Thomas Jones, dubbed "the face of evil" by police, was recently arrested at a Florida CVS store, where he allegedly believed he would rendezvous with a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet. In reality, the 43-year-old father had been speaking to police detectives conducting a month-long investigation.
During that time, Jones communicated not only with someone he thought was an underage girl but also with a man he believed to be the uncle of a 14-year-old who was soliciting sex for his niece. Jones allegedly said that he would "love to have a young love" and detailed the sexual positions he wanted to the detective posing as the teenager.
Neighbors of Jones expressed unease and surprise when they heard about the arrest. One neighbor said that he had planned to move even before he heard the news, and he was relieved that he was leaving the neighborhood.
Per news reports, Jones cooperated with authorities, admitting that he…
Duval County Man Arrested for Soliciting a Minor
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Death Penalty Faces Biggest Test in Decades
Death penalty in the US is currently facing one of its biggest tests in decades. While capital punishment is legal in 36 nations including China, Japan and the US and it is legal in the 32 American states, three death row inmates in Oklahoma are now challenging new experimental drugs that are used in lethal injections after several botched executions.Due to this current issue, other killings have been delayed and the states are scrambling to find alternative methods, including the gas chamber, the electric chair or the firing squads.To date, lethal injections have been the most widely used method of execution in the US. However, since several pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell these drugs to prisons because they oppose capital punishment, there has been a shortage of supply. That is why states have been trying untested combination of drugs.Since these drugs remain untested, executions in Arizona, Oklahoma and Ohio have been botched up. The prisoners have been…
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Fraud Prevention on the Cheap
One common misconception among small business owners is that fraud prevention is expensive. And like anything else in this world, it can be expensive. A company that strives to eliminate virtually all opportunities for fraud by employees can spend a chunk of money doing so. But it’s not always necessary to spend lots of money on fraud prevention. And it’s not always possible for a small business owner to spend a lot on fraud prevention. Let’s face it… budgets are tight and big new projects aren’t often possible. Small businesses do not need to sacrifice fraud prevention efforts all together. There are simple ways an owner can protect the company, and they carry little to no cost to implement. Educate yourself about fraud: You must have a clear understanding about how and why fraud occurs if you are going to prevent it. This means reading about some basic fraud motivators and opportunities, as well as some basic prevention techniques. Hire the…
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Untrustworthy, But Very Useful
Of all the potentially bad evidence presented at trial, a very large universe indeed, none is worse, less credible, less worthy of belief than the jailhouse snitch. As Radley Balko notes: The whole concept of jailhouse informants defies credulity. The very idea that people regularly confess to crimes that could put them in prison for decades or possibly even get them executed to someone they just met in a jail cell and have known for all of a few hours is and has always been preposterous. Not to mention the fact that these are people whose word prosecutors wouldn’t trust under just about any other circumstance. To say that prosecutors wouldn’t trust them is an understatement. These are the lowest of the low, the least credible of all, and to ask a prosecutor to believe them otherwise would bring about hysterical laughter. Except when they bring something a prosecutor needs, at which point they magically turn into the most believable guy…
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Alcohol On Your Breath? So What!
Have we reached a point where the mere presence of alcohol on the breath is enough to place a person under arrest? We ask this question because the "odor of an alcoholic beverage" is the first and most relied upon clue an officer notes in his or her report. Not only does it determine that the driver has been drinking but provides legal justification (reasonable suspicion) for continuing the stop for a DUI/OVI investigation. Courts allow an officer to testify as to the odor and the strength of that odor as a basis for continuing the detention. See State v. Evans, Id. Once this threshold is met, the officer can ask the individual to step out of the vehicle to take standardized field sobriety tests. This author has long argued that the "standardized field sobriety tests" are not "standardized" (every time is different); not field (the conditions are variable); do not test for sobriety/alcohol impairment (correlation impairment is not…
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Officer Benjamin Blair: No Reason To Shoot
In contrast to the facile, often nonsensical, excuses offered to justify the needless shooting, killing, someone who fails to comply with an officer’s lawful command, Wagoner, Oklahoma Officer Benjamin Blair did something remarkable. He didn’t shoot. He didn’t kill. From the Wagoner Tribune: Blair was involved in a high-speed pursuit that turned suddenly into a wild chase through the wooded area in Gibson Station. When Blair walked up on the suspect lying facedown on the ground, he drew his weapon and told the suspect to show him his hands. Instead of complying, the suspect jumped up and took off running. Blair could have very easily squeezed off a shot as a nervous reaction, or he could have emptied his clip as the suspect ran away. But he didn’t. Whether or not it would have been a righteous shoot is a matter for debate, as nothing in there suggests the threat of harm, either to Blair or anyone else. But there’s no…
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The Department of Homeland Security, "Sexually Explicit Images" and the "Government Computer"
Sean P. O'Hara was employed as a Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer in the Enforcement and Removal Operations Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. O’Hara v. Department of Homeland Security, 2015 WL 1865692 (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2015). But, as the result of events outlined below, the Merit Systems Protection Board upheld his “removal for lack of candor and misuse of government property”. O’Hara v. Department of Homeland Security, supra. In the opinion this post examines, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is reviewing the propriety of that decision. As Wikipedia explains, theMerit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is an independent quasi-judicial agency established in 1979 to protect federal merit systems against partisan political and other prohibited personnel practices and to ensure adequate…
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Rethinking Insider Trading Regulation
Yesha Yadav, Insider Trading in Derivatives Markets, 103 Georgetown L.J. 381 (2015)Yesha Yadav, Structural Insider Trading, Vanderbilt Law and Economics Research Paper No. 15-8 (March 27, 2015), available at SSRN. Caroline Bradley The question of distinguishing between the informational advantages insiders and outsiders may and may not legitimately exploit in trading in the financial markets is perennial: is securities regulation about achieving a level playing field for investors or about imposing sanctions for certain fiduciary and fiduciary-like breaches of duty which go beyond traditional remedies for such breaches. The Second Circuit’s decision in US v Newman emphasizes the fiduciary duty component of liability: at least in a criminal case involving tipping by insiders “the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the tippee knew that an insider disclosed confidential information and that he did so in exchange for a personal benefit.” In…
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Maryland Court Rejects State’s Effort To Retry Second-Degree Felony Murder Charge
Under Maryland criminal law, a murder that is not “in the first degree” is considered to be “in the second degree.” And in accordance with established case law, there are four types of second-degree murder. In order to reach a conviction under one type or another, the state must prove the specific elements, depending on the charges. One of the four categories is second-degree felony murder. Under state law, an underlying felony can warrant a conviction for second-degree felony murder when it is committed in a way that is “dangerous to life.” Like many criminal provisions, the language may be subject to interpretation and application by the court. If you have been arrested or charged with any crime, it is important to be clear about the charges against you and to work quickly to protect your rights and freedom. You are encouraged to consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. In a recent criminal…
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You be the judge: what federal sentence for latest CIA media leaker?
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Post - Mother's Day Open Thread
I'm a day late with my Mother's Day post. Instead of asking what you planned to do, let us know what you did yesterday. I hung out with the TL kid and we had a lot of fun. I put pics of us up a few years ago on mother's day here. This... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Will and should famed abolitionist nun, Sister Helen Prejean, be allowed to testify at Boston bombing sentencing trial?
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Jacksonville Divorce Lawyers Assist with Managing Finances
The dissolution of a marriage is financially taxing. Court fees, attorneys fees, and dividing assets that used to belong to both spouses are all financial downsides of filing for divorce. The expense of divorce has been cited as a contributing factor in many bankruptcies and foreclosures. During the recession, many couples held off on filing for divorce because of the financial strain it would have caused. That’s the bad news. The good news is there are ways to minimize the cost of a divorce. Work with Experienced Jacksonville Divorce Lawyers It may seem counterintuitive to hire experienced Jacksonville divorce lawyers to keep costs to a minimum during your divorce since experienced attorneys generally charge a higher hourly rate than those fresh out of law school. However, Jacksonville divorce lawyers with a deep understanding of the divorce process can often complete work faster and may be able to us their advanced knowledge of the law and system to help you…
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Disconcerting data show problems and persistence of "racial grass gap" in Chicago
This important Chicago Reader article by Mick Dumke spotlights issues at the intersection of marijuana reform and racial/social justice that I have been thinking about a lot lately. The piece is headlined "Will marijuana decriminalization end the racial grass gap?: As the politics of pot shift, questions of justice remain,"...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/jOSEvnqcbcw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Medical Marijuana Physicians & Businesses Are Attacked By The Feds (IRS) For Taxes Who Disallow Deductions Under Little Known Provision 280E. It's Hitting These Businesses Hard. Don't Let This Catch Your Business By Surprise.
The country’s rapidly growing marijuana industry (including physicians who write the recommendations) has a tax problem.Even as more states embrace legal marijuana, shops and dispensaries say they are being forced to pay crippling federal income taxes because of a decades-old law (26 U.S.C. § 280E) aimed at preventing drug dealers from claiming their smuggling costs and couriers as business expenses on their tax returns. The latest audits are not just aimed at dispensaries but at medical marijuana physicians. Imagine being audited and finding out that all your deductions are being disallowed and you are to pay hefty taxes on gross revenue even if seventy-five percent of it went to pay employee wages, rent, supplies, costs of goods sold, etc. You get the picture of what the IRS is doing here. Congress passed that 280E in 1982 after a cocaine and methamphetamine dealer in Minneapolis who had been jailed on drug charges went to tax court to…
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Man arrested on felony methamphetamines charges in Nassau County drug case
A Georgia man is now facing up to 30 years in prison, following his arrest for allegedly selling methamphetamines. Police received a tip the man would be meeting someone at a store in Nassau County to make the transaction and detectives watched as the deal was conducted, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The man had twice delivered methamphetamines to an informant who was working with police, the newspaper reported. Because there are multiple sales involved in this Nassau County Drug Case, and likely audio or video recordings of more than one crime, the potential sentence in this case could be severe. In Nassau County Drug Crime Cases, charges and sentences are determined by two main factors: the type of drug the person is accused of possessing or selling, and the amount of the drug found on their person. While some drugs, such as marijuana, have relatively minor penalties until you get into larger amounts, others are felonies from the word go. That…
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FINRA Offers 11.7 Million Reasons To Maintain Adequate Supervisory Controls
As noted previously in this blog, the SEC and other regulatory agencies continue to display an increased interest in the issue of internal and supervisory controls. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has continued this trend, recently bringing charges against a number of member firms related to allegedly inadequate supervisory controls. For example, on May 6, 2015, FINRA announced that it had entered into an agreement with the brokerage firm LPL Financial (“LPL”) in which LPL agreed to pay $11.7 million to settle charges that they had failed to maintain sufficient supervisory controls. LPL neither admitted nor denied the charges, but allegedly “failed to have adequate systems and procedures in place to supervise certain aspects of its business,” and consequently, “[m]ultiple deficiencies affected LPL’s systems.” Among other things, LPL allegedly “failed to reasonably…
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Is it unseemly I wish I could watch the Boston bombing closing arguments?
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Representatives Put Forth Wrongful Conviction Compensation Bills in Hawaii and Michigan
Hawaii and Michigan are two of the 20 states without laws in place to compensate wrongfully convicted individuals for their years spent behind bars. Both states currently have bills in the House and Senate which, if passed, would provide the federally recommended amount of monetary compensation as well as damages and benefits to victims of wrongful incarceration. Hawaii’s House Bill 148 and Senate Bill 145 would require compensation of at least $50,000 per year of incarceration, and services to wrongfully convicted individuals. The bills have been met with some opposition from the state’s parole agency which claims the state would be more reticent to issue pardons if they came at such a high cost. The agency is also opposed to the provision which calls for lifetime healthcare for the wrongfully convicted person. An editorial in Ka Leo Hawaii argues that the bill would save the state money in the long run by avoiding lawsuits and would encourage the use of…
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New Maine Law Court Ruling and Its Effects on OUI Cases Going Forward
The most impactful, negative legal ruling to issue from the Maine Law Court in some time is still too new to fully evaluate it's future impact. However, we can make an educated guess that all Maine breath test cases will be negatively impacted. On May 7, 2015, the Maine Law Court issued a ruling in State of Maine v. Tozier. This case involves an interpretation of statutory law and its application on expert witnesses as it applies to breath testing. In a nutshell, the Law Court ruled that the State of Maine is not required to produce an expert witness in response to a timely request and that the term "qualified witness" does not contemplate the State's chemist. This is problematic for a number of reasons. First and foremost, since the State is no longer required to produce a chemist (expert witness) to testify to the operation of and reliability of the Intoxilyzer 8000, the burden of producing the…
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