James J. Duane (Regent University - School of Law) has posted The Extraordinary Trajectory of Griffin v. California: The Aftermath of Playing Fifty Years of Scrabble with the Fifth Amendment (Stanford Journal of Criminal Law and Policy, Vol. 3, p.1,...
Duane on Griffin v. California
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FAST Act Drives Long-Awaited Gramm-Leach-Bliley Amendment
In late 2015, Congress passed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act − a vehicle for an amendment to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) meant to eliminate the need for certain companies to provide annual privacy disclosures to consumers. The amendment, which took effect immediately, eliminates the annual notice requirement for financial institutions that: do not share consumer nonpublic personal information with nonaffiliated third parties (with some limited exceptions), and have not changed their policies and practices, with regard to disclosing nonpublic personal information, from the policies and practices disclosed in the most recent annual notice. This amendment addresses long-held complaints that the GLBA’s previous disclosure requirements were unnecessarily onerous and expensive for some businesses. In fact, the December 2015 amendment was just the most recent in a number of actions proposed to mitigate the burden and expense that resulted…
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News Scan
OH Home Explosion was Arson: A house fire and explosion that shook an Ohio neighborhood Monday evening, killing a family of four, was determined by investigators to be arson. The AP reports that Jeffrey and Cynthia Mather perished in the Northfield Center Township home, along with their eight- and 12-year-old daughters. The family's remains were discovered on the first floor of the home, the mother and two daughters at the front of the home and the father in the rear. The state fire marshal's office announced Wednesday that investigators have determined the cause of the fire, which they believe was intentionally set, but are not yet releasing details as the investigation is ongoing. A medical examiner says murder-suicide is a possible motive, but it will take weeks to make a definitive ruling. Twitter Sued for 'Allowing' ISIS to Spread Propaganda: A lawsuit filed against Twitter by the family of a Florida man…
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DRUG9101 POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
Possession Controlled SubstanceThis is the 11th on the list of over 1500 ways to land in Tampa, Florida's Hillsborough County Jail. Possession of a Controlled Substance is a Third Degree Felony that can be punished by 5 years in the Florida State Prison.If you have been charged with DRUG9101 POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE you can call a Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney at 1-877-793-9290 and tell me your story.Form Code: DRUG9101Florida Statute: 893.13.6ALevel: Fel (Felony)Degree: 3rdDescription: POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCEDRUG9101 POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE one of the most commonly charged offenses in Hillsborough County, Florida.Title XLVI CRIMESChapter 893 DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL893.13 Prohibited acts; penalties.(6)(a) It is unlawful for any person to be in actual or constructive possession of a controlled substance unless such controlled substance was lawfully obtained from a practitioner or pursuant to a valid prescription or order of a…
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‘The Injustice System’: The Shadow of Innocence Looms Large in the Guardian’s Latest True Crime Investigation
A new Guardian inquiry into a 22-year-old murder and robbery case is raising doubts about the guilt of one of the alleged perpetrators of the crime amid suggestions that the conviction was built on a false and coerced confession. Tyra Patterson has spent more than 21 years in prison for the murder of Michelle Lai, who was shot in a 1994 robbery. But today, at the age of 40, she continues to maintain her innocence, declaring that she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and that, contrary to official accounts, she actually attempted to save Lai’s life rather than end it. “I wish I could have done more, but I did what I could,” Patterson said to the Guardian. “That night I was trying to help, I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. I hurt myself.” Official documents suggest that 15-year-old Michelle Lai, her sister Holly and three other girls, were accosted by a group of youths during the early hours of…
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Criminal Defense Attorneys in Maine Facing Cuts
Maine Governor Paul LePage appears to be working to cut funding for criminal defense attorney appointed to represent indigent client. The proposed changes would apply to payment to lawyers appointed in cases involving indigent defendants, juvenile offenders, parents facing child protective services accusations who are unable to pay for their own attorneys, and potential wards of the state. In the landmark case Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment requires states to provide legal counsel for defendants who are unable to afford competent legal representation. LePage’s proposal would change the current system in which criminal lawyers submit vouchers to the state once a case has been resolved in order to be compensated. Currently, in Somerset County, a legal group is contracted for appointment to all indigent defense cases. The contract pays the group $272,250 per year, not including homicides. Somerset County courts saw 2,521…
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Dallas Compounding Pharmacy and Three Individuals Agree to Consent Decree With Permanent Injunction to Prevent Distributing Adulterated Drugs
Compounding pharmacies have been under scrutiny, and a recent case shows the difficulties compounding pharmacies are having complying with recent changes in the law and regulations. Compoung pharmacies are also under scrutiny due to billing issues with insurance which has also put them under the spotlight. A recent case shows what happens when retail pharmacies engage in compounding with regulation by the state and what happens when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alleges the drugs are adulterated.There are some hot issues on new compounding regulations and how they affect the Compounding Quality Act signed into law in 2013 and the FDA's increased audits and inspections of outsourcing facilities or pharmacies who may not be properly classified. Compounding pharmacies are having issues in determine whether they fall within the 503A and 503B rules and are complying with the federal regulations.The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of…
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Colorado Criminal Law - Tricks Police Use To Get You To Confess - The Interview Room
By H. Michael Steinberg Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer Colorado Criminal Law - Tricks Police Use To Get You To Confess - The Interview Room Even the interview room itself is designed to play a role in wearing down the target, whether that target is the suspect, a witness, or even possibly the alleged victim of a crime. Designing The Interview Room - Where The Interrogation Takes Place Criminal psychologist will tell you that the environment of an interrogation is the single most critical factor in obtaining a confession or incriminating statements from a suspect. Old movies where the police pick up a suspect and take him "downtown" are legion. The reason? .. to get the suspect onto their "turf." To that end - the interview room is designed to small, say 10 feet by 10 feet. It will have a table and two - sometimes three chairs. The interview will most likely not have any windows, no phone, no artwork .. Nothing to distract from the psychological…
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An Epidemic of Questionable Arrests by School Police
According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, there have been tens of thousands of questionable juvenile arrests that have occurred throughout San Bernardino County in the last decade. The arrests were so numerous in the Inland Empire that they surpassed arrests of juveniles by municipal police in some of California’s biggest cities such as Sacramento, Oakland, and San Francisco. Specifically, the San Bernardino City Unified School District has its own police department staffed with 28 cops, eight support staff, and more than 50 campus security officers trained in handcuffing and baton use. Between 2005 and 2014, the department made over 30,000 arrests of school children, 10 times the national rate of juvenile arrests. While the area has a reputation for high levels of youth-gang crime, only 9% of those arrests were for alleged felonies. Instead, the vast majority of arrests were for minors violating city ordinances such as graffiti violations or daytime…
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Hanan on Decriminalizing Violence and Restorative Justice
Eve Hanan (University of Baltimore, School of Law) has posted Decriminalizing Violence: A Critique of Restorative Justice and Proposal for Diversionary Mediation (New Mexico Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: With over seven million people in prison...
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Iowa Assault Charges
In my practice I have represented hundreds of people facing assault charges. In Iowa assault is most often charged when one person makes physical contact with another in a manner likely to cause insult, be offensive or cause injury. Assault charges are defined in Iowa Code Chapter 708. At common law (the time before statutes codified the law), an assault charge only included threatening physical contact with an apparent ability to make contact. If physical contact was actually made the charge was battery. Some states, like Florida where I began my law career, still charge battery. However, Iowa and many other states have merged assault and battery in one statute and call both crimes assault. There are different types of assault in Iowa Code Chapter 708 including: domestic assault, assault while participating in a felony, assaults on specified occupations, and intimate assaults. Each of these assault charges consists of different elements the State of Iowa must prove…
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“Find My iPhone,” Theft and Abuse of Discretion
This post examines an opinion from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania: Commonwealth v. Williams, 2015 WL 7722254 (2015). The court begins its opinion by explaining that[a]ppellant, Stephen Thomas Williams, Jr., appeals from the judgment of sentence of, inter alia, a one-year probation and restitution entered in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas after his conviction for theft by unlawful taking, theft of property lost, and receiving stolen property at a nonjury trial.Appellant claims: (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain the convictions; (2) the trial court erred in admitting testimony regarding the results of a `Find My iPhone’ search; and (3) the verdicts were against the weight of the evidence. We find an abuse of discretion in the trial court's denial of the Appellant's motion for a new trial, vacate the judgment of sentence, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this memorandum.Commonwealth v.…
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News Scan
Californians Split on Death Penalty: A new Field Poll released Friday indicates that California voters are equally divided between abolishing death penalty and shortening the path to execution. State voters are likely to face this on the November ballot. Howard Mintz of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the poll, conducted in the Bay Area, found that 47 percent of voters favor replacing the state's capital punishment with life in prison without parole, while 48 percent support proposals to speed up the "notoriously slow" system, In 2012, voters rejected an effort to abolish California's death penalty by a 52 to 48 margin, and supporters of an accelerated appeals process predict that 2016 will result in the same outcome. In the event that both measures are approved come November, the one with the most votes would settle the dispute. California, with the largest death row in the country, with 750 condemned murderers, has…
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MLM is Not a Business (It’s a Pyramid Scheme)
I’ve written many times about how multi-level marketing (MLM) is not a business. Don’t believe me? Others have said the same thing. Today Lazy Man and Money lays out the reasons why MLM is not a business. You’ll have to read the details at his site, but the reasons include: Businesses obey the Commandment of Control Business 101 Excludes MLM Businesses obey the Commandment of Entry MLM Doesn’t Obey the Laws of Supply and Demand More than 99% of people LOSE money MLM is Not like Any Other Small Business It Doesn’t Matter How Hard You Work The bottom line that any job is better than MLM. In MLM, you’re almost guaranteed to lose money. With a job, even one paying only minimum wage, you’re still making money.
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//blawgsearch75.rssing.com/chan-6519914/article16195-live.html
United States v. James, No. 13-10543 (1-14-16)(Tallman with Piersol; Kozinski dissenting)(Note: This is an Arizona FPD case). The 9th reverses a district court's granting of a motion of acquittal after a jury returned a verdict of guilt on two counts of sexual abuse under 18 USC 2242(2)(B). The case concerned charges of sexual abuse against a severely disabled woman. The victim was disabled by cerebral palsy. The defendant was caught having sex with her and the government charged the defendant as sexually abusing someone who was physically incapable of declining participation or unwillingness in a sexual act. At the conclusion of trial, the defendant argued that the government failed to present any evidence that the victim declined participation. There was evidence that the victim could communicate likes and dislikes. The district court granted the acquittal motion.In a case of first impression, the 9th examined the meaning of…
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“HOW CAN I KNOW IF I AM BEING CHARGED WITH A CRIME?”
Many people assume that law enforcement has some kind of duty to notify a suspect before they seek criminal charges against them. This is not true. In fact, to the contrary, the police often try to catch a suspect by surprise when arresting him or her so that the suspect does not flee. Sometimes they even do it for media-related purposes. If you are actually being charged with a crime, one of the following will occur: 1. A police officer or detective will show up, put handcuffs on you and arrest you. He/she may give you a chance to make a statement first…as discussed in many of my blogs, you probably do not want to take that opportunity; 2. You receive a summons in the mail telling you that you have to show up at something called an “arraignment”. At that scheduled date, you will appear before a judge and a prosecutor will tell the judge what you are charged with. You may or may not be appointed a lawyer, depending on whether or not the Department of…
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Severe and Comfortless and Beautiful
My sister spent the last few weeks of her life in a hospice unit in a busy urban hospital.The staff were friendly enough, and they did what they could to make her comfortable and ease her physical pain. She had lots of visitors. She carried on with her work as best she could.It was horribly depressing. Not just because she was dying. But because it was, in every way, a damned hospital. Which is exactly how it looked and felt. The staff were hospital people, nurses and orderlies and nutritionists and doctors and clergy who stopped in when called (almost never by her) or when it was time on their rounds because they were nurses and orderlies and nutritionists and doctors and clergy and they had other duties on the parts of the floor that weren't in the hospice unit and there was all the record keeping and the . . . . And, as I said, it looked like a fucking hospital room, with all that entails, and none of which is cheery, no matter…
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Sentencing in Federal Criminal Cases: A Primer on How to Prepare a Winning Presentence Report
Presentence reports are prepared by the probation officer assigned to the federal judge’s courtroom. The judge looks to the report in making sentencing decisions and defendants’ attorneys can object or supplement the presentence report. Here are some considerations on how to help yourself if you are being sentenced in a federal criminal court. After verdict, the judge orders the in-court probation officer to prepare a pre-sentence report (PSR), then you and your attorney meet with the probation officer who will be preparing the PSR for your judge. Look over the worksheet you are asked to complete and bring it with you to the meeting with the probation officer. What I do, and suggest you insist be done for you, is have the defense attorney prepare an entire PSR, just like the probation officer’s finished product, and send it to the probation officer before he/she files their own PSR. You know that you have fourteen days to object to the…
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Innocent Chicago Man Framed by Crooked Police Released on Thursday
In 2005, Ben Baker of Chicago was convicted of drug possession and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. But last year the Exoneration Project brought forth evidence that Baker had been framed by local police, and on Thursday night, he was released from the Robinson Correctional Center in southeastern Illinois and sent home to his family. "This conviction should have never happened, but we are delighted that once the case got on their radar, the state's attorney's office acted quickly and decisively," said Joshua Tepfer, a lawyer with the Exoneration Project, reports the Chicago Tribune. Baker was sent to prison more than a decade ago after a sergeant with the Chicago police—Ronald Watts—and a number of the officers on his squad testified that they had arrested Baker for selling drugs in one of the city’s public housing buildings. Baker maintained his innocence. He said that he’d been framed by the police. At trial he testified that…
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Supreme Court Will Review McDonnell Case
The U.S. Supreme Court granted cert limited to Question One on the Petition. See here. The Hill here. See Scotusblog for Petition - here (esp)
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