It is a known fact that domestic violence happens, is a problem for Washington (not to mention the whole country), and has caused permanent injuries and even fatalities. Yet it is also known that for every victim that is found, helped and able to get out, there are many unreported domestic violence situations. In fact, it is usually the case that when the police or courts are involved the abuse has been going on for some time before it was reported. In many cases the only reason that some domestic violence situations are reported is that a third party witness called it in or a major injury or fatality was sustained and there was no choice but to involve others for medical aid For many people this raises a lot of comments and questions. “Surely they couldn’t like being abused – no one does. I would never let that happen to me. Why didn’t they just call the police or at least leave? Why did they stay?” These comments and questions…
Why Do Some Domestic Violence Victims Remain Silent?
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Bringing Values Back
Cecilia Klingele, The Promises and Perils of Evidence-Based Corrections, 91 Notre Dame L. Rev. 101 (2015). Mary Fan To build coalitions on controversial issues where worldviews collide, you have to search for common or at least less contentious ground. Disagree on the rights and wrongs of the death penalty? Rather than moral head-butting over abolitionist legislation, let’s talk instead about the millions of extra taxpayer dollars spent on trying to attain capital sentences that may never be carried out. Disagree on whether mass incarceration is a moral and humanitarian crisis or sound safety protection? Rather than shouting past each other, let’s talk instead about a common denominator of concerns over the crippling costs to taxpayers of paying for overstuffed prisons. Money talk may bridge impasses and offer a seemingly more neutral way out of the morass of competing worldviews. Similarly, now that there is a historic convergence of interests around…
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So Many Sources of Information, So Little Time
Private and public records offer a wealth of information to fraud investigators On Balance – The Magazine for Wisconsin CPAs Without information, a fraud investigation goes nowhere. There are abundant sources of information on people and companies, and as the Internet continues to expand, so does the accessibility of the information. Doing a thorough fraud investigation often goes beyond just analyzing documents produced by the client. The best forensic accountants and fraud investigators are able to find additional sources of information to help crack the case. There is plenty of art to finding clues in an investigation, and it all starts with knowing what to look for and where to find it. Private recordsFraud investigations rely heavily on the availability of private records. In the typical business fraud case, helpful internal records could include financial statements, tax returns, sales and receivable records, expense documentation, proof of payments to vendors, or…
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Rule 41, When Any Judge Will Do
The concept of geographical jurisdiction of Magistrate Judges will be a faint memory if Chief Justice John Roberts gets his way. He’s forwarded proposed changes to Congress to amend Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that will fundamentally alter the requirement that a warrant be issued by a judge within the jurisdiction of the place or thing to be searched. The reason for the change was made abundantly clear by the refusal of a couple of Mags, who concluded that the government’s effort to circumvent the requirement that only a warrant issued by a judge within the district where it was to be executed, to play ball. The government was on a tear on Tor, and there were those archaic rules making its job hard. Ars Technica explains: For now, Rule 41 allows these junior judges to authorize electronic searches only within their own judicial district. This month alone, two federal judges in Massachusetts and…
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M.D.Fla.: Rule 41(g) proceeding can’t be used to relitigate lost forfeiture
Rule 41(g) on return of property cannot be used to relitigate a final forfeiture order. United States v. Varnedoe, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55933 (M.D.Fla. April 26, 2016). Defendant’s warrantless blood draw was unlawful because defendant was presented with the … Continue reading →
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Turley’s War on the Skies (and everywhere else)
What sort of whiny terrorist sympathizer would complain about waiting three hours on a TSA security line, just because they’ve yet to stop any terrorist ever? What about the children? You have likely been reading about the scandalous situation at our airports where TSA security points have created chokepoints due to a lack of planning and staffing in the latest failure of this agency. Thousands of passengers are missing their flights due to massive lines and the airports are now suggesting that people come THREE HOURS in advance. The reason is obvious incompetence in failing to plan for rising numbers of passengers and to properly staff security checkpoints. Yet, no one is being held accountable. The public is just again left paying billions to the government, which cannot meet the most basic obligations to the public. We no longer expect competence from our government. No longer? As if it’s easy for the government to protect us in this ever…
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JSO officer charged with theft charges, but will not face sex charges in Duval County
A Jacksonville police officer is facing several criminal charges stemming from separate alleged incidents. According to a report in the Florida Times Union, the officer of fourteen years is charged with grand theft, petit theft and official misconduct in Duval County. Those charges are pending after allegations that the officer was paid for time he did not work in off-duty jobs. Official misconduct and grand theft are both third degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison each and the petit theft is a first degree misdemeanor. The State Attorney’s Office has not made a decision about filing those charges. There is another allegation of sexual battery in Jacksonville that the prosecutor on the case has made a decision on. The officer was accused of paying prostitutes to have sex with him while on duty. One woman told police she was forced to have sex with the police officer, which is considered a sexual battery in…
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IA: Once it was discovered that owner with suspended DL wasn’t driving car, officer could still ask for DL (noting conflicting authorities)
Defendant was stopped because the officer checked the LPN and saw that the female owner’s DL was suspended. Once he saw the driver was a man, the reasonable suspicion for the stop was immediately dispelled. Nevertheless, the court is constrained … Continue reading →
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St. Pete Police Arrest Man Accused of Running $1 Million Marijuana Operation
Detectives arrested a St. Petersburg man who was allegedly running a drug operation involving more than $1 million worth of marijuana. The 24-year-old is facing charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Detectives claim they have been watching the man for several years.They received a tip that he was storing large quantities of marijuana in his apartment, which led them to obtain a search warrant, according to reports. On March 23, investigators went to his apartment and apparently found 23 pounds of high-grade hydroponic marijuana that was packaged and ready for distribution inside his kitchen cabinets. Detectives claim they also found three guns and $87,000 in suspected drug money. For the next month, detectives continued to investigate the man, and they claim they were able to identify about 230 pounds of marijuana — including the 23 pounds found his house apartment — and $168,000 cash associated with…
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WA: Reasonable suspicion there was a gun in car permitted a protective sweep of the car
Officers had reasonable suspicion there was a gun in defendant’s car, and they could make a limited sweep of a vehicle knowing that the vehicle is or shortly will be impounded and will be towed from the scene. State v. … Continue reading →
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An (unhelpful?) exploration of how a troubled young man gets 50 years in Mississippi prison for first felony convictions
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Minnesota Among Lowest in Nation in DUI Risk
Everyone knows that drunk driving is a risky choice that can have life altering consequences, and it’s no surprise that DUIs are more problematic in some areas than in others. To get a better idea of where you’re most likely to run into a drunk driver or in which state you’re more likely to pay out of pocket as a taxpayer for drunk driving related expenses, the website CarInsuranceComparison.com examined numerous bits of information. The information was categorized into two sub-categories; DUI Penalties and Types of Drunk Driving Laws. Each state was ranked based on the following information: Cost per Fatality by State (Drunk Driving Fatalities per 1,000,000 Population and Taxpayer Subsidy per Drunk Driving Fatality by State) – 35% of the total score. Drunk Driving (Percentage of Fatal Crashes that Involved Alcohol) – 10% of the total score. DUI Arrests (Arrests of Minors and Adults that were Driving Under the Influence (“DUI”)…
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Kopel & Greenlee on Second Amendment Doctrines
David B. Kopel and Joseph G.S. Greenlee (Independence Institute and Independent) have posted The Federal Circuits’ Second Amendment Doctrines on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago left...
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Federal Sentencing Guidelines in Firearms Cases
A Federal Criminal Sentencing Example The United States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG) was an attempt to reach the goal of consistent sentencing among the 94 federal districts. In other words, the United States Guideline Commission was established to try to ensure that persons sentenced in Georgia were punished similarly to persons punished in Washington State for the same offense. However, as is the case with many ideals, an admirable idea actually had a number of problems in its implementation. It has been criticized for contributing to large sentences in the federal criminal system. To be more specific, the Guidelines are a set of principles and rules designed to apply a mathematic formula that generates a specific range of punishment for a crime. Understanding the Federal Sentencing Guidelines It is important to recognize that there are two ranges of punishment in every federal case: the statutory range and the guideline range. Think of the statutory range as the outer…
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Is There a Difference Between Public Lewdness and Indecent Exposure?
Public Lewdness and Indecent Exposure in Texas One of the many goals of the Texas government and law enforcement is to maintain public peace and order. This includes laws and ordinances that prohibit certain kinds of behavior that are believed to be dangerous, obscene or disturbing to the general public. Preventing small behaviors that violate the peace ensures that large-scale disturbances do not occur. Two common offenses that disturb the public peace and order are known as public lewdness and indecent exposure. Although these two criminal offenses are similar, they are distinct in their definition. Engaging in behavior that violates the law in a public place can end in a trip to jail and criminal charges. Public Lewdness vs Indecent Exposure The Texas Penal Code prohibits and penalizes inappropriate conduct in a public place. Just as there are laws that prohibit intoxication in public, there are laws that make it illegal to engage in public nudity or public sexual activity.…
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Elizabeth Gonzalez of Hollywood, Florida Arrested for Fraud and Conspiracy Charges
Elizabeth Gonzalez of Hollywood, Florida was arrested for her alleged involvement in a $500,000 lottery fraud scheme run by her husband, South Florida musician Delroy Drummond (pictured). Gonzalez, 25, faces wire fraud and conspiracy charges. After it came to light that Gonzalez was put on bed rest due to complications with her pregnancy, she was released on $100,000 bond. The press did not specify whether Gonzalez has acquired legal representation. According to federal investigators, Gonzalez’s husband purportedly ran a Jamaican-based telemarketing firm between December and January this year. The firm allegedly called U.S. seniors to falsely inform them that they had won a lottery. Jamaican employees purportedly used U.S. phone numbers to inform victims that they had to wire certain fees before they could claim their fake prize. Gonzalez was allegedly responsible for receiving the wire transfers from the victims, who lived in New York, North Carolina,…
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Florida Man Blows a .604 With Kids In The Car
A Florida man was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and child neglect after he was found passed out at an intersection with his children in the car. There’s poor judgement, and then there’s Stephen Allbritton. According to Lee County police, Allbritton was found unresponsive behind the wheel of his SUV at an intersection in Estero, Florida. He was found slumped over the steering wheel at 11 AM last Friday with his teenage daughter in the passenger seat and his juvenile son in the back. Thankfully, the children were uninjured and they were released into the custody of their mother. As for Allbritton, it’s amazing he isn’t dead. According to the police report, Allbritton was “not able to exit the vehicle nor stand on his own feet without the assistance of the support of the vehicle and then escorted with the assistance of two Medical Staff personnel on each arm.” At the Medical Center, Allbritton was “unable…
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Ford on Unilateral Invasions of Privacy
Roger Allan Ford (University of New Hampshire School of Law) has posted Unilateral Invasions of Privacy (91 Notre Dame Law Review 1075 (2016)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Most people seem to agree that individuals have too little privacy,...
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Supreme Court to Law Enforcement: Do Not Freeze Untainted Assets
The precedent was set in 1989. In a United States v. Monsanto case, the Supreme Court held that a suspect who violated the Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE) and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) should not have access to the funds obtained through illegal activity. Accordingly, the criminal defendant may not use the illegal funds to pay for counsel. Furthermore, the defendant may not benefit from the illegal activity he or she partook in. This is doubly so if the monies obtained from the illegal activity constitutes part of the evidence of the crime perpetrated. Luis v. United States For a while, it seemed that the U.S. Supreme Court decision offered prosecution carte blanche to freeze just about any asset belonging to the defendant. It appears that wasn’t the exact interpretation of the 1989 verdict, as a recent decision proves. The recent decision, occurring almost 27 years later, emanated from the Luis v. United States case. It sought to put…
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Best of Brand New: Radiohead's New Single
Think idealistic small town America. Maybe Mayberry RFD, Maybe Hobbs. And then think about all the nasty, gory things happening behind the scenes.Or, sometimes, even in front of your very eyes.A model village gone twisted.Best political commentary in years. Just released yesterday.
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