Poaching in Iowa is the crime committed when a person takes wildlife or fish without the proper permit. Iowa Code Section 483A.42 provides as follows: A person who violates this chapter is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation under section 805.8B, subsection 3, paragraph “e”. However, the scheduled fine specified in section 805.8B, subsection 3, paragraph “e”, does not apply to a violation of this chapter for which another scheduled fine is specified in section 805.8B, … Continued
Poaching Charges in Iowa
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Money Laundering Charges in Iowa
The crime of money laundering in Iowa is defined by Iowa Code Section 706.B as follows: 1. It is unlawful for a person to commit money laundering by doing any of the following: a. To knowingly transport, receive, or acquire property or to conduct a transaction involving property, knowing that the property involved is the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, when, in fact, the property is the proceeds of specified unlawful activity. b. To make property available to … Continued
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2015 White Collar Crime Awards
Each year this blog has honored individuals and organizations for their work in the white collar crime arena by bestowing "The Collar" on those who deserve praise, scorn, acknowledgment, blessing, curse, or whatever else might be appropriate. With the appropriate...
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Why Probable Cause Often Isn’t
I could just say “Cops Lie,” and be done with it, but then you wouldn’t read it, would you? Oh, fuck. I just lost most of you. Come back! I’ll give you reasons for saying this! Real probable cause to believe me! For those still with me, the other day, Radley Balko wrote a post over at the Washington Post titled, “Federal judge: Drinking tea, shopping at a gardening store is probable cause for a SWAT raid on your home.” Alleged constitutional scholar Orin Kerr, also writing at the Washington Post, took issue with it in his “No, a federal judge did not rule that drinking tea and shopping at a gardening store amounts to probable cause.” And, finally (for purposes of this post), Scott Greenfield (there! again!) clarified the real problem by pointing out that while Kerr was technically right in a pedantic sort of way, That the judge who signed off on the warrant accepted the results of the test as being sufficient to show…
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Prosecutor Banned from Court! Texas Disciplinary Rules Require Disclosure of Favorable Evidence Regardless of Materiality
William Allen Schultz, a Denton County prosecutor, has been banned from appearing in a state district court after the court found he purposefully withheld favorable evidence from a defendant regarding a questionable identification. The grievance that followed has forced the Commission for Lawyer Discipline of the State Bar of Texas to settle a conflict between the disclosures required under Brady v. Maryland and the special responsibilities of prosecutors found in Texas Disciplinary Rule 3.09. “The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct was adopted by the ABA House of Delegates in 1983. They serve as a model for ethics rules for most states.” The ABA Rules format, with varying degrees of changes, has been adopted by every State in the Union, except California. Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor ABA Rule 3.8 spells out the “Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor.” The Texas rule is found at 3.09. Subsection (d) of this…
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Chapman on The Jury's Constitutional Judgment
Nathan S. Chapman (University of Georgia School of Law) has posted The Jury's Constitutional Judgment (Alabama Law Review, Vol. 67, p. 189, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Despite the early American jury’s near-mythical role as a check on...
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Gearing up for historic 2016 in the arena of marijuana law, policy and reform
There are many reasons I have been telling colleagues and students that 2016 is likely to be a HUGE year in the marijuana law, policy and reform space, and I am obviously not alone in looking toward this new year as defining a dynamic and likely historic year in this...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/ctboC0_DuLE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Complying with Discovery in Divorce and Custody Cases
In divorce and child custody cases in Illinois and Iowa, Discovery is an important part of the case. Discovery refers to the process through which each side in a divorce or custody case is entitled to gather information from the other side, for use in court later. It is important to comply with discovery, as a failure to do so can result in significant harm to a case. It is common in divorce and custody cases for each attorney to … Continued
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Pakistan: The year of most executions
Source: The Express Tribune (2 January 2016)http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/pakistan-year-of-most-executions.htmlAs many as 301 people were executed in the Punjab last year. Thousands of prisoners on death row continue to wait for verdicts on their appeals. There are at least 5,145 people on death row. Of these, there are 42 women whose appeals are pending before the high court and the Supreme Court, sources in the office of the Punjab inspector general (prisons) told The Express Tribune.Recently, 63 appeals against death penalty were dismissed by the president. Dates of execution are to be notified soon. There are 4,213 appeals pending in the Lahore High Court and its allied benches; 743 in the Supreme Court, 124 with the president and 3 with the Pakistan Army GHQ.After the deadly attack on Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had lifted the moratorium on death penalty. The first execution was then carried out on…
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Putting Saudi Arabia's execution of 47 people into historical context
Source: The Independent (1 January 2016)http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/putting-saudi-arabias-execution-of-47-people-into-historical-context--b1ePJGtzpixSaudi Arabia has executed 47 people convicted of terrorist offences, including prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.Al-Nimr was an outspoken supporter of the protests in the east of the kingdom in 2011, and was arrested alongside his nephew Ali al-Nimr (17 at the time) in 2012, for charges of (among other things) seeking “foreign meddling” in the state.Ali al-Nimr has not been named among the 47 executed, most of whom were detained after a series of al-Qaeda attacks between 2003 and 2006 in which hundreds were killed.All but two of those executed were Saudi nationals, one was an Egyptian and one was a Chadian.Iran, a country with Shia leadership, said Saudi Arabia would pay a "high price" for the executions, claiming that Riyadh: "supports terrorists... while executing and suppressing critics…
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New Bill With Criminal Penalties for a First Refusal: 2016 SB 1244 Amending FS 316.1939
In order to discourage individuals from refusing to submit to a chemical test during a DUI investigation, the Florida legislature created a separate crime for a second refusal. The Florida legislature reasoned that a person could increase their chances of avoiding a DUI conviction by simply refusing to take the test after each arrest. As […]
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Local prosecutor urges Wyoming legislature to "fish or cut bait" with capital punishment
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Happy New Year?
It's 2016.Around the world, folks celebrated the new year.In SydneyIn MoscowIn Dubai In LondonIn New YorkOf course, it wasn't all fireworks. Some places had their own customs.In Saudi Arabia Ben Hubbard in the Times.Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution on Saturday, putting to death dozens of militants linked to Al Qaeda as well as a prominent cleric who had criticized the government’s treatment of the country’s Shiite minority.The Saudis killed 47 in their mass executions. Though I haven't been entirely fair with the picture I chose. Some of the 47 were killed by firing squad. The others, well yeah. ButMost of the executions on Saturday were by beheading; they were not public, unlike most Saudi executions.January is (or perhaps is not) named after Janus. The Roman god of transitions. Janus is routinely depicted with two faces because he looks, at once, both to the past and the future. So looking to the past for some…
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Black Lives Matter; Thinking Does Too
The Guardian did something that embarrassed the FBI in 2015. It kept track of how many people were killed by police. The FBI director, James Comey, said in October it was “embarrassing and ridiculous” that the government did not hold comprehensive statistics, and that it was “unacceptable” the Guardian and the Washington Post, which began publishing a database of fatal police shootings on 1 July, held better records. While true, there is a fairly obvious reason why the government hadn’t bothered to keep track of such things. It fulfilled no internal need. Who was killed and why was a matter of concern for those looking in, not those whose job it was to explain to Congress why its budget was inadequate to win the War on Crime. No good could come of it for the FBI, in particular, or law enforcement in general. After all, it would provide fodder for those who don’t appreciate how hard, how dangerous, how critical, their job is. …
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Divided Court of Criminal Appeals in flux
Your correspondent was quoted in the lede of a Dallas News story Dec. 31st by Brandi Grissom titled "Texas top criminal court halted more executions in 2015." The underlying newshook for that statement: "Texas courts halted 14 executions [in 2015]. Two of those were later rescheduled and carried out." But, "That’s nearly twice the number of stays granted most years."Brandi quoted Grits declaring that “There’s absolutely been a change, and we’re still seeing where the splits are.” I did say that, but in our conversation I tried to cabin my comments to non-capital cases, hesitating to comment on a specialized area of the law that I don't typically follow (and which is the topic of other blogs).That said, it's undeniable there's been a change on the court and we're waiting to see what the splits are. Three swing votes were replaced by two appellate prosecutors and a long-time judge considered more …
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Progressing. Toward Misery?
Some words are burned into our psyche, but used for whatever purposes suit our secret feelings: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Well, yes. Of course. And these lofty words are sufficiently vague, easily misunderstood, as to justify our rejection of the laws of physics, the parameters of human nature, the limits of reality. We take comfort in the certainty of the righteousness of our beliefs, and yet, things aren’t really working out terribly well as people demand their self-evident truths be accepted by everyone else, all of whom have self-evidence truths of their own, which are often in conflict. I awoke this morning to an email from Jordan Rushie, with the comment, “I’m not even shitting you.” It included a link to a story about how a woman, “a feminist and…
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Strict Maryland Laws Creating Market For Gun Trafficking
Maryland has always been relatively tough on guns, and in the last two years new firearm legislation has made it one of the toughest states in the country. But whether these strict laws actually work to curb gun violence is an issue that will be debated for years to come. The Firearms Safety Act has only been around for a year and a half, so it is impossible to make sweeping conclusions on its effectiveness yet. One thing is for certain though; the strict gun laws create a lucrative market for out of state gun traffickers, which has become a priority for the local United States Attorney’s Office. This past week federal authorities announced the conclusion of a seven-month investigation that has eliminated a gun trafficking ring operating from Tennessee. The investigation yielded seven arrests, with three of the suspects being previously convicted felons. This particular group would allegedly purchase various guns in Tennessee with the intent of selling them for a profit…
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A Few Misconceptions Reconceptualated
This is day four of my return to blogging. I didn’t exactly make a New Year’s Resolution that I was going to start blogging again; it really is something of a coinkydink that I started blogging again on December 31 with the intent to return to doing it daily. ‘Round about July 1, my law practice underwent a significant change that would have theoretically allowed me a lot more time for writing, but then a number of factors prevented it. For one thing, the last couple, or three, months of 2015 were not good for me health-wise. In fact, in December I had what should have been a relatively simple surgery that pretty much completely waylaid me for the entire month. Other attorneys were gracious enough to cover for me, and I will fully reassume my own caseload beginning tomorrow. Details are unimportant. Suffice it to say that I intend to come back ready to fight. And I only hope that I’m able to get things back on track quickly. I mentioned the other…
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WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS
WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS John MacCormack and Michelle Casady of the San Antonio Express News (EN) wrote (subscription required) a compelling story on how Rogelio Gutierrez was wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Wrongfully convicted man freed after serving 22 in prison. Mr. Gutierrez’s ordeal began on 29 December 1992 when he was sixteen years old. On that date, a thirteen-year old girl was gang raped in a mobile home in Bexar County, Texas. The victim identified Gutierrez as one of the assailants at trial. Gutierrez was then convicted and sentenced to thirty (30) years in prison. However, five days after Gutierrez was sentenced, the victim recanted and said Gutierrez did not sexually assault her. Further, the victim had documented psychiatric history that seriously casted doubt on her story. But this psychiatric evidence was not disclosed at trial. [Note—this would be considered exculpatory evidence that should have been turned over to defense…
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Case o' The Week: Weight, weight - don't tell me. Navarrette-Aguilar & Apprendi Proof for Mand-Min Drug Quantities
The Ninth’s New Year’s Resolution: watch the weight. United States v. Navarrette-Aguilar, 2015 WL 9463075 (9thCir. Dec. 28, 2015), decision available here. Players: Great decision by Judge Paez, joined by Judges Fisher and Ikuta. Facts: Among other crimes, Navarette was charged with conspiracy to distribute a kilo or more of heroin, which triggered a twenty-year mand-min (Navarette had a prior). Id. To build the case the government used information from lower-level dealers to pursue higher-level distributors. Id.Specifically, cops developed snitches to work up the chain to Navarette. The government introduced 274 grams of heroin at trial. Id. at *2. The cooperators testified about the number of times they purchased heroin from Navarette, and the quantities involved. Id. at *3. The district court and Ninth agreed that this testimony was “vague.” Id.at *4.The jury found Navarette conspired to distribute a kilo or more. Id. at *5. In…
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