Guest Blog Post by Jay RosenWhen journalists try to distance themselves from our hyper-polarized politics something has to be said. Here is my little attempt to say it This person — a political journalist: intelligent, informed — appears on my TV screen regularly during those roundtables where pundits try to dissect the news.In our current Polarized America, is it possible for Americans to be unified on anything?— amy walter (@amyewalter) December 5, 2015Over at the ‘Meet the Press’ site, where NBC’s Chuck Todd holds forth, this question was recently asked:Why the selective political outrage?It says something about our current polarized politics, as well as the sheer number of violent killings in this country, when the left and right are picking which mass shootings to exploit and fit into their own worldview. We saw it play out last week after a deranged man killed three people at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado. And we saw it play…
Tone Poem For The "Leave It There" Press
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Drugged Driving on the Rise in Minnesota
The Minneapolis Police Department, alongside the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other state agencies, have worked diligently and aggressively to combat drunk driving in the state of Minnesota. In fact, though currently one in seven Minnesota residents has a DWI conviction on their record, drunk driving rates have dropped over the past decade. This has resulted in less drunk driving crashes, as well as fewer DWI arrests. This is in large part thanks to increased education and awareness about the dangers of drunk driving. In addition, police departments … [Read more...] The post Drugged Driving on the Rise in Minnesota appeared first on Minneapolis DWI Lawyer Douglas T. Kans.
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I Just Want My Case Dismissed: Probable Cause Versus Reasonable Doubt
View More Criminal Defense Articles The main confusion in ‘just wanting to get a case dismissed’ seems to arise with the confusion regarding the Legal Standard for Arrest versus the Legal Standard for Conviction; Probable Cause versus Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Attorney John Breakfield, explains the question of Probable Cause versus Reasonable Doubt in Hall County, Georgia, criminal cases. Probable Cause The standard for Arresting or giving someone a Ticket is Probable Cause. This means is there a Reasonable Belief that there is more evidence For than Against the charge. In other words, is it More Likely than Not that the person committed a crime. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt The Standard for a Conviction is Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Reasonable Doubt means a Doubt that is Based on Reason and Arising from Evidence or Lack of Evidence. It is not imagined doubt or an excuse for performing the juror’s duty. …
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Klingele on Evidence-Based Corrections
Cecelia M. Klingele (University of Wisconsin Law School) has posted The Promises and Perils of Evidence-Based Corrections (91 Notre Dame Law Review 101 (2015)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Public beliefs about the best way to respond to crime...
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FBI to Expand Tracking of Violent Police Encounters
Last night the Washington Post reported that the FBI will be expanding its system for tracking violent police encounters. In response to what the FBI called “a real human outcry,” the data collection will expand from tracking fatal incidents to tracking “any incident in which an officer causes serious injury or death to civilians.” The FBI is also taking steps to address the unreliability of current data collection. In the past, the FBI has “rel[ied] on local police departments to voluntarily share information about officer-involved shootings,” but less than 3% of state and local police agencies have opted into sharing. Following the lead of the Washington Post and Guardian databases, which aggregate and report data in real time using crowdsourcing, the FBI stated that it will start collecting and sharing the data publicly in “near real-time” as incidents occur. However, the new system will continue to rely on police…
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"Decriminalizing Drugs: When Treatment Replaces Prison"
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The Latest on McNeely and Implied Consent
Here I go again (perhaps on my own) with another update on the state of implied consent after Missouri v. McNeely, __ U.S. __, 133 S. Ct. 1552 (2013). These updates occur more often than teeth-cleanings and may be awaited with the same degree of anticipation. But given that there’s a split of authority developing between the states, and North Carolina courts have not yet weighed in, I think these are developments worth following. Missouri v. McNeely refresher. The United States Supreme Court held in McNeely that the natural dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream does not constitute an exigency in every impaired driving case that justifies a warrantless, nonconsensual blood draw. In so holding, the court rejected the state’s call for a categorical rule—based solely on the evanescent nature of alcohol—that would authorize warrantless blood draws over a defendant’s objection whenever an officer has probable cause to believe the…
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Year in Review: Things for Dallas to Consider From a Criminal Defense Perspective
How Dangerous is It to Live or Work in Dallas County? Here we are at the end of another year. Let’s take a minute and consider where things stand as we enter 2016, from a North Texas Criminal Defense perspective: 1. Dallas County Is Really, Really Dangerous As reported by Grits for Breakfast this week, Dallas County (at .5 deaths per 100,000 residents) is reported to be one of the 14 deadliest counties in America. These numbers come from research done by The Guardian. Also from Grits, reference to the FBI’s 2013 Uniform Crime Reports that have Odessa as the most dangerous city in Texas and the metroplex of Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington way down at number 17 on its list of most dangerous cities in Texas. So, either the county is lots more dangerous outside the Dallas city limits, or lots more violence happened here after 2013, or British journalists see things differently than FBI researchers. Go figure. 2. The Dallas Police Chief Wants to Hire More Police Officers:…
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Washington Court Reviews Expert Testimony of Industry Custom in Premises Liability Case
The Washington Court of Appeals recently addressed the issue of whether a trial court properly admitted expert industry custom testimony in a premises liability case. In Ponce v. Mountaineers (Wash. Ct. App. Nov. 2, 2015), the plaintiff’s son died in a sledding accident at the defendant’s recreational facility. The family had parked along the side of a road and was walking from their car up the hill on the access trail, when their son abruptly sat on his sled. The sled traveled down the hill and onto the road, where the son was struck and killed by a passing vehicle. His parents brought a personal injury action, alleging that the defendant failed to exercise ordinary care by not maintaining a barrier at the base of its access path to prevent sledders from entering the roadway. Both the plaintiff and the defendant presented an expert witness to testify as to the standard of care owed to the victim by the defendant. The plaintiff’s expert testified that the…
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Gatekeepers No More: Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Scope of Potential Financial Advisor Liability In M&A Sales Transactions
On November 30, 2015, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a 107-page opinion affirming the Court of Chancery’s post-trial decisions in In re Rural/Metro Corp. Stockholders Litigation (previously discussed here). In the lower court, Vice Chancellor Laster found a seller’s financial advisor (the “Financial Advisor”) liable in the amount of $76 million for aiding and abetting the Rural/Metro Corporation board’s breaches of fiduciary duty in connection with the company’s sale to private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC. See RBC Capital Mkts., LLC v. Jervis, No. 140, 2015, slip op. (Del. Nov. 30, 2015). The Court’s decision reaffirms the importance of financial advisor independence and the courts’ exacting scrutiny of M&A advisors’ conflicts of interest. Significantly, however, the Court disagreed with Vice Chancellor Laster’s characterization of financial advisors as “gatekeepers” whose…
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Spousal Privilege
I don’t want to testify against my spouse in his/her criminal case? That is a common statement made by many spouses in Maryland. Most common in assault or domestic violence cases. But we hear that in various other criminal prosecutions in Maryland. Can you be forced to testify against your spouse? The answer is generally: No. This doesn’t mean the case goes away or the State can’t overcome their burden before a Judge or jury. This only means the State does not have the spouse’s testimony to present as evidence. But they could offer other statements as evidence the spouse made a 911 phone call or provided a written statement. Spousal Privilege – Maryland Law Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code Annotated § 9-106 provides the rule for invoking one’s spousal privilege in Maryland. It states in part: (a) In general. — The spouse of a person on trial for a…
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Federal Bank Fraud Statute Used to Prosecute Small Time Check Forgers But Not Big Banks Responsible for Economic Meltdown
Due to devastating effects of the massive fraud committed within the financial sector over the years leading to the 2008 financial meltdown, bank fraud is now considered by the Government to be one of its most serious priorities. Bank Fraud Under Section 1344 of Title 18, United States Code, the Government must prove three essential elements to establish bank fraud: 1) a knowingly executing or attempting to execute a scheme to defraud; 2) the scheme to defraud was material; and 3) the financial institution was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. As of June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Government has no duty to establish intent to defraud. $1,744 Billion Lost in Bank Fraud According to the American Bankers Association’s 2013 Deposit Account Fraud Survey, fraud against bank accounts in 2012 cost the banking industry $1,744 billion in losses. More than half (54%) of those losses were attributed debit card fraud…
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News Scan
San Bernardino Shooters Radicalized Before Marriage: FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the married couple who carried out last week's terrorist attack in San Bernardino that claimed 14 lives "were radicalized for quite a long time," even before their courtship began online. Richard A. Serrano of the LA Times reports that the new information suggests that the shooters, U.S. citizen Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, began planning a terrorist attack before their engagement and prior to her moving to the U.S. on a fiancée visa in 2014. The investigation shows that the two were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom as early as 2013. A friend of Farook also told authorities that he and an unidentified individual conspired to carry out an attack in 2012 but "got spooked" and abandoned the plan. The FBI investigation also revealed that Farook and Malik…
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WhisperText, Automated Telephone Dialing and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
This post examines an opinion from the U.S. District Courtfor the Northern District of California: McKenna v. WhisperText, 2015 WL 5264750 (2015). The U.S. MagistrateJudge, as judges usually do, begins the opinion by outlining what it involves:Defendants WhisperText, LLC, and WhisperText, Inc. operate an anonymous sharing service called Whisper. The idea is to allow users to share their ideas, hopes and fears without attribution. Like many services accessed primarily on mobile devices, the Whisper App allows users to select contacts and invite those contacts by SMS text to try Whisper for themselves. At issue is whether Whisper's text invitations, as alleged, use an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS) in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Because the present complaint, like those complaints that preceded it, does not state any cognizable claim under the TCPA, WhisperText's motion to dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiff Tony McKenna…
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Prez candidate Donald Trump pledges (seemingly unconstitutional) death penalty mandate for cop killers
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December 11th, 2015
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Computer Crime Increasing in Frequency, Magnitude and Sophistication
The United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and the Northern District of Georgia recently announced three indictments charging several defendants with, among other things, computer hacking, theft and fraud. [US v. Shalon, No. 15-cr-00333 (S.D.N.Y.); US v. Murgio, No. 15-cr-00769 (S.D.N.Y.); and US v. Shalon, No. 15-cr-00393 (N.D.Ga.)] More specifically, the grand juries hearing these cases charged the defendants with computer hacking, securities and wire fraud, identity theft, illegal internet gambling, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and operating an unlicensed money transmitter. These cases are noteworthy not only because of the sheer magnitude of the enterprise described by federal prosecutors, but also because of the manner in which they highlight the increasingly aggressive posture that the Justice Department continues to take toward cybercrime. According to the US Attorney, the defendants hacked into the…
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What Should I Do If I’ve Been Charged With Possession of Marijuana In Wilmington, NC?
Wilmington criminal defense attorney Gint Krulikas Being charged with Possession of Marijuana in Wilmington, NC, can be cause an immediate stress and fear of the unknown. Not only do almost all drug offenses carry a possibility of jail time, but they also can result in serious collateral consequences with your job or education. This is especially true for students at Cape Fear Community College or UNCW. However, although this charge is serious, with the proper guidance and legal representation of a criminal defense attorney, this does not have to be a life changing or defining event. Possession of Marijuana Generally, the most common drug related offense we are contacted about is Possession of Marijuana. This can generally be attributed to both the amount of college students in the Wilmington area and the common use of marijuana as recreational drug. Luckily, in recent years, the North Carolina legislature has realized how prevalent marijuana use has…
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Cert Granted in Bernard!
It's official. The United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari in State v. Bernard. Read the order here. Enjoy the weekend... ramsayresults.com
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Will Wife’s Shoe Collection Determine Court’s Jurisdiction?
We often hear politicians speak of our “global community” to describe the people or nations of the world being closely connected by modern telecommunications and being socially, economically, and politically interdependent. One area where the phenomena of global connectedness is ever more apparent is in the area of family law. Only a few decades ago cases in family court typically involved a divorcing couple who lived in the same city or town and they usually remained there after their divorce was finalized. Now it is commonplace for family law cases to involve several jurisdictions. The scenarios are varied. It may occur where a couple own real estate outside of their country of residence, or one of them wishes to move away with the children to another country. Child abduction is on the increase world-wide as couples separate and engage in high conflict litigation, sometimes marked by one parent’s non-consensual departure from the home country. Couples…
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