What happens if your car did not actually come into contact with any other car involved in the crash? If you look in the rear view mirror and see a crash behind you are you required to stop and render aid? Can you be charged with "hit and run" if your vehicle never "hit" anything? In Florida, the answer is theoretically "yes." You could be charged with either a misdemeanor or felony version of hit and run depending on whether injury occurred. The Tampa Police Department in Florida has standard operating procedures that specifically address the phanton vehicle "hit and run" investigation (sometimes called the no contact "hit and run" or the non-contact "hit and run").The standard operating procedures in Tampa, FL, provide that before a non-contact (phantom) vehicle can be considered a hit and run vehicle, the following facts must be established:the driver must have had some reasonable knowledge of its…
Phantom "Hit and Run" Non-Contact Crash in Florida
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An Unconventional Perspective: Georgia Republican Party Leader Posits End to Death Penalty
In Thursday’s edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, David Burge, an attorney and chairman of the Georgia 5th Congressional District Republican Party, wrote an op-ed piece in which he explains why he is against the death penalty. Aspects to Burge’s argument focus on, what he believes, is a lack of fiscal responsibility among states—like Georgia—where capital punishment is legal because endorsing the death penalty is extremely expensive, risky and ineffective in reducing crime. According to Burge, the legal process for capital cases—appeals, in particular—is much more costly than it is for typical trials. Burge asserts that taking shortcuts to the due process would, however, put too many people—innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted—at risk of being executed because the legal system is fallible, as many exoneration cases have proven. Hence, says Burge, capital punishment should be banned in the United…
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Commercial Truck Sales: Transfer of Ownership - Passing Title
The term "ownership" generally refers to possession of title and the ability to convey that title to another. The UCC says when title passes in the sale of a truck or trailer from the seller to the buyer.U.C.C. §§ 2-401(2) and (3) provide:(2) Unless otherwise explicitly agreed title passes to the buyer at the time and place at which the seller completes his performance with reference to the physical delivery of the goods, despite any reservation of a security interest and even though a document of title is to be delivered at a different time or place; and in particular and despite any reservation of a security interest by the bill of lading.(a) if the contract requires or authorizes the seller to send the goods to the buyer but does not require him to deliver them at destination, title passes to the buyer at the time and place of shipment; but(b) if the contract requires delivery at destination, title passes on tender there.(b) if the contract requires…
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Update: Crash EB I84 @44
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 3 Patrol 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 846-7550 Fax (208) 846-7520 For Immediate Release: May 8, 2015 3:05 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office ******Update******* All lanes are now open. HG/KB ******************* The Idaho State Police are investigating a one vehicle crash EB I84 at milepost 44, near Meridian. The right lane and off ramp are currently blocked at the moment. jh /js -------------
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"Have Texans lost their taste for capital punishment?"
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The Deep Mental Roots of Judgment on Intent
"Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked," Justice Holmes famously said. The role of intent in distinguishing criminal acts from noncriminal accidents and higher-degree offense from lower ones is deeply ingrained in our law. It may be deeply ingrained in our brains. Robert Sapolsky reports for the WSJ on a study of scanning people's brains as they read about intentional and unintentional killings. The study is Treadway, et al., Corticolimbic gating of emotion-driven punishment, Nature Neuroscience 17, 1270-1275 (2014).
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"We clearly need criminal-justice reform" says GOP Prez candidate Carly Fiorina
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Notable new analysis of marijuana reform proposal and Ohio employment law
This new local article, headlined "ResponsibleOhio's marijuana legalization issue wouldn't trump employers' drug policies, legal analysis finds," reports on an interesting legal memo commissioned by the well-financed group seeking to legalize marijuana in the Buckeye state via voter initiative in 2015. Here are the basics: An analysis of the marijuana...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/FRQ2F3KCbrg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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What is Reckless Endangerment?
In Washington State, a person is guilty of Reckless Endangerment when she recklessly engages in conduct not amounting to drive-by shooting but that - creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury - to another person. Reckless Endangerment...
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News Scan
AZ Death Row Inmates Challenge Death Penalty: Over two dozen Arizona death row inmates are challenging the state's death penalty law with the claim that it as "unconstitutionally arbitrary." Fox 10 News reports that in Arizona, there are 14 aggravating factors which qualify a murderer for the death penalty, and the prosecution only has to allege one. The murderers claim that this makes virtually all murders eligible. The lawsuit refers to the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court Furman v. Georgia ruling which held that state laws must distinguish between cases for which a death sentence can be sought and one's that don't. Prop. 47 Approved by Pastors, Not Police: Pastors and police in Fontana have expressed differing opinions on Proposition 47, an initiative that passed last November that changed downgraded several property felonies to misdemeanors. Russell Ingold of the Fontana Herald News reports that pastor Mannie Brodie…
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"Policy Strategies to Reduce Youth Recreational"
The title of this post is the title of this short paper authored by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and published in the journal Pediatrics. Here is a excerpt that highlights the paper's coverage: Legalization of marijuana for recreational use among adults could significantly increase access to the drug among...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/QoO51dPaZEQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Diversity(?) on the Supreme Court
Prof. David Upham of the University of Dallas notes that there would seem to be a lack of geographic diversity in the background of the members of the Supreme Court:All studied at Harvard or Yale Law School; almost all spent their pre-Court careers in the Boston-Washington axis of power, working for either the federal government or very prestigious law schools. Four Justices were raised in NYC (Ginsburg, Scalia, Kagan, Sotomayor), one in New Jersey (Alito), two in the Sacrament-San Francisco area (Breyer and Kennedy) . Only one grew up anywhere in the middle (Roberts--Indiana), and only one grew up in the South (Thomas--rural Georgia). Six of the nine (67%) justices, then, come from areas that today have combined, about 3% of the nation's population. I should note that Justices Rehnquist and O'Connor went to Stanford Law School (where they finished first and third, respectively, in the Class of 1952). But, having gone there, I can tell you that Stanford…
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One Vehicle Crash Near Meridian
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 3 Patrol 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 846-7550 Fax (208) 846-7520 For Immediate Release: 05/08/15 5:34 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On May 8, 2015, at approximately 1:15 p.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a single vehicle crash on Interstate 84 at milepost 44, near Meridian. Andras Makai, 42, of Vancouver, Washington, was driving eastbound in a 1988 Toyota Camry. The vehicle struck a construction sign, hit the jersey barrier, crossed all lanes of travel and struck the safety barrels just prior to the exit 44 off ramp. Makai was transported via ground ambulance to St. Lukes Meridian. Makai was wearing his seatbelt. The lanes were partly blocked for approximately two hours while crews worked to clear the scene. The crash is under…
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After Midway Shooting Death of a Transient, SDPD Chief Zimmerman Orders Cops to Turn On Cameras
Perhaps San Diego Police Chief Zimmerman reads my blog posts. After concern was voiced from numerous citizens and public interest groups, including the ACLU, Chief Zimmerman ordered that all law enforcement officers must turn on their cameras. Last week San Diego Police Officer Browder responded to a call to an adult store from a clerk that said a transient, Fridoon Zalbeg Rawshannehad, was exhibiting threatening behavior with a knife. Officer Browder, after identifying Rawshannehad as matching the initial suspect, issued commands for him to stop advancing. Rawshannehad did not, and Officer Browder shot and killed him. Officer Browder did not turn on his body camera. Where the SDPD first stated that Rawshannehad lunged or advanced towards Officer Browder in a threatening manner, SDPD now states that he walked towards the officer ignoring commands. There is no statement as to the commands issued, or the distance between the officer and victim…
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What does Helen Prejean know that is relevant to the Tsarnaev case?
The defense wants to call the notorious Sister Helen Prejean to testify in the trial of the Boston Marathon Bomber. I can't fathom that she can offer any relevant evidence."Evidence is relevant if: (a) it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probablethan it would be without the evidence; and (b) the fact is of consequence in determining the action." Federal Rule of Evidence 401. "Irrelevant evidence is not admissible." FRE 402.What are the facts of consequence in the penalty phase of a federal capital cases? They are the mitigating and aggravating factors listed in subdivisions (a) and (b), respectively, of 18 U.S.C. §3592. Obviously the defense does not want to introduce evidence in aggravation, so that leaves the mitigating factors in subdivision (a).The relevant mitigating factors are impaired capacity, duress, minor participation, equally culpable defendants getting off with less, no prior criminal record,…
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MSU student doesn't want accused rapist at graduation
5-8-15 Michigan: The male student was expelled after an administrative review found he had sex with an incapacitated woman. A Michigan State University student who says she was drugged and raped by a male student is upset the university is letting her accused assailant back on campus this weekend for graduation ceremonies after expelling him for sexual misconduct. "I was just shocked," to hear
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Greta’s Big But
Among the sadder things that happened when Ruppert Murdoch made Fox News a thing was his taking Greta Van Susteren from us. Once a highly-regarded criminal defense lawyer, she was replaced by a woman with a lovely nose who toed the company line. So sad. When Eric Wemple wrote of Greta’s views on Pamela Geller’s Garland fiasco, it came as no surprise that they would be shrouded in the “yes but” formula that has become de rigueur. But what was not quite so anticipated was what Greta found to be the greater concern. So Van Susteren scolded Geller for holding the cartoon contest. “My message is simple — protect our police. Do not recklessly lure them into danger and that is what happened in Garland, Texas at the Muhammad cartoon contest,” she said. “Yes, of course, there’s a First Amendment right and it’s very important, but the exercise of that right includes using good judgment.” Many have fairly…
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In Search of Loot
The travesty of civil asset forfeiture isn’t exactly a new issue, but when law enforcement’s objective is so flagrantly directed at seeking out random cash to seize that it appears to everyone, save anyone on the government nipple, to be cynical theft, it can’t be ignored. Joseph Rivers, a 22-year-old out to make a music video, found that out. Rivers changed trains at the Amtrak station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 15, with bags containing his clothes, other possessions and an envelope filled with the $16,000 in cash he had raised with the help of his family, the Albuquerque Journal reports. Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration got on after him and began looking for people who might be trafficking drugs. Why they say that the DEA agents were looking for people “who might be trafficking drugs” isn’t clear, but it seems likely that this comes from the official police version of events because people find it…
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Is Bankruptcy the Best Option for You? Consider These Factors.
The recent trying economic times have affected Georgian families all across the state, with many people finding it more and more difficult to keep up with their monthly bills and expenses. Several people have contacted our office to discuss whether filing for bankruptcy would be a good option for them to use in order to get their financial house in order. While every individual case is different, there are a number of key factors that everybody should consider when making the decision to file or not file for bankruptcy. Factor 1 – Are You Eligible for Bankruptcy? Not everyone is eligible to file for bankruptcy. In general, there are two types of bankruptcies that an individual may file – Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. Chapter 7 has much more restrictive income requirements than Chapter 13, and many people are surprised to learn that they actually make too much money to file for Chapter 7! Filing for the wrong type of bankruptcy can be a…
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Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: A Survival Guide
In general, there are two types of bankruptcies that a Georgian consumers normally file and these are called Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. If a person qualifies to file for Chapter 7, at the end of the process the person’s eligible debts are wiped away (i.e. discharged) and the person is no longer responsible for any of those obligations. Conversely, Chapter 13 bankruptcy requires the person to make regular payments on his or her debts normally over a three or five year period. These payments are made pursuant to a Chapter 13 repayment plan which must be approved by the bankruptcy court. However, at the end of the plan period, the person’s remaining debts are likewise wiped away. Depending on your personal circumstances, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be the right solution for your financial problems. The purpose of this survival guide is to offer a number of helpful tips and tricks for getting through the Chapter 13 process. Tip #1 – Make Sure ALL of Your Paperwork…
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