Lance Rogers of BNA Criminal Law Reporter has this article on the U.S. Supreme Court's March 30 decision in Luis v. United States regarding pretrial freezing of assets of the defendant not directly related to the crime but forfeitable in substitution for tainted but expended assets. The court held that such assets cannot be frozen when the defendant needs them to pay her lawyer. See also my previous post.
More on the Luis Pretrial Asset Freeze Decision
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San Diego Launches Wrongful Conviction Team
In the wake of new DNA evidence and other factors contributing to the wrongful conviction of defendants in criminal cases, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has announced the creation of a dedicated team to deal with the issue. The review unit, staffed by two full-time prosecutors, will take a look at cases providing that … Continue reading San Diego Launches Wrongful Conviction Team → The post San Diego Launches Wrongful Conviction Team appeared first on .
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Marijuana Requires No Laboratory Report in Florida
What happens when Prosecutors use the testimony of a cop, with no testimony from a laboratory to identify the drug, Marijuana / Cannabis?No Lab Report Needed for Weed in Florida"The issue before us is whether a police officer’s identification of marijuana, arrived at by sight and smell alone, is admissible experience-based opinion testimony. Because the officer’s opinion was based on his personal knowledge and perception and resulted from a process of everyday reasoning, we hold that the officer’s opinion was admissible as lay opinion testimony under Section 90.701, Florida Statutes.""We find the officers’ testimony within the permissible range of layobservation and ordinary police experience.”Florida Law Weekly says, "Trial court did not abuse discretion by admitting police officer's testimony identifying substance as marijuana based on sight and smell alone -- Officer's testimony was…
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Washington Court Reverses Conviction and Orders New Trial for Defendant Charged with Domestic Violence
In a recent opinion, the Court of Appeals of Washington decided a case in which a defendant appealed his jury trial conviction for fourth-degree assault involving domestic violence. In City of Tacoma v. Driscoll (Wash. Ct. App. Mar. 22, 2016), the defendant argued that the lower court violated his right to present a defense when it excluded his testimony regarding two prior incidents of the victim attacking him. The Court of Appeals agreed with the defendant, reversed the conviction, and remanded for a new trial. In City of Tacoma, a witness called police officers to a bus shelter after observing the defendant kneeing the victim in the head. The defendant told officers he had acted in self-defense. At the time, the defendant had a no-contact order against the victim. The defendant was subsequently charged with one count of fourth-degree assault involving domestic violence. At trial, the defendant asserted the act was in self-defense, and he offered evidence of three prior…
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Can a Passenger of a Vehicle Leave the Scene of a Traffic Stop in Florida?
In Florida, the police have a right to stop a person driving a vehicle if the driver commits a traffic violation and detain that driver for a relatively short period of time to write a traffic citation. If during that time the police officer develops reasonable suspicion that the driver is committing a crime, the police officer can detain the driver temporarily while the police officer investigates the criminal activity. This is how many driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI) cases start. However, the right to detain a driver is limited. Once the traffic ticket is written, if there is no reason to further detain the driver, the driver is free to leave. If the police officer does not develops reasonable suspicion of criminal activity independent of the traffic violation, he/she must let the driver leave. Does this same concept apply to a passenger in the vehicle in Florida? Passengers can obviously be stopped for traffic violations by virtue of being in the…
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Potential Consequences of a Los Angeles Hit and Run Offense
To determine the possible consequences of a hit and run offense, you must first determine which Vehicle Code Section the conviction was made under. It is important to remember that a person has not been convicted until the person has been found guilty or has entered a plea of guilty. If a person has simply been arrested, they are simply being charged and are not convicted. To be convicted of an offense, there must be a trial or a voluntary plea. There can be no sentence issued, unless the person has been convicted. If a Hit and Run involves injury to a person, the person that has been convicted will be charged under California Vehicle code §20001(b)(1). The statute states that a person who has been found guilty under this section will “be punished by imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that imprisonment and…
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Former coal exec gets maximum misdemeanor sentence for conspiracy to evade mine safety regulations
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The Importance of Retaining a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney for your Bail Hearing
If you have been arrested and the crime is a felony, chances are the State of California will keep you in custody pending the conclusion of your case. However, you are entitled to a bail hearing to determine the amount of bail, if any, will be set. If you are in custody it is a very stressful and difficult time. Regardless, retaining an experienced and knowledgeable Los Angeles Criminal Defense attorney should be a priority and the first thing you do. During a bail hearing, there are several elements to be proven. Without the proper legal background and expertise, you would not be able to adequately and quickly prepare for the hearing. When granting or denying bail, the Court will consider two elements; 1) is there a flight risk and 2) is there a harm to society. Continue reading
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Satellite-Based Monitoring after Grady
In Grady v. North Carolina, 575 U.S. __, 135 S. Ct. 1368 (2015), the Supreme Court concluded that North Carolina’s satellite-based monitoring (SBM) program for sex offenders is a search. The Court left to the lower courts the question of whether the search is “unreasonable” under the Fourth Amendment. The lower courts have started to answer it. As discussed here, Grady said SBM is a search despite being part of a civil (not criminal) regime. The Court noted that it is “well-settled” that the “Fourth Amendment’s protection extends beyond the sphere of criminal investigations” and that “the government’s purpose in collecting information does not control whether the method of collection constitutes a search.” Id. at 1371. But the Fourth Amendment prohibits only unreasonable searches. To analyze the reasonableness of a search—including a search conducted as part of civil regime like SBM—the Court…
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Supreme Court Reverses Conviction for Failure to Register as Sex Offender
For many sex offenders, the prospect of registration for life is actually worse than imprisonment. Many offenders complain they can never pay their debt to society or be free of their past crimes, no matter how successful their rehabilitation. May others would argue this is the price you pay for abusing the most vulnerable amongst us, our children. In 2006, Congress enacted the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), and it was codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16901. Federal Sex Registration This law makes it a federal crime for a sex offender who meets certain requirements to “knowingly fail to register or update registration as required by [SORNA].” Under this law, “a sex offender shall, not later than 3 business days after each change of name, employment, or student status, appear in person in at least 1 jurisdiction involved pursuant to subsection (a) and inform that jurisdiction of all changes in the…
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"Normative Retroactivity"
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10 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty
Today, Amnesty International released its annual report on the use of the death penalty worldwide. 2015 was a year of extremes – the number of executions worldwide skyrocketed, but here in the United States executions dropped to their lowest in decades. Here are 10 reasons why it’s time to abolish the death penalty now: 1. There was more than a 50% increase in 2015 executions from 2014. Amnesty confirmed 1,634 executions in 2015, 573 more than the previous year and the highest Amnesty has recorded in 25 years. That figure excludes executions in China, which likely executes more than the rest of the world combined but considers the data to be a state secret. 2. The death penalty in the United States continues to decline. 2015 saw the fewest executions in the U.S. in 24 years and the fewest death sentences in 25 years. All 28 executions in 2015 were isolated to just six states, and only three states – Texas, Missouri, and Georgia – were…
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News Scan
Previously Deported Illegal May Face Criminal Charges in 3 Deaths: An illegal immigrant who was previously deported in 2008 may face charges of criminally negligent homicide for striking a Texas firefighter head-on in his vehicle, killing him and his two young children. Lana Shadwick of Breitbart reports that Margarito Quintero did not have a driver's license when he slammed head-on into the vehicle of 36-year-old North Texas volunteer firefighter Captain Peter Hacking, who was driving his four-year-old stepdaughter and 22-month-old son. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they had no contact with Quintero until Tuesday's accident. He will face felony charges in the deaths of Hacking and his children if he recovers from his critical injuries.MO High Court Upholds Man's Death Sentence: The Missouri Supreme Court upheld the death sentence Tuesday of a man who killed two women a decade ago after sexually torturing…
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Innocence Project calls on New York to #endNYwrongfulconviction
On April 6, 2016, The Innocence Project, several New York exonerees, and NYC Councilwoman Vanessa L. Gibson, convened at City Hall urging New York State to pass eyewitness ID reform and recording of interrogations, key contributors of wrongful conviction.
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How does the legalization of marijuana in the US impact Mexican cartels?
The question in the title of this post is the query to be explored by an LL.M. student in my seminar this week. Here are the suggested background readings and materials she provided to set up this important topic: Is the legalization of marijuana a better solution than a war...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/qcXdzizy8JQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Leo on Redefining Innocence
Richard A. Leo (University of San Francisco - School of Law) has posted Has the Innocence Movement Become an Exoneration Movement? The Risks and Rewards of Redefining Innocence (Daniel Medwed, ed., Innocent Reflections: A Quarter Century of DNA Exonerations (Cambridge...
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Amnesty Int'l: "Alarming Rise" in Global Executions
Amnesty International has released a report on global executions for 2015. More people were executed than in any year in the past 25 years. 89 % were killed by three countries, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. (China's exact numbers are... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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New Trial Ordered for Oklahoma Woman Whose Murder Conviction was Reversed by Appeals Court
In June of 2014, Loretta Hawks, who was 35 years old at the time, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 47-year-old Arthur Strozewski in August of 2012. News reports call the incident a “home invasion style murder.” Hawks allegedly participated with two others, all three charged with murder, kidnapping, and burglary. Testimony at trial indicated that Hawks had lived with the victim, who threw her out of the home earlier on the day he was killed. She reportedly returned to the home later that evening with the two co-defendants. At the time the three went to Strozewski’s home, his two teenage children were also present. While the victim’s daughter was able to call 911, Strozewski and his son were allegedly bound with duct tape. The victim was then stabbed to death. Earlier this week, Hawks’ conviction and life prison sentence were reversed by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, and a new trial ordered. Hawks claimed in…
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Teen driving laws have a surprising impact on crime
A government report that was just released showed that state laws/regulations regarding teen driving has actually contributed to a large decrease in crime. Starting in the early 90’s a few states passed GDL (graduated driver licensing) laws, making teenagers gain experience driving before they could become fully licensed drivers. As of this writing, all 50 states have some form of GDL. Now, research has suggested that these laws have contributed to fewer teenagers being arrested for nontraffic-related crimes. State GDL laws, limiting teens ability to drive at night, have led to fewer kids being arrested for battery and burglary. In effect, driving curfews have cut down teenagers being out in the dark when the majority of violent crimes and home invasions take place. When these laws were first being passed, the effect on crime was not a consideration. The sole purpose was to improve teen safety. These findings, if correct, are just a happy…
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Vikings Player Suing Minneapolis Police Department
Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Tom Johnson has filed a $75,000 suit against two Minneapolis police officers in connection with a 2014 arrest in which Johnson was acquitted of the charges. The actions of the officers in question are being challenged by Johnson at a time when police brutality and questionable tactics are under the microscope across the US. According to the suit, Johnson said he was both pepper sprayed and tasered by officers Patrick McCarver and John Laluzerne outside of the steakhouse/nightclub Seven in downtown Minnesota. We covered the incident back when it first broke in October of 2014, and police noted that Johnson refused to leave the nightclub despite being asked multiple times by security guards to vacate the premise. Police said that Johnson was then “sprayed with department-issue chemical irritants and forced outside.” The officers stated that Johnson didn’t take too kindly to being pepper-sprayed, and they wrote…
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