted in threats against his life and forced his resignation from the police force. Eric Holder owes Wilson an apology for the unnecessary anguish that Wilson has suffered. As the Attorney General for all Americans, he must tell the protestors once and for all that their campaign has been thoroughly misguided from start to finish, and that their continued protests should stop in the interests of civic peace and racial harmony. In light of the past vilification of Wilson, it is not enough…
↧
↧
Fabricant & Carrington on Forensic Science's Evolution
M. Chris Fabricant and William Tucker Carrington (Innocence Project, Inc. and University of Mississippi - School of Law) have posted The Shifted Paradigm: Forensic Sciences's Overdue Evolution from Magic to Law on SSRN. Here is the abstract: A decade ago...
↧
Is "Over-incarceration" a Significant Public Concern?
We hear again and again that "over-incarceration" or "incarceration nation" is the subject of considerable public concern, and that there is a "growing, bi-partisan consensus" (see, e.g., here) that we should scale back the prison population ("prison population" being the euphemism for "adjudicated criminals whose offenses are serious enough to earn them a prison term").Is that proposition true? Is the public up in arms in any sense about "over-incarceration"?No, it is not true. Indeed, the subject barely makes the radar screen, according to this quite informative Washington Post article. Subjects of more concern to the public are: Education, budget, healthcare, taxes, transportation, infrastructure, marijuana, energy, jobs, pensions, crime, and ethics. Only after that is prison (which managed to get mentioned as the third-ranking concern in a total of six states), followed by labor,…
↧
Arrested for Refusing to Take a Breath Test
So what would you do if a cop came to your house and demanded to search your house? You would probably ask him if he had a warrant, right? And what if he tells you that he doesn’t have a search warrant, but he wants to look through your house anyway? You’d probably refuse, wouldn’t you? Ok, what if he then places you under arrest — for refusing to let him search your house? And you’re then charged with — and convicted of — the crime of refusing to permit the officer to conduct that illegal search? Not in America, right? What if the cop wanted to search inside your body rather than inside your house? Minnesota Supreme Court Upholds Breath Test Refusal Law Minneapolis, MN. The Minnesota Supreme Court has upheld a state law making it illegal for suspected drunken drivers to refuse a breath test. The high court rejected a man’s claim that the law violated due process by preventing him…
↧
Kent City Elementary Substitute Teacher Considers Plea Offer in Student Molestation Case
Jon Ira Dalton, a 67-year-old Newaygo man who is accused of molesting four students on his first day as a substitute teacher at Kent City Elementary is mulling over a plea offer from prosecutors, according to a recent news article at Mlive.com. Dalton is charged with four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, after he allegedly touched four elementary-age girls in an inappropriate manner. He waived his probable cause hearing on Wednesday, March 18. News reports claim that Dalton touched fifth-grade girls over their clothes, touching some on their buttocks and private areas. The girls told investigators with the Children’s Assessment Center their stories, which led to his arrest. The alleged victims are all younger than 13 years of age, which is why Dalton is charged with felony second-degree CSC as opposed to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. If he does not take the plea offer and is found guilty of the charges against him, he will face up to 15 years in…
↧
↧
Self Defense
If you’ve been charged with assault in Maryland, you probably have a lot of questions about self defense. Attorney Randolph Rice, a Maryland criminal defense attorney has provided a list of the various self defenses in Maryland. To schedule a free consultation with attorney Randolph Rice, contact his at his office at (410) 288-2900. Below are the condition that must be met or overcome for each defense in Maryland. Defense of Others – Maryland In Defense of others is a defense, and the Judge or jury are required to find the defendant not guilty if all of the following four factors are present: The defendant actually believed that the person he was defending was in immediate and imminent danger of bodily harm; The defendant’s belief was reasonable; The defendant used no more force than was reasonably necessary in light of the threatened or actual force; and The defendant’s purpose in using force was to aid the person he was defending. In…
↧
Concealed Carry Law: What to Disclose during a Traffic Stop
Nearly two years ago, the Illinois became the last state in the country to enact a concealed carry law, which permits appropriately licensed residents to carry a concealed firearm within the state. Enacted in 2013 and taking effect in 2014, the legislation is known as Firearm Concealed Carry Act and supporters insist the law simply recognized rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. To members of law enforcement organizations, however, the Act created a whole new set of challenges, which include conducting traffic stops of legally armed Illinois citizens. Even as the legislation was being drafted and reviewed, law enforcement officials looked ahead to potential dangers. They pointed out that any interaction with an individual legally carrying a concealed firearm would carry an increased risk of escalation simply to due the existence and proximity of the weapon. Kevin McClain, director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board,…
↧
How a DUI Affects Your Life
How a DUI Affects Your Life. A DUI can be a life changing event that makes you take stock in your behavior and choices you make in the future. A DUI (driving under the influence) or DWI (driving while impaired) arrest and conviction will haunt that driver for the rest of their life. If the drunk driver causes an accident that injures himself or kills another driver, the consequences will be devastating. How a DUI Affects Your Life One of the most important affects a DUI or DWI can have on an individual is the social embarrassment that comes along with the arrest. Friends and family will find out and pass immediate judgment on that person’s character. Usually embarrassment will prevent further risky behavior that could lead to a second DUI or DWI arrest. How a DUI affects your life – accidents / death If the DUI or DWI arrest leads to an accident that injures or kills another, the local media will typically pick up on the story and the…
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
