The Washington Times published an article titled “Defining a Legitimate Scope for the Federalization of Business Crime” by Washington partner George Terwilliger, assisted by Richmond associate Katherine Mims Crocker, about the proper role of federal policing and prosecutorial authority, and how it exceeds the limited role the U.S. Constitution prescribes for it.
Defining a Legitimate Scope for the Federalization of Business Crime
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Drugs, the Victimless Crime, Part Eight Zillion
I don't think I need to say a great deal about this Washington Post story, which begins:A Silver Spring man was sentenced to 80 months in prison Friday following a February crash in which the man drove his SUV onto a downtown Washington sidewalk during afternoon rush hour, striking and killing an attorney on his way to night classes at Georgetown University's law school...Prosecutors said [the defendant, James] Chandler, was high on PCP at the time of the crash....According to prosecutors, on Feb. 23, around 4:50 p.m., Chandler drove his SUV at nearly 60 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone west on H Street NW, between Second and Fourth streets, striking two other vehicles without stopping. As Chandler crossed Fourth Street and struck the curb of the corner of Fourth and H streets NW, his vehicle mounted the sidewalk.Prosecutors said evidence showed that Chandler never tried to apply his brakes or take any actions to avoid the crash.It could just as easily have been me.…
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Why Are Republicans Signing on to Sentencing "Reform"?
Sentencing "reform" is the name given to across-the-board sentencing reduction, both prospectively and (in the plans of "reformers") retroactively as well. Although most often and most loudly advertised as intended for "low-level, non-violent" offenders, it will not be limited to that. As "reformers" tend to admit toward the bottom of whatever press release they're putting out, they fully aim for violent criminals to benefit as well. If there is any limit on the types of violence (e.g., child rape) they would exclude from these new benefits, I haven't heard about it. I think the reason for this is simple: Once you see the criminal as the victim, and society as the (often racist) oppressor, it's only fair that all criminals get their reductions. America's rottenness is not limited just to its treatment of drug pushers.Recently, an increasing number of Republican legislators and candidates have…
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Bill Cosby’s Friends Jump the Sinking Ship
Hollywood’s silence over the Bill Cosby rape allegations is hypocrisy at its finest. The celebrity personalities who are usually the first to voice their condemnation, whether asked or not, are either eerily quiet or entirely dismissive of the charges of over thirty mature women. It is scandalous to hear Hollywood feminists like Whoopi Goldberg and Phylicia Rashad suggest that Cosby’s victims are conspiring to destroy his legacy. It is classic victim-blaming. But worst of all, where is Oprah Winfrey, the queen of scandal? But the tide is slowly turning against Bill Cosby as his supporters and defenders, silent and otherwise, are jumping ship, including Whoopi Goldberg who just this week resiled from her audacious support of Cosby, under pressure from her employer, the ABC Television network. John and Jane Doe Public are also taking steps to take Cosby down a notch or two from the revered position he has held for decades. The non-profit organization “Promoting…
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Criminal Cases in the Supreme Court Term -- Part 2
Continuing with the term summary (part 1 was yesterday), here are the federal criminal law cases, the prisoner rights cases, and a trio of summary error corrections.Federal Criminal LawYates v. United States, February 25, 2015, 5-4 on the judgment, 4-1-4 on reasoning. The Sarbanes-Oxley law, enacted to address financial fraud, prohibits among other things destroying a "tangible object" to obstruct an investigation. Does that cover throwing fish overboard to obstruct a charge of a size limit violation? No. Justice Ginsburg wrote the plurality opinion, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Breyer, and Justice Sotomayor. Justice Alito wrote a concurrence, and cast the deciding vote on the judgment, with a different path to the same result. Justice Kagan, joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas dissented from the Court's departure from what she sees as the plain language of the statute. Henderson v. United States, May 18,…
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Idaho Falls Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Related Charges
POCATELLO – Gerardo Botello, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to distribution of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.According to the plea agreement on May 23, 2011, an undercover officer met with Botello at his residence in Idaho Falls, Idaho. At that meeting the undercover officer purchased 53.7 grams of actual methamphetamine from Botello.Botello’s charge is punishable by ten years to life in prison, a maximum fine of ten million dollars, and at least five years of supervised release.Sentencing is set for October 21, 2015, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.The case was the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led jointly by the Idaho State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, in conjunction with, U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security…
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Rothstein on Confrontation and Opinion Writing
Paul F. Rothstein (Georgetown University Law Center) has posted two pieces on SSRN. The first is A Comment on the Supreme Court's Decision in Ohio v. Clark: The Court's Confrontation Clause Jurisprudence Evolves. Here is the abstract: In Ohio v....
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The National Driver Register (NDR)
The NDR is a database of information about drivers maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It is similar to but distinct from the Driver’s License Compact among the states. The NDR maintains records of licensees of all 50 states who have had their licenses revoked, suspended, or have been convicted of serious traffic violations such as DWI. Under federal law, State DMV’s are required to transfer identification information on all revocations, suspensions, and license denials within 31 days of receipt of the convictions from the courts. State and federal driver licensing officials, The U.S. Coast Guard, Air carriers (they are REQUIRED to search the NDR prior to hiring pilots), federal agencies, and the National Transportation Safety Board all have access to review NDR records. Further, employers and prospective employers may review NDR records for employees or to do driving history background checks on…
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In Case You Missed It, Scarlet Letter Edition
In a comment, Frank pointed to a proposal by District of Columbia council member Anita Bonds, who apparently found herself a little late to the “rape epidemic” party, and desperately needed to come up with something, anything, to ride the wave to the twin glories embodied by this sham: Tough on crime and feminism. To pander to two constituencies who are usually deathly antagonistic is a rare opportunity, and no politician worth her salt would miss the chance to hop on that speeding train. Bonds was no exception. Newly proposed D.C. legislation would require colleges to put a permanent and prominent notation on the academic transcripts of students who are convicted of sexual assault or who try to withdraw from school while under investigation for sexual misconduct — a “Scarlet Letter” that would follow them to new schools and graduate programs or into the workforce. Council member Anita Bonds’s proposal Tuesday — which comes as the…
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Will an OUI Conviction count as an HO strike?
You already have a conviction for Operating After Suspension (OAS) on your record. Now you are facing a charge for Operating Under the Influence (OUI). With your attorney, you are trying to figure out whether the plea deal the District Attorney offered is a good offer. One of the questions you need to ask your […] The post Will an OUI Conviction count as an HO strike? appeared first on The Nielsen Group.
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Illinois Appellate Court Rules that Constructive Possession of a Weapon May Be Proven By a Statement to Non-Law Enforcement
This week, the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the conviction for Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon when the most significant piece of evidence was an admission to a civilian that the bag containing the gun belonged to him. In People v. Daniel Smith, No. 1-13-2176 (1st Dist. 2015), found at http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2015/1stDistrict/1132176.pdf, a Greyhound bus driver saw the defendant board his bus in Markham, Illinois. The driver did not recall whether or not the defendant had luggage. When the bus reached its final destination and all passengers debarked the bus, the driver discovered a backpack. He unzipped the bag and discovered a weapon. At trial, the driver testified that the defendant, who was 19 years old, approached him and said the bag was his. The driver asked what was in the bag and Smith said a BB gun. The driver took the backpack into his office…
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Texting ban proponent: If new laws don't improve safety, at least they make people 'feel weird'
Better late than never, the Dallas Morning News' Tom Benning offered up an assessment of research regarding the public safety benefits, or rather the lack of documentable safety benefits, from municipal ordinances banning texting and cell phone use, titled, "Do cities' texting-while-driving bans reduce crashes? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" (July 17). In a nutshell:Texting or talking on the phone while driving is demonstrably dangerous — a fact that’s backed up by reams of research. There’s no denying either that cellphone use while driving can cause accidents — Austin, even with flaws in the data, saw 70 of those wrecks in 2014 alone.But banning the practice doesn’t necessarily reduce accidents.A Dallas Morning News analysis of the imperfect crash data in 12 Texas cities with cellphone rules found no consistent reduction in distracted driving wrecks after cities enacted bans. And that follows equally mixed reviews found by…
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Video of Police Shooting in Gardena Released
In June 2013, in Gardena, California, local police officers shot unarmed brothers Ricardo Diaz Zeferino and Augustin Reynoso as they stood in front of the officers. Zeferino was killed and Reynoso left with a bullet lodged next to his spine. The incident was captured from two different video cameras, which demonstrate the absence of any justifiable basis for the officers' decision to open fire.As detailed in this story in the L.A. Times, the local district attorney chose not to file charges against the officers, stating that Zeferino was seen reaching for a weapon. A civil lawsuit followed during which the video was released subject to a protective order (meaning that the lawyers could not use it outside the litigation). The plaintiffs' lawyers argued that the video showed a baseless shooting of two unarmed men. Gardena continued to argue that the video showed the officers responding to a man reaching for a weapon in his waistband. Ultimately, Gardena paid $4.7…
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Sleepy Judges: Winkin’, Blinkin’, and Nod
Every trial lawyer has their own story of a judge falling asleep on the job. Before I was called to the bar I was a law clerk for an elderly judge and would accompany him to court to take notes. On more than one occasion I observed him nodding off during counsel’s tedious argument. During “tea” breaks in his chambers he would also rest his head on his chest for more than just a few minutes He retired at the mandatory age of 75 and went on to hold several high-profile government positions until he retired for the last time at the age of 85. I’ve also heard stories of lawyers dropping large books on their podiums or the floor to awaken the sleeping judge who will decide their client’s fate. Of course, the precursor to sleep is yawning and closing one’s eyes. That is fairly routine in long cases where a lawyer consistently meanders away from relevant evidence, or has the habit of repetition, a trait I abhor. The “precursor” is only…
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DNA match statistics overstated, news delayed scheduled execution
Reported AP's Michael Graczyk, "The Texas Department of Public Safety sent a notice June 30 that the FBI-developed population database used by the crime lab in Texas and other states had errors for calculating DNA match statistics in criminal investigations." The Texas Attorney General's Office informed attorneys for Clifton Lamar Williams of the issue on Wednesday and the Court of Criminal Appeals halted his execution scheduled for Thursday night and ordered the trial court to hold a hearing.The math error overstated at trial: "Williams is black, and prosecutors said the probability of another black person with the same DNA profile found in [the victim's] missing car was one in 40 sextillion. Jurors in 2006 were told the probability was one in 43 sextillion. A sextillion is defined as a 1 followed by 21 zeros." Of course, there are only 7 billion (nine zeroes) or so people on earth, so that statistic essentially told jurors it's…
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The NYPD and Fudged Figures
What happens when police officers are both evaluated based on a statistical analysis of criminal activity taking place in their precinct and given primary responsibility for keeping track of said activity? Give yourself a gold star if you guessed that some officers might play a little fast and loose with the figures. Add captionIt was reported yesterday that NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton has announced the transfer of the commanding officer of the 40th precinct in the Bronx, along with a lieutenant, eight sergeants, nine officers, and one detective, as a result of under reporting of criminal complaints. This statistical manipulation serves a multitude of purposes, the most obvious of which is to show an artificial decline in the crime rate within the precinct.Statistics are a critical component of crime fighting in the NYPD, which relies heavily on its CompStat program to track criminal activity throughout the city with great specificity. These analytics allow the NYPD to…
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2015.67: Texas Legislature Outlaws Sex
From Texas Penal Code Section 43.021, effective September 1: (a) A person commits an offense if, in return for receipt of a fee, the person knowingly: (1) offers to engage, agrees to engage, or engages in sexual conduct; or (2) solicits another in a public place to engage with the actor in sexual conduct for hire. (b) A person commits an offense if, based on the payment of a fee by the actor or another person on behalf of the actor, the person knowingly: (1) offers to engage, agrees to engage, or engages in sexual conduct; or (2) solicits another in a public place to engage with the actor in sexual conduct for hire. (b-1) An offense is established under Subsection (a) regardless of whether the actor is offered or actually receives the fee. An offense is established under Subsection (b) regardless of whether the actor or another person on behalf of the actor offers or actually pays the fee. So if you engage in sexual conduct in return for receipt of a fee, you commit a crime…
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Clay County man arrested for hit-and-run in stolen car
A Clay County man accused of driving a stolen car into a pedestrian and leaving the scene of the accident has been arrested and is now facing several charges. An 18-year-old man was in a crosswalk when a man drove into him, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The pedestrian was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, the newspaper reported. Witnesses said the driver immediately drove off and the car was found abandoned in a nearby parking lot, the newspaper reported. The car had been reported stolen two hours before the accident, though it is not clear how police connected the dots between the car and the suspect. The driver is in this Clay County Traffic Case charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury, grand theft of a vehicle and driving without a license. Two of the three charges are felonies: leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in…
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Warrantless Search & Seizure of Computers
Issues of Privacy Rights Pertaining to Computers and other Electronic Devices Winding Their Way Through the Courts In a separate web posting I detailed the ruling and background pertaining to Riley v. California, a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision which said that police cannot search the contents of a cell phone without a judicial warrant. The ruling generally was viewed by legal pundits and others as a victory for individual privacy rights, but other Fourth Amendment issues related to high-tech devices remained up in the air. Following the decision, legal questions surrounding warrantless police searches of other electronic tools such as laptop and desktop computers have been winding through the lower courts, potentially paving the way for the high court to decide those matters. In May, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that federal agents do not have unlimited power to search laptop computers and other high-tech devices at U.S. border exit points (including…
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Denver Nuggets Ty Lawson Charged with DUI
Denver Nuggets star Ty Lawson was arrested for DUI in Los Angeles Tuesday night making this his second DUI arrest this year. Lawson was apparently pulled over by CHP for speeding on the 101 Freeway early Tuesday morning. Officers allege he showed signs of intoxication, so they gave him a field sobriety test. He was arrested around 2:30 AM. Cops said during the arrest, Lawson identified himself as an NBA player. Washington Wizards v/s Denver Nuggets January 25, 2011 His bail was set at $5,000. Lawson’s previous DUI arrest was back in January in Denver. If you happen to be one of the nearly half a million people who have been charged with multiple DUIs, you must have a Florida DUI Defense Attorney at Whittel & Melton working on your defense. There is so much at stake with a DUI charge, and you could spend time behind bars as well as lose your driving privileges. Moreover, your wallet will definitely take a big hit if you are convicted. While a DUI may seem like a minor…
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