In Florida, the crime of burglary involves a person breaking into or entering a place with the intent to commit a theft or other crime inside. The crime of burglary in Florida can get a little complicated based on the type of place that is entered, where the defendant was and what happened once inside. However, what is clear is that a person does not have to break in to be guilty of burglary. Simply going into a place without permission to steal something or commit certain other crimes inside is normally sufficient for a burglary conviction. However, under Florida law, it is not a burglary if a person enters a place to commit a crime that is open to the public. In a recent burglary case near Jacksonville, Florida, the defendant entered a 7 Eleven store during normal business hours and stole money after threatening the cashier with a gun. The prosecutor charged him with several crimes including burglary with a weapon (the penalties for burglary with a weapon are more…
Florida Burglary Conviction Reversed Where Defendant Stole From Store Open to the Public
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Priel on Criminalization and Welfare
Dan Priel (York University - Osgoode Hall Law School) has posted Criminalization and Welfare (Criminalization: Domestic and International Perspectives (Neha Jain & François Tanguay Renaud eds., Oxford University Press, 2017 Forthcoming)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: A standard view...
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Is Logging into a Friend’s Netflix Account a Federal Crime?
United States vs. Nosal – Recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision You access your friend’s Netflix account after he gave you permission to use it with his login and password. Did you just commit a federal criminal offense? Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided 2-1 that sharing passwords to access computer databases can be grounds for criminal prosecution. The case was brought to the Appeals Court after David Nosal, an employee at the executive search firm Korn and Ferry International. Nosal left the firm in 2004 after being denied a promotion. Though he stayed on for a year as a contractor, he was simultaneously preparing to launch a competing search firm, along with several co-conspirators. Although all of their computer access was revoked, they continued to access a the Korn and Ferry candidate database, known as Searcher, using the login credentials of Nosal’s former assistant, who was still with the firm.…
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Some Additional Thoughts on the McDonnell Decision
I agree with my colleague Prof. Podgor that DOJ made the "right decision" to drop the prosecution of former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell. Under the narrow definition of "official act" given by the Supreme Court a re-prosecution was doomed. I...
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DUI: Dangerous On Land and Sea
As a rule, DUIs in Los Angeles involve motor vehicles moving on interstates, highways and local roads—in other words, on dry land. But with the ocean close by, some law enforcement officers in Los Angeles County also have to deal with intoxicated boaters who pose a danger to themselves and to others on the water. These stories from other states demonstrate the kind of toll that BUIs can take: • In South Carolina, around 6 a.m. on July 7th, police arrested Cynthia Lynn Averitt for boating under the influence on Lake Wylie. A few hours later they pulled the body of Kenneth Varandore, a passenger on the boat, from the lake. Police reported that Varandore apparently jumped into the water and never resurfaced. • A 43-foot fishing vessel smashed into a slip at Aurora Harbor in Juneau, Alaska, around noon on June 6th. Darrin Hess, age 51, was at the wheel of the Nor’Gale when it hit several boats and then caused significant…
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Polk County Teacher Asking For Lighter Sentence For Sex Crime
A Polk County ex-teacher facing 22 years in prison for child sex crimes will be asking for a lighter punishment, according to reports. The former English teacher pleaded guilty to 37 child-sex charges in March 2015 and was sentenced a few months later. The 31-year-old was initially arrested on allegations she had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student. Investigators said she also admitted to having sex with two other teens at the school. The judge told the woman that even though the victims were willing participants, their age doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a crime. Now, the woman is seeking a lighter sentences for several factors, including an undisclosed mental condition, the victims being willing participants and a lack of treatment options available to her in prison. She is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday to ask for that lighter sentence. Any criminal accusation involving sex is quite serious and should be dealt with accordingly. Prison…
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Further Criticism for Nebraska DP Cost Study
I previously noted the false quote misattributed to me in a controversial study of cost of the death penalty by Creighton University economist Ernest Goss. I followed up with a post on the completely inadequate "correction" that continued to indirectly cite my study for the exact opposite of what it actually found.Criticisms of this badly flawed study continue to flow in. Joe Duggan has this article for the Omaha World-Herald:Anthony Yezer, a professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said such studies fail to account for what's called the "plea-bargain effect." The term refers to the role the death penalty plays in potentially saving trial costs by convincing some accused killers to plead guilty to their crimes rather than risk execution.Death penalty opponents frequently argue that the death penalty has no deterrence effect. But Yezer disagrees. And he said Goss made no attempt to factor in how much the fear of…
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Injury Crash 1200 Blk Hoffman Ave, CDA
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police Regional Communication Center - North 615 W Wilbur Ave Suite A Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83815 Please direct questions to the appropriate District Offices District 1 (208) 209-8620 Fax (208) 209- 8618 District 2 (208) 799-5150 PRESS RELEASE FOR DISTRICT ONE CASE # C16002199 --------------------- PRESS RELEASE ----------------------------- DATE: September 12th, 2016 TIME: 12:55 PM LOCATION: 1200 Blk Hoffman Ave, Coeur d'Alene ASSISTING AGENCIES: Coeur d'Alene Police Department, Coeur d'Alene Fire Department VEHICLE #1 ------------- DRIVER Juvenile Male INJURIES? - No VEHICLE YEAR 2004 VEHICLE MAKE Honda VEHICLE MODEL Accord WRECKER Superior SEATBELTS WORN? Unknown PASSENGER(S) ADDRESS Juvenile Male…
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OH5: Def’s wrecked empty car on road to house justified entry onto curtilage to check on potential injury
Defendant’s car was upside down and blood on the passenger air bag. Nobody was there. The officer went to the house where the car was registered to find the driver and passenger. “Present in this case was a very badly … Continue reading →
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DE: Nervousness alone isn’t RS to extend a stop
Defendant’s motion to suppress is granted. About all the officer could show was that defendant was nervous, and that’s not reasonable suspicion to extend this stop. The questioning of defendant about his travel plans wasn’t any aid to the state … Continue reading →
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Do “Dominion and Control” DUI Laws Incentivize Drunk Driving?
Despite what some think, drunk driving doesn’t necessarily involve driving. In some states a person can actually be arrested, charged and convicted of drunk driving even when the person didn’t drive their vehicle. Such states have what are called “dominion and control” DUI laws. Under “dominion and control” DUI laws, if a person is intoxicated and have dominion and control of their vehicles with the mere ability to drive, they can be arrested, charged, and convicted of that state’s DUI laws. Simply put, “dominion and control” DUI laws create the possibility of someone getting arrested, charged, and convicted of a DUI when they’re trying to sober up in their vehicle and have absolutely no intent to drive. Having said that, the question arises, “Do ‘dominion and control’ DUI laws give people incentive to actually drive drunk?” This question is currently being asked by law makers in New Jersey.…
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One Beer per Hour Rule May Still Result in a DUI
It is a common misconception that drinking only one beer per hour will keep an individual within the legal limit to avoid a DUI. Regardless of what online blood alcohol concentration (BAC) calculators tell you, they cannot honestly predict how a person’s body will react to one beer or glass or wine, thus incorrectly predicting […] The post One Beer per Hour Rule May Still Result in a DUI appeared first on Salt Lake Criminal Defense Attorney.
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Imwinkelried on Objective Chances and Uncharged Misconduct
Edward J. Imwinkelried (University of California, Davis - School of Law) has posted Criminal Minds: The Need to Refine the Application of the Doctrine of Objective Chances as a Justification for Introducing Uncharged Misconduct Evidence to Prove Intent on SSRN....
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Billings on Commercial Bail Bondsmen
Thanithia Billings has posted Private Interest, Public Sphere: Eliminating the Use of Commercial Bail Bondsmen in the Criminal Justice System (Boston College Law Review, Vol. 57, No. 4, 2016) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The decision to grant bail...
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" ???" TO THE FEDS?
The federal bench for the southern district of Florida is "littered" populated with a liberal dose of former State Court REGJB Judges. From former Chief Judge Federico Moreno, to Ursula Ungaro, Joan Leonard, Beth Bloom, Cecilia Altonaga, Bob Scola, and Darrin Gayles, the REGJB has been a feeder to the federal bench. And while we strive to forget the courthouse to the north, Broward has contributed three fine additions to the SDFLA: Judges Cohn, Rosenbaum and Dimitrouleas.So our question today is....who's next? Who has that rare combination of talent and political pull to garner an appointment and lifetime job of lunches at Joes and sentencing enhancements for the unpardonable sin of going to trial and losing? It's a good gig if you can get it. It's Over Johnny...The puzzling, unexpected, and sad saga of L'Affair Brennan ala Florida Keys has concluded with the decision not to charge her son with a DUI (Herald article here)-the event…
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Kamin on Legal Cannabis
Sam Kamin (University of Denver Sturm College of Law) has posted Legal Cannabis in the US: Not Whether But How? (UC Davis Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The 2016 election promises to be a turning point...
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Woman with No Pants Arrested for Drunk Driving
According to a recent news article from Fox 25 News Boston, a woman was recently arrested for drunk driving with not pants. Authorities have said they noticed a car was driving in an erratic manner and initiated a traffic stop. The first thing the officer noticed was the woman was allegedly not wearing any pants or underwear. This was all captured on the cruiser’s dash cam, which was operating at the time of her arrest. After she noticed she was not wearing any pants, she asked her if she had been drinking any alcoholic beverages that night. Her alleged response was that she had been drinking too much, and she should take her to jail already. He asked her to put her pants back on, which she happened to have with her in the car. The officer who had effectuated the traffic stop was female and told the 19-year-old driver that she had called for another officer and that was a male officer that would be arriving, and she probably wanted to put her…
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"As Marijuana Prohibition Winds Down, What Will Control Freaks Ban Next?"
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Many wrongfully convicted Harris County drug defendants never notified of innocence claims
The Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission continues to trundle along months after your correspondent left its ranks and is scheduled to meet Thursday, September 15th at 1:00 p.m. in the House Appropriations Committee Room, Texas Capitol Extension Room #E1.030. The Office of Court Administration posted links to the Agenda, Meeting Book, Appendix, and Media clips for this and prior meetings. The meeting will be broadcast live on the House of Representatives website here.Among other documents, the "meeting book" this time contains a joint power-point presentation from the Harris County DA and Public Defender on the rash of drug exonerations in that county stemming from a combination of over-aggressive drug enforcement and faulty field tests. Their update included a reminder that quite a few falsely convicted people in this episode served out their full sentences without ever being notified they were entitled to relief. Just to try out something new, here are a few…
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Why TV Reporters Would Make Lousy Lawyers
This topic has been on my mind for months now, for obvious reasons. Apparently Matt Lauer brought it to the forefront with his lame “interviews” of Trump and Clinton. I wouldn’t know. I can’t bear to watch this stuff any more. I say “interview” in quotes because nobody who does what I do for a living is able to take what these clowns pretend to do seriously. They don’t “interview” anyone. They simply invite them to spew sound bites: in Clinton’s case, canned rehearsed pre-packaged focus group approved sound bites; in Trump’s case, more off-the-cuff riffs that he obviously literally makes up as he goes along. Continue Reading
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