According to Reuters, a judge approved Britain's first Deferred Prosecution Agreement today. The below is from the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) press release. The Serious Fraud Office's first application for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement was today approved by Lord Justice...
Britain's First DPA Approved by Court
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The State in Florida Cannot Use a Defendant's Confession Alone to Prove Case Without Independent Evidence
In a criminal case in Florida, if the state has a full, valid confession of a crime from a suspect, can they use that alone to convict the person of the crime? No. The state must have evidence independent of a confession to prove the crime occurred before it can use a confession against a defendant. Most of the time, this is not an issue, but there are cases where the state tries to rely on a confession without much, if any, independent evidence that a crime occurred and that the suspect committed the crime. The state does not need to prove the crime beyond a reasonable doubt independent of the confession, but the state does need to have substantial evidence of the crime outside of the confession. The state can use direct or circumstantial evidence to independently establish the crime. However, independent evidence of the identity of the suspect is not a requirement for a confession to be admissible, unless it is necessary to prove a crime occurred. This may seem…
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Bundesgerichtsentscheid im Swap-Fall
Das schweizerische Bundesgericht hatte in öffentlicher Beratung vom 5. Mai 2015 den Antrag einer dänischen Bank auf Rückerstattung der schweizerischen Verrechnungssteuer auf Dividenden in einem Swap-Fall abgewiesen. Am 27. Oktober 2015 hat das Bundesgericht das schriftliche Urteil erlassen (BGE 2C_364/2012). Eine dänische Bank schloss mit Kunden in England, Deutschland, Frankreich und den USA Swap-Kontrakte ab, mit welchen vereinbart wurde, dass die Kunden die Wertentwicklung inklusive Dividenden und Kursgewinnen eines Basiswerts gegen einen festgelegten Zahlungsstrom tauschen und die dänische Bank hierfür eine variable Zinsentschädigung (Libor) und eine Marge erhält. Als die dänische Bank die auf den Dividenden des Basiswerts belastete Verrechnungssteuer zurückforderte, verweigerte die Eidgenössische Steuerverwaltung (EStV) die Rückerstattung. Die EStV verneinte die Nutzungsberechtigung der Bank an den Dividenden. Das…
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When Educating Girls Means Putting Your Life on the Line
Fawzia Nawabi, investigator at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Mazar-e-Sharif, gathers information in a local women’s prison. By Elsie De Laere, Afghanistan country specialist In Afghanistan, standing up for women’s rights means putting your life on the line—this includes the educators who “dare” to educate girls. This 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we are highlighting the critical role of access to education for girl children—as well as the barriers to this right. And in Afghanistan, the threat to women’s rights defenders—including educators—is a huge barrier to girl children accessing their fundamental right to education. As an educator and human rights activist here in the United States, the idea that I and my colleagues could be targeted, killed, or hurt for our work is frightening. Yet in Afghanistan where this is a daily reality, teachers and other women’s rights…
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3 Notes on DUIs and Probable Cause
“Probable cause” is a pretty common term in legal circles, but how exactly is it applied when it comes to DUI laws? Today we answer that question and explore how probable cause can make or break your drunk driving legal defense. Drunk Driving and Probable Cause Probable cause is defined as “enough evidence or suspicion to reasonably believe that a person has committed a crime.” Here’s how it’s applied to DUI law in Minnesota. 1. Police need probable cause to pull you over – Police can’t just pull you over without reason to suspect that you are under the influence of alcohol. Even if they see you leave a bar, get in your car and take off down the down, so long as you follow all traffic laws, an officer cannot pull you over until they witness a violation. However, police know that when it comes down to it, it’s your word versus their word, and it’s easy to claim that a driver was swerving or that they weren’t…
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Notable SCOTUS dissent from cert denial in habeas case from Sixth Circuit
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News Scan
First Freddie Gray Trial Begins: Stakes are high in Baltimore as the trial for one of six police officers indicted in the April death of Freddie Gray begins Monday with jury selection. Juliet Linderman of the AP reports that Officer William Porter, accused of failing to get medical help for Gray during a 45-minute trip in a police van, faces charges of assault, manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. The five other officers will be tried separately beginning in January, and trials are expected to last until the spring. Gray, a 25-year-old black man, was arrested in April, initially handcuffed and placed in the back of the police van, and later had his legs shackled while the van made several stops over the course of 45 minutes. He was discovered unresponsive and died one week later of a spinal injury, sparking rioting and unrest that continues to plague the city. An acquittal could result in further protests and unrest…
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Prove You’re Not Impaired
The best thing I can say about the recent Supreme Court of Arizona opinion in Dobson v. McClennen is that it is far better than the terrible Court of Appeals opinion it vacates. The heart of the issue in the case is the Mesa City Prosecutor’s Office’s despicable desire to convict medical marijuana patients of driving under the influence when they are not under the influence. The Court of Appeals of Arizona condoned the practice. Although the Supreme Court of Arizona disagreed, it placed the burden on patients to prove their lack of impairment. It is actually a pretty simple issue if you do not have something against medical marijuana and a serious creative streak when it comes to statutory interpretation, as A.R.S. § 36-2802(D) provides that a medical marijuana patient “shall not be considered to be under the influence of marijuana solely because of the presence of metabolites or components of marijuana that appear in insufficient concentration to cause…
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DNA Evidence from 2000 Murder Points to Victim’s Nephew
A Washington man was arrested Tuesday after DNA testing linked him to a 2000 murder for which another man is currently serving a life sentence, according to the Longview Daily News. Innocence Project Northwest client Donovan Allen was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder for the death of his mother Sharon Cox in 2002 and was sentence to life in prison without parole. Allen confessed to the crime after 14 hours of overnight interrogation and later recanted. In May, Innocence Project Northwest attorneys requested that additional DNA testing be performed on the victim’s clothing, nail scrapings and other evidence found at the scene. DNA found on the collar of the victim’s sweater and on her shirt matched to her nephew, Brian Del Kitts, who was a person of interest during the initial investigation. Police officials told the Longview daily news that Kitts is considered to be an additional perpetrator, and that the evidence does not exonerate Allen. Innocence…
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Teens, Confessions, and Culpability
Maura Dolan has this article in the L.A. Times about the controversies regarding police questioning of teenagers and, in a few cases, children about serious crimes. Some people are arguing for bright-line rules to the effect that police can never question young people below some arbitrary cut-off age without a lawyer present, which for all practical purposes means they can't question them at all. As Justice Robert Jackson noted long ago, "any lawyer worth his salt will tell the suspect in no uncertain terms to make no statement to police under any circumstances."*A related issue is the culpability of minors for crimes. The story says,Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said he would like Miranda rights to be eliminated and all interrogations videotaped. He called the brain research about adolescents' legal culpability "a bunch of hooey."Not quite. There is research…
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My Insurance Company Told Me I Don’t Need a Personal Injury Attorney
If you’ve suffered injury in an accident that was not entirely your fault, you will soon find yourself dealing with the other side’s insurance agency. Despite their apparent sympathy for your cause, this company’s interests are entirely their own. They will say and do whatever they must to cut their losses, so don’t be surprised if they encourage you not to hire a personal injury attorney. How Taking This Advice Will Hurt You The insurance company’s initial settlement proposal for your injury might seem generous. They want it to sound that way. What they don’t want you to realize is that in many cases, a personal injury attorney might win you as much as ten times the amount of their offer. The insurance company knows this. It also knows that by dealing with you directly, all that additional money that could have been yours will safely remain in its coffers. The Worse Your Injuries, the More You Need Professional Legal Assistance The greater…
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Maine's Ignition Interlock Device Program
d If you've been suspended administratively by the Maine BMV for an OUI or you've been convicted in a Maine court for a criminal OUI, you're eligible to get your license reinstated early through the state's IID program. The Ignition Interlock Device program (IID) was put into place precisely two years ago, on December 1, 2013. The purpose of the program was twofold: to allow people convicted of or administratively suspended for an OUI offense to drive and therefore, to be able to continue to work and pay their bills; to ensure the public's safety by requiring all OUI offenders to drive with an IID. The institution of the IID program also resulted in increased license suspension penalties as follows: 1st offense increased from a 90 day loss of license to 150 day loss of license; 2nd offense increased from an 18 month loss of license to a 3 year loss of license; 3rd offense increased from a 3 year loss of license to a 6…
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ARE DMV ADMINISTRATIVE PER SE HEARINGS UNCONSTITUIONAL IN CALIFORNIA?
California DMV Administrative Per Se Hearings As previously discussed on this website (here and here), a DUI arrest results in two separate proceedings: The Administrative Per Se Hearing and a criminal court hearing. Even if the criminal case is dismissed, the driver can still find his or her California driver license suspended by the DMV and be subjected to other administrative orders. How is this? In a nutshell, California law provides that the DMV can suspend the license of a driver who is arrested for a blood alcohol level over the legal limit regardless of any criminal (DUI) proceedings. The process is separate from any criminal court case and essentially gives the DMV as much or more power than a superior court judge. In fact, every year the DMV suspends or revokes the licenses of drivers whose DUI arrest never resulted in criminal charges or whose criminal cases were dismissed for lack of evidence. Several appellate cases have challenged this process but, for the…
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Constitutional Rights Matter -- in Hawaii, at Least
From my snowed-in perch at my desk in Minnesota, Hawaii looks mighty good right about now, and I’m not just talking about the weather. On November 25, 2015, in Hawaii v. Won, the Hawaii Supreme Court found that alleged DWI-suspect “Won was coerced to give his consent to the search of his breath by the threat of prosecution if he refused to give his consent.” Better yet, in his concise concurrence, Justice Michael D. Wilson concluded that Hawaii’s DWI Test Refusal statute is unconstitutional. Recently, under the guise of protecting the public from intoxicated drivers, the constitutional rights of licensed drivers to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures have been eroded by laws that make criminal the exercise of those rights. … Some courts have embraced this criminalization of the exercise of fourth amendment rights. See, e.g., State v. Brooks, 838 N.W.2d 563, 570-73 (Minn. 2013). [U]nder the Hawaii Constitution, Won did not impliedly…
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IS IT A CRIME TO INFECT SOMEONE WITH AIDS?
TV star Charlie Sheen recently revealed that he is HIV positive. Mr. Sheen’s lifestyle is no secret, for years the tabloids have chronicled his seemingly non-stop partying, his coterie of “goddesses” and his many sexual escapades. According to Mr. Sheen’s revelation, he has known he was HIV positive for at least four years. He claims that he informed all of his sexual partners that he was HIV positive, but at least several of Mr. Sheen’s alleged sexual partners have denied that Mr. Sheen informed them of his condition. Could Mr. Sheen have violated California criminal law? Well, maybe. When specific conditions are met, California makes it a felony to expose another person to HIV by engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse. (Cal. Health and Safety Code §120291.) Mr. Sheen may have violated this statute if he knew he was HIV positive at the time he engaged in unprotected sex but did not disclose his condition to the other party. If, as…
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Thanksgiving Kicks of Annual Holiday Increase in Drunk Driving Accidents
Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday for many Americans. There is no need to worry about gifts yet, and it is based on a meal at which everyone can abandon their diets and eat their favorite foods. While some get stuck with the cooking, others will be relaxing and watching football and drinking alcohol. While there is no doubt this can make for a great day, it often leads to many tired and drunk individuals hitting the roads and traveling home at the end of the night. It should come as a surprise to nobody that drunk driving accidents are more common around the holiday period each year, but many may not realize that Thanksgiving tends to kick off the period of increased drunk driving incidents. However, according to a recent report from the trade publication PYMNTS, it is not Thanksgiving Day that starts the drinking holiday but the Wednesday before, which people in the alcohol beverage industry are calling “Blackout Wednesday.” It is on Blackout Wednesday that…
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Easier for young drivers to keep their licenses
Georgia recently passed new laws regarding when and how driver’s licenses can be suspended. As some of us know from experience, there are many ways to get your license suspended. As of July 2015, there are now fewer ways. Your license can no longer be suspended for: purchasing alcohol while under 21, possessing alcohol while under 21 and while driving, lending or borrowing a license for the purpose of false identification, making or distributing fake IDs, and driving away without paying for gasoline.
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St Louis Speeding Tickets $35: Why Is It Important To Get My Ticket Reduced To A Non-Moving Violation?
ONLY $35 FOR MOST ST LOUIS SPEEDING TICKETS Because if you end up with a moving violation on your permanent driving record, then the state will assess points. This is will result in much higher car insurance rates. So the goal of a good St Louis traffic attorney is get the ticket reduced to a non-moving violation. A more thorough explanation is provided below: When you are pulled over for having committed an infraction of the traffic laws in the state of Missouri, the police officer will write you a ticket. Once you have the ticket in hand, you have two main options: 1) you can plead guilty to the infraction; 2) you can hire an experienced attorney to fix the ticket for you. If you choose the first option, then the Missouri Department of Revenue will assess a certain number of points upon your permanent driving record. “Points” are like little red flags that make it appear as if you are a bad driver. Once points become a part of your permanent record, you…
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Milanowski on Unauthorized Computer Access
Jessica M Milanowski has posted A Threat to or Protection of Agency Relationships? The Impact of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act on Businesses (4 Am. U. Bus. L. Rev. 531, (2015)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Computer...
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Hearing Held on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Motion for New Trial
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers sparred in court with prosecutors today as a hearing was held on his motion for new trial. Arguments centered on a recent Supreme Court ruling finding the law providing for stiffer penalties for crimes involving... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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