The Drug Enforcement Administration today announced via Twitter it has launched a tipline for information on the whereabouts of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera. It provided an email address and phone number. The email address includes the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
DEA Launches Tipline for Info on El Chapo
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The Absolute key to Michigan DUI Cases
In my various DUI articles on this blog, as well as the DUI section of my website, I break down the Michigan DUI process and examine it in what is often painstaking, if not painful, detail. No matter how you analyze it, however, the most important part of any DUI case is what actually happens to you, meaning the sentence that is imposed upon you. In virtually every 1st offense DUI case and in most 2nd offense DUI cases, keeping you out of jail isn't really difficult for me to manage (in truth, staying out of jail is just about automatic in 1st offense cases). A far greater risk, however, is that you will perceived by the court as having, or being at risk to develop a problem with alcohol. In fact, it is pretty much a given that, in any 2nd offense DUI, your involvement with drinking is seen as problematic and risky because, whatever else you can say about it, you're back again. To a Judge (and, really to society in general), a 2nd offense Operating While…
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Single Vehicle Crash State Highway 33 at Milepost 63
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 6 1540 Foote Dr. Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402-1828 (208) 525-7377 FAX: (208) 525-7294 For Immediate Release: 08/06/2015 7:28 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On Thursday, August 6, 2015, at 6:36 p.m., the Idaho State Police are investigating a single vehicle crash eastbound State Highway 33 near milepost 63, east of Sage Port of Entry in Jefferson County. Currently the eastbound right lane of travel is partially blocked. More information will be provided as it comes available. sk/ks -------------
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Random Thoughts on Tonight's Republican Debate
Final Update: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner: John Kasich. Trump held his own but was overshadowed. Huckabee had some good moments. Jeb Bush was too bland. Christie is a lost cause, no pizzaz, no leadership qualities. Dr. Carson, and the two... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Rule 12 Claims Now Reviewable for Plain Error
Failure to raise Rule 12 motions before appeal will result in a forfeiture (not a waiver) of the claim on appeal. In United States v. Soto (a multi-defendant appeal), one defendant failed to raise a severance claim until appeal. Under Circuit precedent, such a claim would have been waived. See, e.g., United States v. Walden, 625 F.3d 961, 967 (6th Cir. 2010). But that precedent relied on a previous version of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. After analyzing the text of the 2014 Rule and the history of the Advisory Committee’s consideration of the new text, the Sixth Circuit held that the defendant had merely forfeited his severance motion, not waived it. The panel then decided to apply plain error review to the claim. Unfortunately, the defendant could not overcome the plain error standard. But the Soto case opens forfeited Rule 12 claims to appellate review.The case above is United States v. Soto, 13-2300 (6th July 24, 2015).
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District 2 Property Damage Crash EB US12@62.5
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police Regional Communication Center - North 615 W Wilbur Ave Suite A Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83815 Please direct questions to the appropriate District Offices District 1 (208) 209-8620 Fax (208) 209- 8618 District 2 (208) 799-5150 PRESS RELEASE FOR DISTRICT 2 CASE # L15000944 --------------------- PRESS RELEASE ----------------------------- DATE: August 6 2015 TIME: 12:01 pm LOCATION: EB US12@62.5 near Kamiah ASSISTING AGENCIES: Lewis County SO, Kamiah Fire Department, District 2 Hazmat Response Team VEHICLE #1 ------------- DRIVER Prater,Terry D AGE 49 ADDRESS Lewiston Idaho INJURIES? - No HOSPITAL/LOCATION TAKEN ? None VEHICLE YEAR 2016 VEHICLE MAKE Western Star Semi VEHICLE TRAILER 2010 Beall WRECKER Jacksons Wrecking …
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Single Vehicle Crash State Highway 33 at Milepost 63
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *UPDATE**UPDATE* Idaho State Police District 6 1540 Foote Dr. Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402-1828 (208) 525-7377 FAX: (208) 525-7294 For Immediate Release: 08/06/2015 9:00 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office The roadway is open at this time and the crash remains under investigation. sk/do *end of update* Idaho State Police District 6 1540 Foote Dr. Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402-1828 (208) 525-7377 FAX: (208) 525-7294 For Immediate Release: 08/06/2015 7:28 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On Thursday, August 6, 2015, at 6:36 p.m., the Idaho State Police is investigating a single vehicle crash eastbound State Highway 33 near milepost 63, east of Sage Port of Entry in Jefferson County. Currently the eastbound right lane of travel is partially blocked. More information will be…
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Insufficient Evidence: Failing to Connect the Defendant with the Crime
The Sixth Circuit reversed a child pornography conviction because the Government failed to present sufficient evidence. In United States v. Lowe, police officers found child pornography on a computer at the defendant’s (James Lowe’s) home. But three people lived at the residence before the police search and the Court found that the Government failed to adduce evidence sufficient for any rational juror to conclude that it was the defendant, and not one of the other residents, who knowingly possessed the illegal computer files.After developing probable cause that child pornography existed on a computer at the defendant’s residence, the police searched the residence and found three computers: a laptop with the username “Stacy;” a desktop computer; and a laptop with the username “Jamie.” It was on this third computer that the child pornography was located. The police found a form with James’s name, social security number, and date of…
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**Final Update** Single Vehicle Crash State Highway 33 at Milepost 63
**final update** Idaho State Police District 6 1540 Foote Dr. Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402-1828 (208) 525-7377 FAX: (208) 525-7294 For Immediate Release: 08/07/2015 12:27 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On August 6, 2015, at approximately 6:35 p.m., Idaho State Police investigated a single vehicle injury crash on State Highway 33, near milepost 63, in Jefferson County. Hannah E. Burlingham, 22, of Hamilton, MT, was driving eastbound on State Highway 33 in a 2008 Hyundai Accent. She drove off the right side of the road, overcorrected, and lost control of the vehicle. She again drove off the right side of the road and down an embankment, where she crashed into a pile of rocks. Burlingham was transported by ground ambulance to Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, ID. Idaho State Police was assisted by Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. The investigation is ongoing at this time. sk/do *end of update* IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated…
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News Roundup
The trial of the week this week is in Charlotte, where former CMPD officer Randall Kerrick is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of former college football player Jonathan Ferrell. The case has attracted some national attention, as evidenced by the CNN coverage here, perhaps in part because Kerrick is white and Ferrell […]
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Spillover Federalism
Gerken and Holtzblatt, The Political Safeguards of Horizontal Federalism, 113 Mich. L. Rev. 57 (2014). Charles Shanor An essay by Heather Gerken and James Dawson entitled Living Under Someone Else’s Law, 36 Democracy Journal 42 (2015) caught my attention several months ago. The topic was horizontal federalism, and the context was “spillovers,” extraterritorial effects that regulations of one state have on other states. Spillovers do not intentionally discriminate against a state’s neighbors or their citizens, do not favor insiders (citizens or businesses), and do not erect protectionist barriers at state lines. But spillovers have consequences, sometimes annoying, sometimes costly, for neighboring states. Spillover examples include California emissions controls, Colorado marijuana legalization, and red state permissive gun-control regulations. Tighter emissions controls by California raised car prices to buyers in all states as national companies…
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Seal or Expunge Your Criminal Record
I recently read article entitled, “20 Celebrities You Never Knew Had Criminal Records.” According to vh1.com, stars from Tim Allen to Will Smith have arrest records. Al Pacino, was once arrested for suspicion of robbery. Pacino and a friend were arrested after police came across the pair sitting in a car with black masks; a gun was found in the truck of the car. Charges were later dropped when it was explained that the two were actors on their way to a “job”. For the celebrities listed, their careers appear to be unaffected by their criminal records. For others, it could be very important that you seal or expunge your criminal record. This is more important when there is a crime of dishonestly or a crime of moral turpitude involved. These are crimes that cast a negative light on a person’s character. Offenses like theft and fraud fall into this category of crimes. Under Florida law, a person…
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Feeling Guilty
My pal, Fresno criminal defense lawyer Rick Horowitz, tells the story of the guy calling to find a lawyer for his case. It’s not exactly a new story. This morning, I received a phone call from the jail. Some poor guy is “between a rock and a hard place,” in that he’s been locked up for allegedly committing a crime – a physical assault on another person. And he needs help. Well, that’s what I’m here for, right? So the guy starts to launch into his story, but before he gets very far, I stop him, because 1) I don’t like to discuss the specifics of someone’s alleged criminal activity on a recorded phone call, and 2) before too much time is taken up – because, yes, jail calls are damned expensive – I want to make sure the person I’m speaking with is actually looking to hire an attorney. Most callers want to tell their story. Not the story, but their story. The story is factual and…
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Jon Stewart’s Gift To Us
At the New York Times’ Room for Debate, the question posed was whether Jon Stewart had a serious lesson for journalists. Hey, it could have been about Cecil the lion, so wipe that smirk off your face. As Jon Stewart steps down as host of “The Daily Show” he leaves behind “an audience that will no longer take the theater of media-driven politics seriously,” as Timothy Egan wrote. His funny, but tough take on events was a major source of news for young people, particularly liberal ones. The original Jon Stewart, before he was replaced with the vaudeville version who mostly mugged for the camera and played innuendo when he couldn’t come up with an actual thoughtful point, was quite brilliant in two things: He used humor to make news interesting, which meant that a generation too lazy to learn what was happening in the world for themselves would get at least a smattering of information. This was no small feat. But…
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The Terminated Employee, Disk Wiping and the Motion for Sanctions
This post examines an opinion a federal District Court Judgewho sits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washingtonissued recently: Watkins v. Infosys, 2015 WL 4493440. The judge begins his opinion by explaining that he is going to rule on the Infosys’s Motion for the Sanction of Dismissal and Motion for Summary Judgment. Watkins v. Infosys, supra. He also summarizes the conduct that led to both motions:Plaintiff Marilyn Watkins brings the above-captioned lawsuit against her former employer, IT-services provider Infosys, alleging discrimination based on her race/national origin, retaliation, and breach of promise. . . . Plaintiff is Caucasian and a Canadian citizen with Permanent Resident status in the United States. . . . She worked for several years as a manager with Defendant Infosys -- a foreign company headquartered in Bangalore, India -- in its Bellevue, Washington office. . . . In September of 2013, she was terminated. . . . Plaintiff…
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The Rich Man’s Brady
The issue arising in the petition for cert on behalf of George Georgiou is whether the government’s Brady obligation stands alone, or whether it is contingent on the defense lawyer’s due diligence. The issue arose from a witness against Georgiou who had some psychological issues: The main witness against Mr. Georgiou was Kevin Waltzer, the former business partner, and Mr. Georgiou’s lawyers had asked the prosecutors for all sorts of information about Mr. Waltzer, including whether he had suffered from mental disabilities, emotional disturbances and the like. But the prosecutors failed to provide a transcript and a report that would have disclosed that Mr. Waltzer had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression and had taken drugs to control those conditions. That information would have been useful during Mr. Waltzer’s cross-examination. It might also have led the defense to discover that Mr. Waltzer had received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. …
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Bail Denied for Suspect in Attempted Murder of Chicago Cop
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Raphael Jordan, who was charged with the attempted murder of a police officer, is being held without bail. According to witnesses, the officer was wearing her Chicago Police badge on her belt while working a side job as a security guard for a construction company when she saw Jordan walking away from a construction site with a hammer drill owned by the company. After the officer told Jordan to stop, he ignored her, dropped the hammer drill, and proceeded to a nearby van. The van was running and a female was sitting in the front passenger’s seat. The officer pulled her gun after Jordan continued to ignore her, even after identifying herself as a Chicago police officer, and approached the vehicle. Jordan began to drive away as the officer was standing beside the driver’s side door. She planted her feet on the moving van’s floorboard as she clutched her gun in her right hand and held herself in place in the van with the…
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Charleston Shooter Charged with Federal Hate Crimes
The recent shooting at the Charleston African Methodist Episcopal (AME) was a true tragedy that captured the nation’s collective attention and sympathy. Authorities say the lone gunman entered the church under the guise of wanting to participate at a prayer discussion group when he took out his gun and killed nine people at the meeting and injured several more. The 21-year-old defendant allegedly came to the bible study group with .45 caliber automatic Glock pistol with eight magazines of ammunition, while the victims brought their personal study bibles, according to the United States Attorney in South Carolina as reported by Reuters. The indictment said he planned the attack for months and allegedly chose this 200-year-old church because of its historical importance to the black community. Prosecutors have said they are not sure whether they will seek the death penalty in this case and said there are many factors to consider; however, this case has been indicted as a…
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ALERT: DUI Checkpoint Scheduled on Friday, August 7, 2015, on South West 20th Avenue in Gainesville, Florida
Be aware that WUFT radio is reporting today that the Gainesville Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies are conducting another DUI checkpoint this Friday night, August 7, 2015, in Gainesville, Florida. This check point will be located in the 4500 block of South West 20th Avenue and will be conducted between 9:00 pm this Friday night and 1:00 am, according to the announcement.
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Trial By Combat in New York?
A friend sent me this post by Eugene Volokh commenting on a colorful brief filed by Richard Luthmann, a Staten Island attorney. This paragraph from near the end of the document sums up the attorney's position:The allegations made by Plaintiffs, aided and abetted by their counsel, border upon the criminal. As such, the undersigned respectfully requests that the Court permit the Undersigned to dispatch Plaintiffs and their counsel to the Divine Providence of the Maker for Him to exact His Divine Judgment once the Undersigned has released the souls of the Plaintiffs and their counsel from their corporeal bodies, personally and/or by way of a Champion.Luthmann is seeking to resolve the dispute through trial by combat, and throughout his brief he goes into great detail about the history of trial by combat in England. He argues that trial by combat is a permitted method of dispute resolution in the United States because trial by combat was legal in England when the original…
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