As we had mentioned earlier this week on the Innocence Blog, on Thursday the Innocence Project welcomed Academy Award®-winning director Michael Moore to its office to participate in a candid conversation with Innocence Project Co-Founder and Co-Director Barry Scheck about ways in which the United States criminal justice system is failing and how to solve it. The jam-packed event brought together Innocence Project staff and law students, advocates and exonerees for an exciting exchange of ideas by expert panelists and participants, which included Innocence Project Policy Director Rebecca Brown, Raymond Santana of the Central Park Five and Sharon Salem, mother of Central Park Five member Yusuf Salam. In his recently released documentary, Where to Invade Next, Moore documents a trip he made across Europe to learn about other countries policies’ regarding a range of issues—from paid leave for new parents to sexual…
Innocence Project Roundtable: Michael Moore, Barry Scheck and New York Exonerees Discuss Injustice in the United States
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ATTORNEY SAM DISCUSSES SEVEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING ON PROBATION
You have met with your attorney on your drug case. It is your fifth time in court on this case. Your lawyer tells you that the next date is for trial. She explains that she may be able to talk the court and the prosecutor into giving you probation instead of jail. “What?”, you say. “No jail? Count me in!” You figure you are home free. You are wrong.Attorney Sam’s Take On The Risks Of Probation Don’t get me wrong…being on probation is better than being in prison. However, there are some things you have to keep in mind because this may not be the gift from Heaven that you assume it is. 1. Do not mistake this for a dismissal. Some people figure that if they did not have to go to trial or jail then the case simply vanished. In other words, it got dismissed. In this scenario, it did not get dismissed. You pleaded guilty. You are convicted just as if you went to trial and a jury found you guilty. You were simply placed under the…
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[ANALYSIS] Deputy Peraza Stands His Ground Against Prosecutors
I can almost hear the moans coming from the State Attorney’s Office this week. Poor guys, can even a week go by without another bombshell motion being filed in the Peraza case? Last week we learned Jermaine McBean, the man who sadly lost his life in this case, suffered from some very serious mental health problems that explain why he would walk down the street with a rifle, freaking everyone out, and then point the gun at police. This week was even worse – we learned that Deputy Peraza has actually been immune from prosecution the entire time. No, not because he wears a badge, but because his case presents a textbook example of Stand Your Ground immunity under Florida law. Earlier this week, Deputy Peraza’s attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, filed a Motion to Dismiss citing immunity from prosecution in accordance with Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws. The motion is public record and is available on the…
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One Word Jeopardizes Missouri DUI Convictions
Small words can have a big impact. Just ask the thousands of drivers in Missouri who could see their DUI convictions thrown out of court thanks to the substitution of “or” for “and” in the instructions for Breathalyzer calibration. If a judge made a similar ruling regarding DUIs in Los Angeles, lawyers could submit dozens of requests to have their clients’ convictions overturned. The ruling stems from an incident on July 12, 2013, when Lake Saint Louis, Missouri, police arrested Kristin Nicole Stiers for driving while intoxicated. When Stier’s attorney, Matt Fry, began looking into the results of the breathalyzer test—which registered her blood alcohol content as above the legal limit—he found that the state agency responsible for the calibration directions had made a mistake in its directions to state police. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services rewrote the breathalyzer regulations to require police to calibrate…
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A First Draft of a Florida Fix
After the break is my first cut at a post-Hurst fix for Florida's capital sentencing statute. The usual conventions apply. Added language is in italics. Deleted language is in strikeout. Regular roman type is unchanged language.921.141 Sentence of death or life imprisonment for capital felonies; further proceedings to determine sentence.--(1) SEPARATE PROCEEDINGS ON ISSUE OF PENALTY.--Upon conviction or adjudication of guilt of a defendant of a capital felony, the court shall conduct a separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether the defendant should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment as authorized by s. 775.082. The proceeding shall be conducted by the trial judge before the trial jury as soon as practicable. If, through impossibility or inability, the trial jury is unable to reconvene for a hearing on the issue of penalty, having determined the guilt of the accused, the trial judge may summon a special juror or jurors as provided…
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Reckless use of Fire or Explosives Charges in Iowa
The crime of Reckless use of Fire or Explosives in Iowa is defined by Iowa Code Section 712.5 as follows: Any person who shall so use fire or any incendiary or explosive device or material as to recklessly endanger the property or safety of another shall be guilty of a serious misdemeanor. A conviction for Reckless use of Fire or Explosives in Iowa can result in a sentence of up to 1 year in the county jail. Cases that result in … Continued
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Man who spent 22 years in prison for rape he didn't commit faces long legal battle with NYC over $18 million jury award
1-22-16 New York: They took away his freedom — and now they keep trying to take away his money. The city is doubling down its efforts to stop Alan Newton, who spent 22 years behind bars for a rape he didn’t commit, from collecting the $18 million verdict a jury awarded him in 2010. “This is a journey that started in 1984, and it’s still going on because the city refuses to take any
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Defending Against “Three Strikes” Criminal Charges in the State of California
While California’s “three strikes” law conjures images of America’s national pastime, it is anything but fun and games. A “third strike” criminal conviction in the state of California can have serious long-term consequences in the form of a lengthy prison sentence. The purpose of this article is to explain how California’s “three strikes” law works. If you have been charged with a second, third, or subsequent felony in the state of California, it is imperative that you rely on a skilled and experienced California criminal defense attorney. Your future is at stake. California’s Three Strikes Law was Reformed in 2012 There is some good news with regard to California’s Three Strikes Law. In 2012, the law was reformed to substantially limit the imposition of mandatory 25-years-to-life prison sentence for third-time offenders whose third offense does not rise to the level of a “violent” or…
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Presence of Illegal Drugs in a Child’s Body in Iowa DHS Case
Iowa DHS investigates when it is alleged that a child’s body contains drugs. The Presence of Illegal Drugs child abuse accusation in Iowa is defined by DHS as follows: Presence of illegal drugs” is defined as occurring when an illegal drug is present in a child’s body as a direct and foreseeable consequence of the acts or omissions of the person responsible for the care of the child. Note: “Illegal drugs” are defined as cocaine, heroin, amphetamine, methamphetamine, other illegal drugs … Continued
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Why “Making a Murderer” Matters to Your Connecticut Criminal Arrest – Lessons Learned
While everyone seems to be buzzing about the flaws in the criminal justice system that have been exposed in the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, the top Stamford and Greenwich Connecticut criminal defense lawyers and attorneys are not so surprised. Alibi and DNA defenses have been saving the lives of defendants for years, but when a case like Steven Avery’s is packaged so compellingly to the masses as it has been in the Making a Murderer series, it’s finally causing ordinary law-abiding citizens to ask themselves critical questions… Does this really happen? Do innocent men and women really go to jail? And can an alibi or DNA defense really save a life and win a case? The Making a Murderer Story of Steven Avery & Why this Case Should Matter to Anyone Arrested in Connecticut The real-life story behind the Netflix Making a Murderer documentary series focuses on Steven Avery, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a Wisconsin woman, despite having…
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Einführung des AIA mit weiteren Ländern geplant
Die Schweiz hat mit weiteren Ländern Erklärungen zur Einführung des gegenseitigen automatischen Informationsaustauschs (AIA) in Steuersachen unterzeichnet (vgl. Mitteilung der ESTV). Es handelt sich dabei um Island, Norwegen und die der britischen Krone unterstellten Gebiete Jersey, Guernsey sowie der Isle of Man. Es ist geplant, dass die Steuerbehörden der Schweiz und der genannten Länder ab 2017 Steuerdaten gemäss dem globalen Standard für den AIA erheben werden und diese ab 2018 untereinander austauschen. Voraussetzung für den Austausch der Daten ist jedoch die Schaffung der nötigen Rechtsgrundlagen in den verschiedenen Ländern. Die Schweiz hat zuvor schon mit Australien eine gemeinsame Erklärung unterzeichnet. Ausserdem wurde mit der EU ein Abkommen über die Einführung des AIA abgeschlossen (vgl. Lawblogswitzerland.ch vom 30.03.2015). Der AIA stützt sich rechtlich auf die multilaterale Vereinbarung der…
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New Jersey appeals court upholds parole board's monitoring of sex offenders using lie detector machines
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Riverside Woman Convicted in Federal Court of Stealing Identities of Residents of Medical Facility in Long Beach. Reason Facilities Need Strong HIPAA and Privacy Procedures.
One of the reasons medical facilities should have strong HIPAA policies and procedures, as well as enforcement and training, is to prevent employees or third parties from taking medical information for other improper or illegal purposes.Last week, Bridgette Jackson of Riverside, California was convicted in federal court after a jury trial on federal identity theft charges for possessing the identities of more than 50 patients of a residential medical facility in Long Beach formerly known as the Hillcrest Care Center. She was convicted of conspiring to possess more than 15 identities, possessing more than 15 identities, and aggravated identity theft.Ms. Jackson’s aunt, who testified against her at the trial, was an employee at the Hillcrest Care Center and had access to all of the patient files. According to the testimony at trial, Ms. Jackson approached her aunt and asked for personal identifying information of patients. Ms. Jackson’s aunt copied or…
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Is anyone rigorously collecting and analyzing multi-state medical marijuana data?
The question in the title of this post is prompted by this local article from Maine, headlined "Sales of medical marijuana jumped 46 percent in Maine last year: The state's pot dispensaries took in $23.6 million as the social stigma faded and more patients seeking relief from chronic pain tried...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/Lr7kOnXvFPU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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FREAK RAIN SHOWER HITS MEDLEY
A freak rain shower, lasting several minutes, dumped an unexpected quarter inch of rain on the South Florida township of Medley yesterday, surprising residents and shoppers, and drenching several unsuspecting people out for a walk. No injuries were reported. Meanwhile a snowstorm hit DC, NYC, Philly and most of the northeast yesterday. There's lots of snow and stuff. The storm is going to last until tomorrow. Site Feed
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Public's Help Requested Regarding a Fatality Crash in Filer
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 1/23/2016 12:30 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On Saturday, January 23, 2016, at 5:55 a.m. the Idaho State Police investigated a fatality hit and run crash in Filer. An unknown vehicle was westbound on U.S. Highway 30 when it struck a pedestrian in the road in front of the Franklin United Oil in Filer. The pedestrian, Ronald Miller, age 78 of Filer, succumbed to his injuries on scene. The Idaho State Police is following up several leads; the vehicle involved may possibly be a light colored 4 door sedan. We are requesting the public's assistance with any information that may help locate and identify the vehicle and driver involved. U.S.…
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Fuzzy Math Fuels Myth that Florida’s DUI Refusal Rate at 82%
I was talking to a DUI enforcement officer with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office a few days ago while we were waiting for a formal review hearing. We started talking about this proposed legislation to increase the penalties for a first DUI refusal found in Florida’s 2016 Senate Bill 1244 to increase DUI first refusal penalties. […]
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New Law Makes Expungement of Criminal Records in New Jersey Easier, but Still Does Not Include DWI
A new law that will take effect in New Jersey in several months will reduce the waiting periods for the expungement of criminal records, which is the process by which a person may have records of arrests, charges, and convictions removed from the public record. Unfortunately, New Jersey law does not allow expungement in driving while intoxicated (DWI) cases. Post-conviction relief (PCR) is the only means of removing a DWI case from one’s driving record. The new law is still good news for New Jersey, and it should be of interest to people charged with a criminal offense in connection with a DWI. New Jersey law defines “expungement” as “the extraction and isolation of all records on file” with courts, law enforcement agencies, jails, and prisons regarding arrests, trials, convictions, and other dispositions. Records to be expunged include warrants, jail rosters, fingerprints, mugshots, and court dockets. Certain serious criminal offenses are excluded…
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The Pros and Cons of Introducing Character Evidence in D.C.
When I started my practice in 2009, I asked an old-timer – somebody who had been practicing in D.C. for over 25 years – how to introduce character evidence in D.C. I have no idea, he replied. Because... Read More
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DUI Traffic Stops: How to Conduct Yourself
Police officer giving a roadside sobriety test to a drunk driver (image licensed by Colleen Collins) An Easy Drive-Through Technique? Some of you may have read about the lawyer who advertises that it’s possible to maneuver your way through a DUI traffic stop without any personal interaction with law enforcement. He endorses putting requested papers in a plastic bag and either holding them against the inside of the driver’s window (for the officers to read) or handing them out a slightly cracked window for the officers to see and peruse. Supposedly officers then just wave on the driver without any further conversation. A nifty story, but one I would never recommend people do. Be Prepared Forget the drive-through gimmick and instead be prepared to interact reasonably with law enforcement. Always keep your current registration and insurance card in an easily accessible place. Pull Over to a Safe Spot When you see the swirling lights in your rear-view mirror,…
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