Todd Haugh (Illinois Institute of Technology - Chicago-Kent College of Law) has posted Chicago's 'Great Boodle Trial' (Then & Now: Stories of Law and Progress, pp. 4-13 (2013)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In the summer of 1887, three...
Haugh on Chicago's "Great Boodle Trial"
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One Man’s Acid Reflux Leads To Dismissal of DWI Charges
A man from Ontario, Canada recently beat a drunk driving charge with the help of his acid reflux condition. The man, Phillip Coffey, was stopped back in 2010 as part of a drunk driving enforcement campaign. Two separate breath tests were conducted and Coffey was found to have close to twice the legal limit of [...]
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One Man’s Acid Reflux Leads To Dismissal of DWI Charges
A man from Ontario, Canada recently beat a drunk driving charge with the help of his acid reflux condition. The man, Phillip Coffey, was stopped back in 2010 as part of a drunk driving enforcement campaign. Two separate breath tests were conducted and Coffey was found to have close to twice the legal limit of [...]
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OK - Former OKC Officer (Maurice Martinez) Convicted Of Child Sex Abuse Speaks To News 9
Maurice MartinezOriginal Article04/12/2013By Lisa MonahanOKLAHOMA CITY - A former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of child sex abuse is out of jail. Maurice Martinez maintained his innocence for more than a year before taking a plea deal with the state.
Martinez served seven months in the Oklahoma County Jail after he made an agreement with prosecutors. Although, Martinez publicly denied the child abuse allegations, he stayed tight-lipped about the plea deal until sitting down for an interview with News 9's Lisa Monahan.
"I never dreamed in a thousand years that I would ever have any problems like this," Martinez said.
Maurice Martinez went from being an Oklahoma City Police Sergeant to a convicted felon when his foster children accused him of molesting them. Martinez says the last two years were a "roller coaster, that's exactly what it was."
Over time, the accusers changed their stories.
"That young man has come forward and apologized a thousand times," Martinez said.
But Martinez said the damage was done and he questioned whether he could get a fair trial in a case getting so much publicity.
"The jury's tainted already, I mean you can't go to trial and have an impartial trial," he said.- Welcome to the day of the modern day leper, which you are now a part of. You're live will NEVER be the same.
Martinez says, because of that his attorney David Slane advised him to ask prosecutors for a plea deal.
"The idea that you pick twelve strangers and your life is in their hands is scary in and of itself, and so anytime a person has a chance to get probation and not take a risk of going to prison for one day, they have to really think about those things," Slane said.
Martinez says, bottom line, he took the deal of two years in jail, minus time served, to protect everyone - including his former foster children.
"I gotta protect my family. I didn't want to drag them through any trial, kids through any trial," he said.
Martinez says he is now ready to put this all behind him and is not concerned about public opinion.
"Let's put it this way, God, family and everybody involved know the truth, and I'm happy with that. I can move on with that," Martinez said.- Just wait until everything starts settling in, you will probably not be able to find another job, have to move, cannot attend any places children congregate, etc, etc.
Martinez will be on house arrest for two years and probation for 25 years. Prosecutors previously said this was a fair deal because Martinez will have to register as a sex offender for life.© 2006-2013 | Sex Offender Issues
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Spring Newsletter
Spring Newsletter
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Summary of requirements for admission of DUI breath tests in Illinois
In many instances, an Illinois driving under the influence, or DUI is won or lost based upon the trier of fact (the judge or jury) receiving the results of a breath test. By way of background, there are two types of breath tests that a driver suspected of driving under the influence (DUI) will face.
At the roadside, the police will first administer a series of standardized field sobriety tests. These are physical tests that purportedly correlate with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of at least .08.
A BAC of .08 is the minimum level at which the law assumes you are under the influence of alcohol. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.2 This figure represents how much alcohol has entered your bloodstream, the point at which alcohol negatively effects those parts of the brain that regulate skills related to driving, such as vision, judgment and reaction time.
Furthermore, at the roadside, the officer will also ask you to blow into a handheld device. This is known as a preliminary breath test (PBT). The results of this test are not evidence of your BAC but are merely a tool to help the police determine whether to arrest you for DUI. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.5
Following the arrest for DUI, the police will ask you to submit to a chemical test to determine your BAC. The chemical test is the "official" test, as the results of it are admissible to prove your BAC, Unlike the field sobriety tests, the chemical tests are considered direct evidence of your blood alcohol content.
The chemical test is usually administered at the police station, although there are certain testing machines that are certified for use in the field. Unlike the PBT devices, these machines, as well as any machines that produce "official" results, are subject to certain certification requirements. Likewise, the operator of the machines must be certified and the method of administering the tests is also regulated by law. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.2
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OH - Ohio to compile private registry to track convicted arsonists
Original Article04/12/2013By Rex SantusCOLUMBUS - This July, Ohio will begin tracking arsonists through a new registry similar to the one used to track sex offenders.- I just don't understand the need for these registries. Don't police already have access to all criminal records? If so, then why is this needed? And why is it going to be offline and not online like the online shaming hit-list for ex-sex offenders (see below)?
The law, passed by the Ohio General Assembly late last year without much attention, will require people convicted of arson-related offenses to register at their local sheriff's office each year for at least 10 years. Those who fail to register will be charged with a felony.- Why not for life like ex-sex offenders?
Supporters tout the measure as another tool for law enforcement in investigating the difficult-to-solve crime. But critics argue the registry will be burdensome, and that arson is not a significant enough problem in Ohio to warrant an official registry, especially one that is kept from the public's eyes.
"There is a huge problem with arson in Ohio," said Sen. Tim Schaffer, a Lancaster Republican who sponsored the bill. With the registry, law enforcement "can look up who all the convicted arsonists are, who have done their time and are back at home or back in the community. Chances are good that it's a repeat offender, and you already know who . . . it might be."- Like we said above, why can't they just examine criminal records? Why the need to spend more tax payer money for another list when the data is, or should be, already available?
Last year, 8,377 "suspicious" fires were reported, which resulted in more than $160 million in estimated damages, according to the Ohio State Fire Marshal.
There are approximately 500 convictions of arson each year, according to the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association.
"I don't know where it came from," Amy Borror, spokeswoman for the Ohio Public Defender's Office, said of the new law. "I don't know why we have it."- The same reason we have the online sex offender list, to exploit the issue and fear to help a politician look "tough" on crime.
Borror said the law will put unnecessary work on the shoulders of local sheriffs, who will be tasked with compiling the list in addition to the sex-offender registry they already put together.
"The sex-offender registry has been around for a long time, and the research that's out there says that it has no positive impact on the public safety," Borror said. "And, if anything, it might have a negative impact on public safety because it creates this administrative burden."
Nick Worner, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union, said a registry for arson seems arbitrary and will do little to solve crimes because "rounding up the usual suspects" is rarely an effective investigation method.
"Are we eventually going to have a registry for everything?" Worner said. "Will we have a shoplifters registry, where if something comes up missing at JC Penney's, they round up everybody who has ever been convicted of shoplifting and start there?"- I am sure it will eventually come down to that, but hey, why not? If an online registry is okay for ex-sex offenders, then it should be done for all. We should just have one online registry, and a way to look up people by crime type. It's not that difficult.
"Generally, the problem with this sort of thing is that it's supposed to start with the gathering of evidence in the investigation and then the detaining of people based on suspicion. This kind of does that backwards."
Worner also expressed concern that money needed to maintain the registry may end up coming from taxpayers' pockets. He said fees paid by offenders are supposed to finance registries, but that does not necessarily mean they will make the payments. Another big concern, Worner said, is that unlike the sex-offender registry, this one is not publicly available, meaning only law enforcement has access to the list.- As it should be, just like the sex offender registry.
"I think we would argue there is an issue with gathering this information in the first place, but it's an important question to ask: If you have to exempt the information from public-records law, should you be gathering it in the first place?" Worner asked.
Borror noted that the sex-offender registry has errors and inconsistencies, and the arsonist list will remain unchecked by the public, leaving many potential problems unaddressed.
Schaffer said the list will not be public because arson-related crimes are very different from sex offenses, and he has received no demand to make the list public.- Of course not, because the media and politicians haven't pushed that. If they whipped up fear like they do with ex-sex offenders, then I'm sure the public would be all for it.
"I haven't had one member of the public ask me for access to this law-enforcement tool," Schaffer said. "It's a law-enforcement tool. It's for the same reason that you can't access the state of Ohio's database for people's license plates. What's the purpose?"
He said providing the registry to the public is not off the table, but Ohioans would have to express a desire to see the list.
Robert Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association, said he was pleased with the new law, which he said should provide new techniques for arson investigators.
Cornwell said his organization approves of the registry because police should know the whereabouts of convicted arsonists. He did not estimate a much-larger workload for sheriffs in compiling the registry.- Wait until you have many registries, then see what kind of workload you have. Eventually nothing will get done because you are maintaining registries.
Michael Duchesne, spokesman for the State Fire Marshal, also expressed support of the registry, saying it will afford law enforcement more options when investigating arson-related crimes.
He said there are enough suspicious fires in Ohio to necessitate the registry.
Worner, with the ACLU, said even if the list is a new tool for law enforcement, it will not prove crimes. Ohioans should worry about the precedent the arson registry may create, he said.- They should've worried about that with the sex offender registry.
"You have to look down the road," Worner said. "If there's a registry here and a registry here, what's next?"- Exactly!© 2006-2013 | Sex Offender Issues
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Especially When It's Hard
I wrote the other day about Steven Smith and the Parole Board's recommendation that he be killed. Then I wrote about Thane Rosenbaum's thirst for vengeance and Anthony Colón's open-hearted insistence on loving and forgiveness. The two posts clearly (at least it's clear to me) belong together as they help to describe a philosophical and moral position I've been working on articulating since I started writing this blog almost four years ago (and my god how time flies).As it happens, I was moved a bit ago to stake out that position again in an e-mail to a group of abolitionists. With a few tweaks, I'm reproducing it here. The nominal subject was Steven Smith's case.Some cases are easy: There are serious doubts about guilt. Trial counsel was obviously derelict. Mitigation was overwhelming. The person has changed dramatically in the years since the conviction. Whatever.Other cases are harder. There's no obvious hook. The crime was especially, stomach-churningly, horrific. There's nothing obviously redemptive about the person. Where does one turn?I've thought a lot about the hard cases as I've thought a lot about the nature of executive clemency and about what's wrong with how it's meted out in this age, which is not how it has always been. My own position is clear to me, and I trust to anyone who's dipped into this blog even a little bit. I don't believe the government should be in the business of killing its people. Ever. I'm opposed to the death penalty in all cases, absolutely and unequivocally. My opposition is moral and practical and philosophical. It's wrong; it's bad policy; it's ultimately indefensible. Your mileage may vary.This is not about the death penalty, though. It's about clemency, which is something very different, though it happens in the context of the death penalty.Executive clemency, what the Governor can offer, is the Americanized version of the power to grant mercy that belonged to the English King. And while he (and occasionally she, in the person of the Queen) had the power simply because he had power, its formal genesis was in the King's understood role as God's designated agent on earth. It was inherent in the "divine right of kings" as kings were chosen, it was understood, by God.Our current approach is to treat clemency as either a means of error correction or a prize for being spectacularly rehabilitated, a gold star for extraordinary achievement (nobody actually gets that gold star, but the Parole Board talks about it). So the Parole Board debates whether the condemned has proved worthy of clemency. But really that's not the point. Clemency is an act of mercy, and we don't earn mercy. It's not (or it shouldn't be) about the condemned; it's about the rest of us. When the Governor grants clemency, it's an act of grace. To whom is it most worthy to bestow grace, to be merciful? To the innocent? To the good? No, there's nothing to that. It should be done, of course, but it's easy. Grace is hard. It asks a lot of us, of the giver. It asks that she give freely and openly because she recognizes that, as we were taught as children, it is better to give than to receive. And so the best gift, the noblest, and the most honest, clemency in its truest form is for those who least deserve it. Clemency for Steven Smith would be an extraordinary gift precisely because his is such a tough case. And how much better we would be as a state if we were willing to bestow it on him. This is who we are, it would say, we are a decent people who look upon the frog and see the prince, upon the foul and see the fair, upon the ugly and see the beautiful.The Pope washed the feet of those in prison. They weren't the folks most deserving of his act but the least deserving. That was the whole point.I'm not a Christian, not a believer in any religion or in any god, but I believe these things very deeply. And, as it happens, I'm right.
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Staatsanwaltschaft erhebt Anklage gegen Wulff
Nachdem der ehemalige Bundespräsident Christian Wulff nach Medienberichten einer Einstellung gegen einer Geldauflage von 20.000 Euro abgelehnt haben soll, erhebt die Staatsanwaltschaft Hannover nun Anklage wegen Bestechlichkeit. Jetzt muss das Landgericht Hannover entscheiden, ob die Anklage zugelassen wird und es zu einem Strafprozess kommt. Zuvor hatten die Anwälte von Wulff erklärt, dass ihr Mandant . . . → Read More: Staatsanwaltschaft erhebt Anklage gegen Wulff
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United States Supreme Court decides porch search by drug-sniffing dogs is a Fourth Amendment violation
Recently the Supreme Court limited police's authority when using drug-sniffing dogs. In Florida v. Jardines, the Court held that police conducted an unreasonable search when they led the dogs to Jardines's porch to detect the smell of marijuana. Acting on...
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Selling Your Briefs
<font style="FONT-SIZE: 12px" face="Arial">Psst. Wanna buy a brief?<br>
<br>
A while back, I had a debate with Peter Friedman of Case Western Reserve Law School (whose post has since disappeared down the black internet sinkhole, but whose words live on in the comments to my
post) about the <a href="http://blog.simplejustice.us/2010/08/12/are-lawyers-professional-plagiarists.aspx" target="">lawyer as plagiarist</a>. My argument is that a good lawyer crafts the argument,
the rhetoric, the point with which we seek to persuade the court. His was: why reinvent the wheel when you don't have to?<br>
...</font>
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The Inspector General Is On The Job
<font style="FONT-SIZE: 12px" face="Arial">First there were agents. They were virtuous and true, and they made television shows and movies about them. Remember Eliot Ness? He led the
Untouchables, and that's not a name one gets for being easily compromised. Violent, sure, but never on the take.<br>
<br>
But reality offered too many opportunities, and some went bad. So then there were watchers to watch the watchers. They called them Inspector Generals, and they were virtuous and true. But reality
offered too many ...</font>
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Gitmo 2.1
<p><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12px" face="Arial">Thinking how much fun it must be defending those poor souls held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? You get to wear cool uniforms and have access to all
the high tech the government has to offer, right? Well, sure, though the government still has its own idea about how this whole defending the enemy combatants thing works.<br>
<br>
From the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/guantanamo-dogged-by-new-controversy-after-mishandling-of-e-mails/2013/04/11/1973bf9a-a2dd-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html" target=
"">Washington Post</a> via the <a href="http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/it_workers_gave_federal_prosecutors_540k_emails_between_gitmo_defense_lawye/" target="">ABA Journal</a>:</font></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The military justice system at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ...</p></blockquote>
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Attending ISBA Criminal Justice Section Council Meeting
This morning I will attend the Illinois State Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section Council meeting. Participating in bar association councils and committees allows this firm to stay current on criminal justice issues as well as pending legislation. As a chair of other bar committees and former bar association president and leader, I have helped influence the legal profession as well as Illinois legi [...]
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MASTERS WEEKEND
We're not much for staying home and watching TV, but there is something about Augusta and the Masters that lends itself so well to television. In 1986, 46 year old Jack Nicklaus was 4 back as he left the 14th green. Five different golfers had or shared the lead during the final round. On the Par 5 15th Nicklaus knocked his second shot to 12 feet of the cup and made the eagle putt to pull within two of Seve Ballesteros. On the par three16th, Jack hit his tee shot to within 3 feet and made the birdie and now was one back. Meanwhile Seve was playing in the group behind Nicklaus and when he heard the roars of the crowds watching the Golden Bear's charge, he got a little jumpy and put his second on 15 into the water. Suddenly three golfers were tied for the lead (Seve, Jack and Tom Kite). On 17 Nicklaus made the birdie putt champions make- from 18 feet to go into the lead by one. Nicklaus was -7 for his final round and an amazing -6, 30 for the back nine. We recently heard Jack say that after a few years out of contention, he suddenly remembered how to win on the back 9 at Augusta in 1986. Which golfer will find his game and charge on the back nine this Sunday and win? It's fun to watch. Speaking of famous second shots on the par 5 15th, yesterday Tiger Wood's second at 15 hit the flag-pin and bounced back off the green and into the water hazard. An unlucky break. Tiger then elected to drop two yards back from where he hit his original shot. A kerfuffle has erupted. Rule 26-1 allows a golfer to seek relief from a shot in a water hazard at either the drop zone or "by playing the ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played."After his round Tiger was interviewed about the shot and stated that he went two yards back from his original shot because after seeing the shot that hit the flag stick he didn't want to over shoot the green. Query: is two yards back "as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played?" Doesn't seem so. Tiger recorded a six on 15 and submitted his card reflecting a six. But if his drop was incorrect he should have given himself a one shot penalty and recorded a seven. The penalty for submitting an incorrect scorecard? Disqualification. Tiger is playing great golf and is currently two back of the leaders. WOW. By noon today we should have the answer. Breaking: Tiger was given a two shot penalty. Seems hypocritical. Anyone else would have got DQ'd.Jacqueline Koo- the wife of the late, great REG Judge Dominic, passed away at age 91 on March 28, 2013. For those lawyers who don't remember a world before cell phones and Starbucks , Dominic Koo was Miami's (and surely Florida's ) first Asian-American Judge. Koo ran for County Court Judge under the then decidedly non-politically correct slogan "give a chinaman a chance". Dominic Koo was a true original. He was a man of common and uncommon wisdom and the type of judge who was always in good humor and made litigants in his courtroom feel comfortable. It's important to remember the great Judges and lawyers who held court long before most of us ever arrived on the scene. Enjoy your spring weekend. Site Feed
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"Hurricane Sandy has been good for the Gambino crime family"
The title of this post is the amusing first sentence of this New York Daily News article discussing the latest way-below-guideline federal sentencing outcome for extortion crimes in and around New York. Here are the factual basics: Reputed soldier Vincent...
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Florida (finally!!) carries out sentence for child killer who murdered during Carter Administration
As reported in this AP article, "Florida executed one of the longest-serving inmates on its death row Wednesday evening, 32 years after he kidnapped and murdered a 10-year-old girl who was riding her bike to school after a dentist put...
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CA - Wanetta Gibson Lawsuit: School Sues Woman Over False Rape Accusation
Wanetta GibsonOriginal Article04/13/2013LONG BEACH - The Long Beach Unified School District is suing a woman who falsely accused a former high school football star of rape in hopes of recovering legal fees and a $750,000 settlement paid to her.
The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported Thursday (http://bit.ly/16TjOrb) that the district alleged Wanetta Gibson committed contractual fraud in a lawsuit filed last November.
Gibson was 15 when she accused Brian Banks of attacking her on their high school campus. He insisted the sexual contact with Gibson was consensual, but pleaded no contest to forcible rape on the advice of his lawyer and spent more than five years in prison.
When he got out of prison, Gibson reached out to Banks on Facebook.
During an initial meeting with him, she said she had lied and offered to help him clear his record. But she refused to repeat the story to prosecutors because she feared she would have to return a settlement from a civil lawsuit brought by her mother against the school district.
During a second meeting that was secretly videotaped by a private investigator, she told Banks, "`I will go through with helping you, but it's like at the same time all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don't want to have to pay it back."
The tape ultimately led to Banks' exoneration in May 2012.
The district is also trying to recoup about $1.9 million that was spent defending itself against Gibson, and is seeking another $1 million in punitive damages.
However, its lawyers apparently have been unable to locate her.
Banks, once a star middle linebacker at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, said he had verbally agreed to attend USC on a scholarship when he was arrested.
He recently signed a contract to play with the Atlanta Falcons and has become a spokesman for the California Innocence Project, which works to exonerate the wrongly accused.© 2006-2013 | Sex Offender Issues
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PA - Former LC Coach (Timothy Adam Udinski) Faces 20 Years for Fake Sexual Abuse Claims
Timothy Adam UdinskiOriginal Article04/12/2013By Tony Di DomizioFormer Lansdale Catholic lacrosse coach Timothy Udinski faces up to 20 years in prison, after pleading no contest Friday to multiple stalking and harassment charges in false Lansdale Catholic sexual abuse claims.
A former Lansdale Catholic lacrosse coach will be convicted of making false molestation accusations via anonymous emails against school coaches, after he pleaded no contest to the charges on Friday in Montgomery County court.Timothy Adam Udinski, 44, of Old Dublin Pike, Doylestown, faces more than 20 years in prison, according to The Pottstown Mercury. Udinski pleaded no contest to multiple counts of stalking and harassment of school officials between October 2011 and May 2012, according to the article.
Udinski’s no contest plea is not admission of guilt, but it is admission that there is enough evidence to convict him at trial of the crimes.
A background report on Udinski will be completed prior to sentencing.
According to court records, Udinski is free on $25,000 unsecured bail.
Udinski is accused of four counts of misdemeanor stalking that repeatedly caused fear and two counts of misdemeanor harassment by threatening language through anonymous emails, according to court documents.
Authorities allege Udinski sent seven anonymous emails claiming sexual abuse at the school by coaches, including retired coach Jim Algeo.
During a time of sexual abuse upheaval in the ranks of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, police and Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman allege Udinski sent seven emails containing false claims of sexual abuse to the Archdiocese between October 19, 2011 and May 31, 2012.
In these emails, he allegedly deliberately and falsely claimed that both the Lansdale Catholic football and lacrosse coaches were engaged in sexual solicitation of players on their respective teams, according to Ferman.
Udinski, who is president of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Youth Lacrosse Association, also accused Lansdale Catholic Principal Timothy Quinn of failing to take any action regarding the alleged misconduct.Read the rest of the article© 2006-2013 | Sex Offender Issues
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Strict Maryland Gun Laws Pass General Assembly
Maryland is widely known as having some of the strictest gun laws in the entire country. Few states have provisions that even come close to the highly controversial law, which requires citizens to prove a good and substantial reason to possess a carry permit. Maryland also requires mandatory background checks for all gun purchases, regardless of whether the seller is a licensed dealer or a private party. There is also a mandatory seven-day waiting period in order to buy a gun. And now after the close of this years legislative session in Annapolis, the strict are bound get stricter after The General Assembly passed new firearms regulations. The bill, which has generated national attention, is awaiting Governor O'Malley's signature before it becomes law. All prior indications from the Governor's office have signaled that signing on the dotted line is a foregone conclusion. The new law will have a sweeping impact on all aspects of firearms regulation including purchasing, possessing, and selling.
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