Lawrence S. Goldman has this post at White Collar Crime Prof Blog continuing a debate over whether the case should have been pursued. In part: Hastert was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, structuring withdrawals from financial institutions of his...
The Hastert Structuring Case
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Injury Crash I84 at 239
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: November 4, 2015 9:25 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office ***Final Update*** On Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at 4:40 p.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a two-vehicle, injury crash on Interstate 84 near milepost 239, in Cassia County. Robert Hall, 47, of Emmett, Idaho, was driving eastbound in a 2016 Freightliner semi. Guyle Carver, 66, of Boise, was eastbound in a 2009 Mercury Mariner. The Mariner struck the back of the semi trailer and came to rest in the fast lane. Carver was transported via air ambulance to Portneuf Regional Medical Center in Pocatello, Hall was not transported. Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts. The lanes were…
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Mortgage Broker Sentenced for False Loan Application Statements
Valeri Kalyuzhnyy, 44, Citrus Heights, California, was sentenced to 2 years in prison. On June 25, 2015, Kalyuzhnyy pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a loan application. According to court documents, Kalyuzhnyy, while working as a mortgage broker, bought two homes using the credit information of a straw buyer. The loan applications that […]
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Lots of interesting commentary on lots of interesting criminal justice topics
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Maryland Court Upholds Conviction for Manufacturing Methamphetamine
If a person is convicted of a crime after a bench trial (by a judge) or a jury trial, he or she is typically entitled to appeal the conviction and to assert any number of pertinent arguments. One of the more common arguments on appeal concerns a lack of sufficient evidence to support the conviction. Appellants also may argue that the law or statute did not apply to their facts and circumstances. The appellate court is required to apply the appropriate standard of review to determine whether an appellant’s arguments have merit and warrant a reversal of the conviction. To be sure that your rights are adequately protected during a criminal case, from the point of arrest through any appeal, you are encouraged to contact an experienced Maryland criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. In a recent Maryland case, the court conducted a bench trial to determine whether the defendant was guilty of manufacturing methamphetamine, in addition to several other…
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Everyone Has the Right to Seek Asylum
Hundreds of Rohingya refugees arrived in Indonesia on May 15, 2015. Thousands more are believed to still be stranded at sea reportedly with no country willing to take them in. Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images We all have an obligation to help The right to flee from danger and seek safe haven ought to be something we all innately understand. And yet, one need only turn on the television, browse the Internet or pick up a paper to find arguments against it. Under international law, states have an obligation to help people fleeing persecution by not sending them back in to danger. After the second World War, the global community, joined by the United States, began to create a system of agreements to ensure that governments would act together to protect human lives and dignity and take care of those most in need. It may not have worked as well as it should have or could have, but it did set standards that governments are expected to achieve. PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images These simple…
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Texas Exoneree May Be Forced to Pay $334,000 in Back Child Support
A Texas exoneree may be held responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in back child support that a judge claims he owes for the 25 years he spent behind bars, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Steven Phillips was exonerated in 2008 after DNA evidence proved he was not the perpetrator of the series of rapes and sexual assaults for which he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Because Phillips was unable to make child support payments due to his wrongful imprisonment, the back child support is to be paid by the state of Texas as part of Phillips’ wrongful conviction compensation. However, the state comptroller claims that Phillips owes only $18,593 and refuses to pay the total amount of $334,000 that District Judge Gloria Saldana says is owed. The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday as to whether the state comptroller can limit the amount of funds provided through the Timothy Cole Act, the law which entitles wrongfully-convicted Texans to…
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Afolabi on Alcohol Withdrawal-Induced Crime
Michael O.S. Afolabi has posted Mental Instabilities & Accountability: A Contextual Examination of an Alcohol Withdrawal-Induced Crime (Medicine and Law 34, 2: 307-320, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Breaking a moral rule in an autonomous state implies a...
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Idaho State Police Update on Shooting Investigation in Adams County
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE Teresa Baker Public Information Officer Headquarters 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 884-7122 Fax (208) 884-7087 For Immediate Release: 11/05/15 at 4:15 p.m. MERIDIAN - The Idaho State Police would like to thank those who have come forward with information regarding the shooting that took place in Adams County on Sunday evening involving two sheriff's deputies. ISP reassures those involved in this incident, their families and the public at large, that they are committed to complete a thorough investigation into this incident to determine exactly what transpired. The scene has been processed and ISP detectives are continuing to conduct interviews and are methodically examining each piece of evidence. Physical evidence will be sent to forensic labs for analysis in hopes of revealing further facts that will help piece together the events that unfolded that night. The testing of forensic evidence and an investigation of…
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5 Clients, Each with 2 Reckless Driving Trials This Year, Avoid 10 Reckless Driving Convictions (5 x 2 = 10)
DISCLAIMER – EACH CASE IS UNIQUE AND CASE RESULTS DEPEND ON YOUR INDIVIDUAL SITUATION. CASE RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE UNDERTAKEN BY THE LAWYER. Zachary gets his two reckless driving by speed charges in Virginia Beach General District Court reduced to traffic infractions with court dates in January and October of 2015. Original charges were 60/35 RD and 51/25 RD in a school zone. Daquan avoids two reckless driving by speed charges in court on April 14th and April 20th of 2015. The Newport News case for 73/35 RD was dismissed, while the Northampton case for 73/45 RD was reduced to improper driving. Blake avoids two reckless driving charges in Virginia Beach General District Court in April and May of 2015. One was reduced to improper driving. One was dismissed. Beder avoids two reckless driving charges in Virginia Beach Circuit Court…
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Gravel on roadway
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: 11/05/15 04:30 P.M. Please direct questions to the District Office On Thursday, November 5, 2015, at approximately 3:35 P.M., the Idaho State Police responded to a report of gravel on the roadway near milepost 50 on Interstate 86. Troopers are requesting motorists use caution and slow down while traveling near that area. Idaho Transportation Department and troopers are working to clear the lane. More will be released when it is available. BT / LS -------------
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Fingerprints Not Enough to Convict
Science never seems to prove as much as prosecutors claim. Case in point: fingerprints. Yes, prosecutors make some pretty ridiculous plea offers when they have incriminating fingerprints. They get that gleam in their eye, like “Guidry, you can’t get your client out of this one–I have fingerprints!!” Oh boy, I’ve never seen such a solid case. Wow, my client must really be guilty this time, right? Wrong. What does it mean to say “the defendant’s fingerprints match those found at the crime scene?” Let me tell you what it’s not. When law enforcement testifies that a crime scene fingerprint “matches” the defendant’s fingerprint, they’re not saying that these two fingerprints are identical. Sure, it sounds that way, but even with two prints “matching”, the crime scene fingerprint could belong to someone else. Why, you ask? Because…
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WaPo Fact Checker Nails the Incarceration Whoppers
I have criticized media "fact-checker" columns from time-to-time, as they occasionally show political bias and a loose association with the truth themselves. WaPo fact-checker Glenn Kessler gets it right this time, though, with four statements by President Obama and candidates Carly Fiorina, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton. But the statements ... also reflect a basic misunderstanding of the data on prison populations. We've listed the statements in order, from the least egregious to the most outlandish, to demonstrate how -- almost like a game of telephone -- the facts get increasingly unmoored from the actual data. It's a complex issue, which leads itself to facile explanations. Here are the statements:"Over the last few decades, we've also locked up more and more nonviolent drug offenders than ever before, for longer than ever before. And that is the real reason our prison population is so high." -- President…
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**UPDATE** Gravel on roadway
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 5 5205 South 5th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho 83204-2299 (208) 236-6466 FAX: (208) 236-6068 For Immediate Release: 11/05/15 05:08 P.M. Please direct questions to the District Office **Update:** At this time , the gravel has been removed and all lanes are open. BT / LS -------------
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Givanti on Cops v. Whistleblowers
Yehonatan Givati (Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Faculty of Law) has posted A Theory of Whistleblower Rewards (Journal of Legal Studies, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: To enforce the law, the government must learn about violations of the...
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Young & Ready on Body-Worn Camera Activation Among Police Officers
Jacob TN Young and Justin Ready (Arizona State University and Arizona State University (ASU)) have posted A Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationship between Administrative Policy, Technological Preferences, and Body-Worn Camera Activation Among Police Officers on SSRN. Here is the abstract:...
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One vehicle fatal crash on US-95 at milepost 169
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: 11/5/2015 Please direct questions to the District Office On Thursday, November 5, 2015, at approximately 12:26 p.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a single-vehicle, fatal crash northbound on US-95 at milepost 169, eight miles north of New Meadows. Douglas Freeman, 64, of Lewiston, was northbound on US-95 in a 2008 GMC Canyon. The GMC went off the east shoulder, overcorrected, and went off the west shoulder, where the vehicle rolled. The GMC came to rest on the west shoulder. Freeman was transported to St. Luke's McCall Medical Center by ground ambulance, where he succumbed to his injuries. Next of kin has been notified. The crash is under investigation by…
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How Bail Works in Domestic Violence Assault Cases
The number one cause for murder in the state of Maine is attributed solely to acts of domestic violence. Domestic violence is a serious problem in the state and every District Attorney's Office takes it seriously. The problem with domestic violence, in part, is the disruption of families and relationships. Often times, when I meet with clients, their first and primary concern is how do they get back with their partner. Unfortunately, if you've been charged with domestic violence, it will prove very difficult to get your bail amended for the purposes of reuniting with your loved ones. In Maine, the purpose of bail is as follows: to ensure the integrity of the judicial system; to ensure the safety of the public; to ensure the defendant appears for all of his or her court dates; and to ensure that the defendant does not reoffend. The purpose of bail in Maine is not to reunite couples or families; at least with respect to domestic violence…
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"Ex-Prosecutor Details Robert Durst Case in New Book, but Some Fear It Could Aid Defense"
From The New York Times: Ms. Pirro’s critics fear that her memoir could aid Mr. Durst’s defense and provide a major headache for prosecutors in Los Angeles, where Mr. Durst is accused of murdering a onetime confidante to prevent her...
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Striking Government Experts in Health Care False Claims Act Cases: U.S. ex rel Lawson v. Aegis Therapies, Inc.
Experts play a crucial role in False Claims Act cases involving disputes over whether a provider's claims for reimbursement by Medicare violate Medicare rules and regulations. If both sides, relator/government and the defense, have experts, then unless an expert's testimony is stricken or limited, the dueling opinions of experts will often create issues of fact and thereby prevent either side from obtaining summary judgment. Moreover, courts frequently give experts wide latitude in expressing their opinions under the rubric that expert opinions will "assist the trier of fact" even though an expert's opinions and methodology may be highly suspect.A case that recently demonstrated that the tolerance for experts --in this instance, government experts-- is not limitless and that refused to permit experts to testify on the grounds that their testimony would not help the jury is U.S. ex rel Lawson v. Aegis Therapies, Inc., 2015 WL 1541491…
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More Pages to Explore .....
