Back in May, our Palm Beach and Broward County drug crime defense lawyers at Leifert & Leifert wrote a blog about a series of bizarre crimes, seemingly influenced by the new drug called flakka, that were committed here in Florida. Now, as the Sun-Sentinel has reported, it seems flakka is officially taking hold in South Florida and in Broward County in particular; according to crime statistics, Broward now leads the entire country in number of flakka cases. Stats supplied by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) show that Broward was, by far, the county with the highest number of flakka confiscation cases in 2014 throughout the United States. The county with the second-highest number, Chicago's Cook County, had less than half the number of cases that Broward supplied.
DEA: Broward County Leads Nation in Number of Flakka Cases
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Pleading Ignorance of Arizona’s Case Law
I wish it was as simple as this: “Your Honor, I plead ignorance of the law because it is impractical and quite nearly impossible to access a significant amount of Arizona’s case law on the matter.” Nearly 30 years of Arizona case law is not freely and practically accessible, even though it should be. “But … Continue reading Pleading Ignorance of Arizona’s Case Law → The post Pleading Ignorance of Arizona’s Case Law appeared first on Arizona Common Law.
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Can 24/7 Sobriety Programs Fix the DWI Problem?
The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece last Friday that, according to the headline, offered “A Simple Fix For Drunken Driving.” I was intrigued because, frankly, I didn’t think there was one. As it turns out, the headline over-promises. The author, Stanford University psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys, does not purport to have a solution […]
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St. Johns County contractor facing felony charge in alleged fraud scheme
A St. Johns County contractor was arrested this month on a felony charge, accused of not delivering on work after he had been paid deposits. Police said they started investigating the contractor in 2013 and found more than 10 people who had contracts with the man for home renovations, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Permits were never issued for any of the work and the man required customers to provide at least 75 percent of the money up front, the newspaper reported. The contractor was not licensed to do the work and homeowners reported a total loss of about $150,000, the newspaper reported. The man was charged with an organized scheme to defraud of more than $50,000. This St. Johns County Theft Charge is a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in state prison. According to Florida law a scheme to defraud is “a systematic, ongoing course of conduct with intent to defraud one or more persons, or with intent to obtain property from one…
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JARED FOGLE COURT DOCS: The Banality of Real Sex Offenders
I’m the man who knows too much. Want to know why? It is because the practice of criminal law has shown me that there is a breed of normal looking sicko that creeps all over our society in huge numbers, more so than you could ever imagine. While most people imagine a sex offender looks disheveled with a deranged look on his face, my image is of a normal looking suburbanite. He is probably coaching your kid’s soccer team as you read this. Don’t be fooled by his cotton Dockers, boat shoes, and friendly demeanor. I know he has a job, drives a minivan, and his wife is just the nicest lady. I don’t care that he is a respected member of your fill-in-the-blank religious organization. When he is home alone, he masturbates obsessively to videos of children being raped. In fact, he will probably do that later tonight after coaching soccer. This article will provide you with the real court documents filed in Jared…
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The "Top Secret" EGhazi E-mails
Fox News is reporting that: An email from a top Clinton adviser containing classified military intelligence information, and one from a top aide containing classified information about the Benghazi terror attack, were the documents that... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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"Colorado Marijuana Tax Revenue Nearly Doubles in One Year"
The title of this post is the headline of this new Time piece, which includes these passages: It’s been a year and a half since the legalization of marijuana went into effect in Colorado. Business for purveyors of marijuana was good from the beginning, but has soared in the past...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/KJEQINJsjzU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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"Why Not Treat Drug Crimes as White-Collar Crimes?"
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St Louis Criminal Defense: Is Being Charged With Minor In Possession Of Alcohol Really That Big Of A Deal?
ONLY $375 FOR MOST ST LOUIS MINOR IN POSSESSION CHARGES Yes, it is. The charge of St Louis minor in possession is described by the state of Missouri as a misdemeanor. If you were to simply plead guilty to the charge, then the misdemeanor would become a part of your record. This will make things very difficult when you try to get a job (or rent an apartment, or secure a student loan). St Louis misdemeanors are not anything to laugh at. Depending on how many minor in possession charges you’ve had in the past, the court can potentially sentence you to up to one (1) year of jail time and a $1,000 fine. Furthermore, if you were to plead guilty to the minor in possession charge, the state will automatically suspend your driving privileges for thirty (30) days (and sixty days for a second offense, and a full year for any subsequent offense of MIP). PLEADING GUILTY IS NOT YOUR BEST OPTION!! And not only that, but the laws of Missouri regarding this area were recently expanded to…
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News Scan
AZ Sheriff Blasts Feds for Releasing Violent Immigrants: An Arizona sheriff expressed his outrage Tuesday over a U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy that set free three violent criminal aliens in the last week, and called the agency's new Law Enforcement Notification System "too little, too late." Perry Chiaramonte of Fox News reports that Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu spoke of his frustration at a news conference alongside family members of crime victims, spotlighting three criminals released into his jurisdiction. They included a Russian national who set a police informant on fire, an Iraqi who killed his two-year-old daughter and an illegal from Sudan who committed multiple assaults in two states. ICE claims that under current law, they were unable to legally hold the three, two of whom were released because their travel documents could not be located, called a "bureaucratic excuse" by Babeu. Though…
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Single vehicle crash on SH28 near Lone Pine
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: 08/19/2015 2:35 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On Wednesday , August 18, 2015, at 8:56 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a single vehicle,injury crash northbound on SH28 at milepost 52, near Lone Pine. Paul Bennett, 34, of Lewisville, was driving a 2002 Sterling 7500 truck northbound. Bennett went off the shoulder, overcorrected and coming to rest on the left shoulder. Bennett was air lifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. Bennett was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash. The Idaho State Police was assisted by the Clark County Sheriff and Lemhi County Sheriff. The crash is still under investigation at this time. <JH /…
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Minnesota Adopts Good-Faith Exception to the Exclusionary Rule . . . Long Live the Exclusionary Rule!
Today the Minnesota Supreme Court issued a long awaited decision on whether or not to adopt the “good-faith” exception to the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule. In a 4-3 decision, the Court did decide to adopt the good-faith exception, over the dissent of three justices. The case was State v. Lindquist and you can read it yourself here. What does this mean? Here’s a brief primer: Normally, when law enforcement agents violate a person’s constitutional rights, any evidence obtained as a result of that violation is suppressed. The “Exclusionary Rule” is what judges use to suppress the evidence – illegally obtained evidence is “excluded” from use at trial, no matter how powerful or crucial the evidence is to the State’s case. One of the main reasons for such a rule is to motivate law enforcement agents to not violate the Constitution, knowing that if they do, the evidence they obtain is effectively useless. The…
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Even with plea deal, Subway pitchman Jared likely facing at least a decade in federal prison for sex offenses
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Marshall Project Exposes New Allegations of Misconduct by Willingham Prosecutor
Earlier this year, the Marshall Project published a story which discussed new evidence exposing that a jailhouse informant secretly received a deal from the then-Navarro County District Attorney—John Jackson—in exchange for his testimony against Innocence Project client Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004. In an article released yesterday, the Marshall Project revealed that the Willingham case was not the first time that Jackson gave an informant incentive to provide false testimony that would help send a man to death row. In 1997, Ernest Baldree was executed in Texas. More than a decade prior, he had been convicted of burglarizing and murdering a married couple. At trial, Jackson, the prosecutor on the case, presented testimony by a man named Kyle Barnett, a jailhouse informant. In his testimony, he told the jury that Baldree had confessed to him that he’d shot the couple. While his testimony was, in fact, the truth, it was not what Jackson had…
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TRUMP - YOU ARE DISQUALIFIED AND FIRED
What is it about Republicans and the Constitution that makes them like oil and water. We have already had four candidates who have disqualified themselves for not understanding either the Judiciary clause or the 1st Amendment. Now The Donald has announced that the 14th Amendment can not withstand a court challenge. A constitutional amendment is unconstitutional and it "won't hold up in court."In particular Trump has said that those children born of undocumented aliens in the United States are not citizens. Let's look at this logically, which, of course, Trump does not.First of all the amendment is simple: ". . . all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States. . ." What part of this sentence is not clear and unequivocal?Second, if Trump is right, then a vast majority of our "citizenry", in one form or another, may not be citizens, and must voluntarily…
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How to contact lawyer Jessica Towne
I have an iPhone on me nearly all the time. I keep my appointments and court schedule on it; use it to communicate with my staff; and even to track the routes important documents take on their way from my office to a client or the prosecutor's office. Of course I use it to talk to clients, but I also use it to talk to people who possibly won't ever become my clients. During business hours, you can reach me at 770-338-2338 and your call will be transferred directly to me when I'm not in court. A large part of being a "serious" traffic ticket/DUI lawyer is taking calls from people who have a recent ticket or arrest. I know the Gwinnett courts, including city courts, and will answer most basic questions leading up to: "Do I even need a lawyer?" I'm happy to tell some callers, "No, you don't need a lawyer. Here's how to handle this yourself." (Bet you didn't think that was possible.) When you call me, I'll talk…
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Realty is the management company of the premises...cont
For the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the prescribed venue of an action is codified at and statutorily authorized by Article 5 of the CPLR. The statutory scheme provides that "notwithstanding the provisions of this article, the place of trial of an action shall be in the county designated by the plaintiff, unless the place of trial is changed to another county by order of the court upon motion or by consent" (CPLR §509). As such, unless the parties have by prior written agreement fixed the venue of an action, CPLR Article 5 permits the plaintiff the right to make the initial selection of an appropriate venue. Pursuant to CPLR §503(a), venue is predicated upon the residence of one of the parties at the time the action is commenced, not where the cause of action arose. However, CPLR §510(1) provides that the "court, upon motion, may change the place of trial of an action where: the county designated for that purpose is not a proper…
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Recommended disbarment for Bubba the Love Sponge lawyer
We have previously blogged about the now infamous DUI set-up during a civil trial involving two Tampa Bay area DJ s. We then blogged about the possible punishment and the aftermath. Now there is word coming down that the Florida Bar has recommended permanent disbarment for several of the involved. Is this an unfair punishment or is this justice? The Supreme Court may have the final word… Pinellas County senior judge W. Douglas Baird will have some tough decisions in the next few months. The Florida Bar has asked the judge to disbar three of the lawyers involved in the high profile defamation lawsuit in 2013. Florida Bar attorneys made a recommendation for Stephen Diaco a partner in a Tampa Bay law firm, to be permanently disbarred for his role in a rival lawyer’s DUI arrest in 2013. Stephen Diaco’s actions were called “malicious and [done] for personal gain”. The disciplinary committee went on to mention…
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Fourth Circuit refuses to allow convicted former Virginia Gov to remain free pending SCOTUS appeal
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Spoilation of Evidence and Secretary Clinton
CJLF is not a partisan organization, although it's obvious it more frequently sides with Republicans than Democrats, particularly on matters of judicial selection. I, as a guest contributor, have not been shy about strongly taking on such Republican stalwarts as Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and occasionally my brilliant friend from years ago -- and a courageous man in my view -- Sen. Ted Cruz. I have had very little to say about some prominent Democrats, in particular leading presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.This is, however, a criminal law blog, and one of the most important factors in preserving the legitimacy and public repute of criminal law is that it be applied as equitably as possible toward both the strong and the weak. Thus, when powerful but corrupt Republicans like George Ryan, Duke Cunningham and Bernie Kerick got sentenced to prison, my reaction was: Fine. They want to behave that way, they can live with the…
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