Two new Slate commentaries assailing the modern death penalty and modern prisons
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State of Maine v. W.G.: Refused Breathalizer Test
Blood / Alcohol Content (BAC): Refusal Defense: Lack of Credibility of Police and Improper Administration of Field Sobriety Tests Defense Attorney: John Scott Webb Offense: Second Offense OUI (refusal), Class D Maximum Sentence: 364 days in jail (minimum 12 days in jail, 18 month license suspension consecutive to any administrative suspension and a $800 fine) Synopsis: Client was arrested by local law enforcement officer for OUI and refused to take a test. Client was on way to working night shift and was stopped for excessive speed and erratic operation after being followed by the officer for over one mile. Officer had Client perform field sobriety tests (including the “walk & turn”, “one leg stand” and “finger to nose”) near entrance to the industrial area. Client failed all tests and was arrested. He was subsequently taken to the station and offered a breathalyzer test. Client determined that he had already given the officer…
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Pittsburgh Physician Charged with Sexual Assault of West Penn Hospital Nurse
Yesterday, an article at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette revealed that a doctor at the West Penn Hospital has been accused of sexually assaulting a nurse at the facility. The incident allegedly took place on September 4 of last year. According to the criminal complaint, the nurse agreed to have dinner with Dr. Entezam Asim Sahovic at a Shadyside restaurant. The victim told police that as they were driving to her home, she offered to let Sahovic sleep at her house that night because she felt he had drank too much to drive. The nurse claims that once the two were inside her home, the doctor told her repeatedly that he insisted on her sleeping with him. She claims to have replied “no” each time Sahovic made the suggestion before finally going to bed alone. At some point during the night the nurse claimed she woke up to find Sahovic taking her clothes off and sexually assaulting her. She said that after falling back asleep and again waking, he was naked in the bed with…
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State of Maine v. R.J.: OUI Defense
Blood / Alcohol Content (BAC): .21% Defense: Chewing Tobacco in Mouth and Lack of Credibility of Police Defense Attorney: John Scott Webb Offense: Operating Under the Influence (OUI, DUI, DWI) Maximum Sentence: 364 days in Jail (minimum 48 hours in jail, 90 day license suspension, $400.00 fine) Synopsis: Client, according to arresting officer, was weaving for over a mile with varied speeds during travel. Client tried to perform field sobriety tests but failed badly. Officer had been working multiple shifts that day. Officer took client in for a test and had another officer conduct breath test. Result was .21% blood alcohol content. Second Officer said he had checked client’s mouth before the test, client took the stand and said it never happened. Client stated he had chewing tobacco in his mouth the whole evening. Second officer never wrote a report, but claimed “I always check the mouth”. State’s expert forensic chemist confirmed need to inspect…
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School Bus Driver Arrested for DUI
According to a recent news article from People, a school bus driver in California was recently arrested on suspicion of drunk driving with 28 students on her bus. Authorities alleged the 24-year-old female driver was clearly and obviously intoxicated at the time of her arrest. Witnesses say the bus driver was taking children home after school on Friday afternoon when her bus managed to get stuck on a small dirt road in a manner that was blocking all traffic. When authorities arrived to see what the trouble with the bus was, they say they immediately detected a strong odor of alcohol on her breath. When she was asked why her bus got stuck on a dirt road, she reportedly told authorities that she was trying to make a U-turn, and this caused the bus to get stuck in a ditch alongside the narrow road. At this point, arresting officers administered a series of standardized field sobriety tests, which defendant is alleged to have failed. She is currently being held on bail, though the…
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St Louis Criminal Defense Attorney $375: Can I Be Ticketed For Trespassing At A Casino?
ONLY $375 FOR MOST ST LOUIS TRESPASSING TICKETS Yes, you can. And it happens all the time. In fact, one of the most frequent types of criminal cases we see in the St Louis area is for trespassing at a local casino. How exactly each municipality and/or county handles the citation, however, is another story. So the outcome of your trespassing ticket will depend heavily on where the ticket was issued. Below is more a thorough explanation: When you are busted for trespassing in St Louis, it is usually because you somewhere you weren’t supposed to be. But how does this end up happening at a casino (at a public place in which the owners are dependent upon people coming to their establishment)? Some attorneys will answer that question by saying that it is a deliberate tactic used by the casinos to prevent patrons from too much winnings at the table. Here’s how it works: let’s say you are spending an evening at the casino, and you are in a lucky streak (having won…
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Would You Be A Tool To Validate A Tool?
The head of the public defender’s office got an email with a modest request: I am a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and I am writing to see whether you would be interested in collaborating on a research project aimed at improving plea bargain outcomes and reducing disparities. In previous work, I have found evidence of substantial disparities in public defender outcomes, primarily due to differences in plea bargaining. With this project, my colleague Megan Stevenson and I want to test a new tool that may improve plea bargain outcomes through the provision of more information to public defenders. We have built a predictive tool that can estimate the range of potential case outcomes for a client based on certain characteristics (offense, criminal history, etc.). We believe this tool may augment defender experience in deciding when to take a deal and when to push for a better one. This could be particularly useful for defenders with…
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Driver Cites Body Chemistry to Beat DUI Charge
An unusual medical condition enabled a woman in Albany, New York, to avoid conviction for driving under the influence. It makes you wonder whether people will start making appointments with their doctors as well as their lawyers after police charge them with DUI in Los Angeles. ABC 7 News in San Francisco reported that the unnamed woman had a blood alcohol content of 0.33 (as measured by a breathalyzer) when police pulled her over in October 2014 for erratic driving. But the woman (unnamed because of medical confidentiality laws) said she had not had more than three drinks in six hours. The woman’s lawyer, Joseph Marusak, first contacted Barbara Cordell of Penola College in Texas, who had published a study of a man who had “auto-brewery syndrome.” In this condition, the body’s digestive system converts ordinary foods—those with high carbohydrate content—into alcohol. (The intestines literally ferment them into alcohol.) In the case that…
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CHARLIE YOU ARE JUDGE NOW, ACT LIKE ONE
Well it seems that Charle Johnson, Circuit Court Judge is determined to hold onto the case of Octovio Oliu, the Sweetwater Police Officer charged with official misconduct. This despite a Motion to Disqualify filed by the State. It appears that the State is concerned about 3 things:(1) the trial judge’s acknowledged previous attorney-client relationship with the City of Sweetwater Police Department, which appeared as a third party duces tecum witness before the trial judge on a show cause order why it should not be held in contempt for its failure to comply with a subpoena duces tecum for production of documents; (2) the trial judge’s acknowledged personal and extra-judicial knowledge regarding facts asserted during that discovery dispute; and (3) the trial judge’s acknowledged previous attorney-client relationship with the defendant, who he represented in another case. (Emphasis added)The State sought a Writ of Prohibition after their motion…
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Common Tactics Used by Insurance Companies to Avoid Paying Your Claim
The average American spends thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of dollars per year on various types of insurance. There is automobile insurance, homeowner's insurance, renter's insurance, professional liability insurance, health insurance, vision and dental insurance, disability insurance, and the list could go on. You can be sure that insurance companies will capitalize on anything that carries even the smallest chance of loss or liability. So, when something goes wrong and you need to file a claim, it's absolutely reasonable to expect your insurance company to keep their end of your mutual agreement. After all, you continue to uphold your end of the bargain every month when you pay your premium. Unfortunately, because large losses happen relatively rarely in an individual's lifetime, most people are not particularly well-versed in the way that insurance providers operate. There's no question that those companies are taking advantage of your…
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Mike Piazza Is Finally A Hall Of Famer
The arc of the baseball universe is long, but it bends towards justice. And so, Mike Piazza, a true superstar, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today on his fourth attempt. Piazza's failure to muster the requisite 75% of votes his first three years on the ballot was a true travesty, based on unsubstantiated rumors about steroid use stemming from nothing more than a case of back acne. He now joins another superstar, Ken Griffey, Jr., as the class of 2016. After Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza was the greatest player the Mets ever had. Before his Met days, he was already a 5-time All Star with the Dodgers. He was traded by the Dodgers to the Marlins and played for them for about a week before the Mets got him in May of 1998. It was one of the few times in Mets history that ownership did something that was both big and smart -- the kind of move to give a resurgent team a…
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West Valley City Police Department Sued for Racial Profiling
The West Valley City Police Department was sued in early December for racial profiling after questioning non-white high schoolers about gang ties and affiliations. Being picked first isn’t always a good thing Officers from the West Valley Police Department conducted a gang sweep at West High School back in December 2010, using racial profiling to […] The post West Valley City Police Department Sued for Racial Profiling appeared first on Salt Lake Criminal Defense.
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What Exactly is Austin No Refusal Weekend?
<p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; direction: ltr;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You’ve probably heard these words a lot recently. For the last several years, every major holiday weekend or event would trigger Austin police to declare a No Refusal Weekend. So what does that mean, exactly?</span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; min-height: 11pt; direction: ltr;"> </p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: normal; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; min-height: 11pt; direction: ltr;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Under normal circumstances, should you get…
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WE REMOVED A POST AGAIN AND WE APOLOGIZE TO JUDGE CHARLIE JOHNSON
For the second time in a month we removed a post put up by a guest blogger. FIRST WE NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO JUDGE CHARLIE JOHNSON. Judge Johnson was wrongly mentioned in the post as judge who had done something incorrect for which the 3rd DCA criticized him but couldn't grant a writ of prohibition. We will have more on this case in the next post. This information was 100% completely wrong and we apologize to Judge Charlie Johnson. We know Judge Johnson to be an outstanding judge. The type of judge who tops our list of Judges we want tough cases assigned to. How do we know this? We've never appeared before judge Johnson. But we knew him as a prosecutor and he was as fine and honest a prosecutor as you will ever meet anywhere and knowing him in that regard we know for certain that he is as fine a judge as there is in this county. Now on to bigger issues:Running a blog is not as easy as it looks. Oh sure there…
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250 Types of Drug Crimes | Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida
There are 250 types of Drug Crimes Charged in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida. Here is a list of every type of drug crime charged in Tampa, Florida's Hillsborough County. The list includes both felonies and misdemeanors, includes the Florida Statute, and a brief description of the charges. Form Code Statute Level Degree Charge Description Drug0801 817.563.2 Misd 1st Sale Of Substance In Lieu Of Controlled Substa Drug0802 817.563.1 Fel 3rd Sale Of Substance In Lieu Of Controlled Substa Drug0803 817.564.3 Fel 3rd Poss.And Del. Of Counterfeit Controlled Substa Drug1100 893.13.1f Fel 3rd Possession Of Cocaine Drug1101 893.13.6a Fel 3rd Possession Of Cocaine Drug1200 893.13.1a Fel 2nd Delivery Of Cocaine Drug1201 893.13.1a …
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Are Tough Sentences for Drugs a Product of Racism?
No, they are not. As explained here, it was the outcry from black neighborhoods in the inner cities that gave rise to tougher sentencing in both state (see, e.g., the Rockefeller laws in New York) and federal law.And it worked. As crime plummeted over the last quarter century, African Americans benefited tremendously. Indeed, because blacks are disproportionately victims of crime, reduced crime disproportionately benefits them.Why people want to return to the crime-ridden soft sentencing policies of the past is a mystery. It is all the more mysterious for those concerned with the well-being of the huge majority in black communities who simply want to live in the peace and safety tougher sentencing and more proactive police work have helped bring them.
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What to Do If You’ve been Hurt in an Eighteen Wheeler Accident
Unfortunately, car and truck accidents occur regularly on the streets and highways of Maryland. Although minor fender benders may be nearly an inconvenience, an accident involving an 18-wheeler can be devastating. An accident involving you and a large truck may sound implausible, but the number of accidents involving 18-wheelers annually are staggering. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were over 100,000 people injured in 2012 in accidents involving large trucks. Many of these accidents resulted from truck driver negligence. If you’re hurt in an 18-wheeler accident in Maryland, you should take the follow actions to immediately protect yourself. Call truck accident attorney Randolph Rice at 410.288.2900 to discuss your case and how he can help you. Call the Police after and 18 Wheeler Accident In all likelihood, an accident with an 18-wheeler will be a major motor vehicle incident and require police assistance. Traffic is likely to be…
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Data for Peace: The Future of the Internet of Things
The Atomic Age of Data: Policies for the Internet of Things Report of the 29th Annual Aspen Institute Conference on Communications Policy, Ellen P. Goodman, Rapporteur, available at SSRN. Michael Madison The phrase “Internet of Things,” like its cousin “Big Data,” only partially captures the phenomenon that it is meant to describe. The Atomic Age of Data, a lengthy report prepared by Ellen Goodman (Rutgers Law) following a recent Aspen Institute conference, bridges the gap at the outset: “The new IoT [Internet of Things] – small sensors + big data + actuators – looks like it’s the real thing. … The IoT is the emergence of a network connecting things, all with unique identifiers, all generating data, with many subject to remote control. It is a network with huge ambitions, to connect all things.” (P. 2) The Atomic Age of Data is not a scholarly piece in a traditional sense, but it is the work of a scholar,…
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Will Republicans Give Political Cover to Obama's Mass Clemency?
This New York Times editorial spills the beans on the realistically possible scope of Pres. Obama's plans for mass clemency. Its most revealing sentences are:After seven years in office, Mr. Obama has issued a total of 184 commutations and 66 pardons -- more grants, as the White House wasted no time in pointing out, than the last six presidents combined....By the administration's own estimates, [however], as many as 10,000 people could be released under the new criteria, former Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. told The Washington Post this month. So why is Mr. Obama continuing to make grants in the single or double digits?The NYT misses the obvious answer to this question. Mr. Obama, a shrewd and canny politician if nothing else, is waiting for Republicans, sometimes (and often aptly) called the Stupid Party, to give him political cover. He knows that, at his urging and with his eager support, the Republican Senate is considering its own mass clemency, to…
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COLEGIO DE ABOGADOS DE LIMA, LA COMISIÓN DE ÉTICA Y ALGUNOS DESATINOS
El día de ayer, 06 de enero de 2016, me acerqué a la sede del Colegio de Abogados de Lima, que se ubica en el 4to. Piso del Palacio de Justicia, para recoger mi carné de colegiatura y me encontré con una reunión de homenaje a quien en vida fuera el destacado Maestro: Vicente Ugarte del Pino. Felizmente, también, se encontraba en la reunión el Oficial Mayor del gremio, sin duda alguna el trabajador más antiguo de nuestra institución (40 años a su servicio) y le pregunté por la entrega del carné, “están en la sede de Miraflores, puede retirarlo hasta las 5.00 pm” fue su respuesta, le agradecí y salí con dirección a Miraflores. Ya en la sede de Miraflores, en vigilancia pregunto por la entrega y me responden: SE HA SUSPENDIDO HASTA NUEVO AVISO, primera contradicción, el Oficial Mayor NO sabía de esta disposición, inaceptable…
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