It takes some chutzpah for a Village blogger like Jon Cohn to insist
that progressives clamor for the Senate health bill. Cohn writes: I
should probably reiterate what I've said before. Nobody--not the
president and not the members of Congress--are going to move if
progressives don't push for [the health bill]. That's where the real
shove has to start. Progressives have been marginalized and insulted
throughout the process. Many, if not most, do not care for the Senate
health bill. And now one of the people Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:50 am

Matt Yglesias writes: I was on the radio yesterday, for example, with
a woman who said that the GOP’s Medicare privatization plan would
save money by giving people vouchers to buy private insurance. [. . .]
[W]hat Ryan’s plan actually does is first privatize/vouchers
Medicare, and then “save money” by arbitrarily mandating that the
cost of the vouchers have to grow slower than the cost of health care.
In other words, with every passing year Ryancare vouchers get smaller
and smaller relative to the cost of Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:50 am

The ACLU has released an issues brief arguing against the
criminalizing of the undocumented. It's both unlawful and harmful to
public policy. The use by states and localities of criminal laws to go
after undocumented immigrants simply for being undocumented is
generally unlawful, because the federal government has sole power to
regulate immigration. [More...] ...More important, the federal
government's decision to prosecute more immigration violations
criminally has diverted resources from prosecution of Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:50 am

Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:26 pm

Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:26 pm

Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:26 pm

Journalist Steve Weinberg writes a review of David Dow's Autobiography
of an Execution for today's Christian Science Monitor, "A death
penalty attorney writes with candor about the painful burdens of his
job." Dow is not the first anti-death penalty advocate to criticize
the criminal justice system in print, and he probably will not be the
last. But his book is especially worthy, whatever a reader's opinion
about the morality of the death penalty. Dow's candor seems so
absolute that readers on both sides of Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:25 pm

"State could save by ending death penalty," is the title of Jeanette
Krebs' column in the Harrisburg Patriot-News. Krebs is the paper's
editorial page editor. As Gov. Ed Rendell unveils what is expected to
be a tough budget this week, here is a money-saving idea: Abolish the
death penalty. If Pennsylvania did, it would not be alone. More states
are looking at a ban, many as they face tough economic realities. New
Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson, who was a long-time death penalty
supporter, signed legislation Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:25 pm

The ruling is here. The Arkansas News Bureau has, "Court Upholds
Lethal Injection Protocol." A federal appeals court has upheld
Arkansas' lethal injection procedure, finding it is designed "to avoid
the needless infliction of pain, not to cause it." The 8th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis upheld the dismissal of a
lawsuit filed by three death-row inmates, including two who are
scheduled to die over the next nine weeks. Terrick Nooner, Don
Williams and Jack Jones Jr. challenged the Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:25 pm

Here are a few recent tidbits that deserve Grits readers' attention:
Dallas constables' ongoing fiasco At the Dallas News, Ed Timms and
Kevin Krause have the story of a deputy constable with a checkered
past accused of committing several felony crimes, including
"unauthorized use of two motor vehicles, tampering with government
records and coercing two women into performing sexual acts instead of
arresting them on outstanding warrants." (UPDATE 2/8: See a followup
story.) Meanwhile his blustering boss Jaime Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:53 pm

In 1993, Texas set the current threshold for felony theft at $1,500
for a state jail felony - below that, theft receives misdemeanor
charges that don't involve state prison time. The jump to the next
offense category is quite significant - someone must steal more than
$20,000 to be charged with a third degree felony. However, adjusting
for inflation, $1,500 in 1993 amounts to $2,208 in 2008 dollars.
Indeed, "if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2008 and
1993, they would cost you $1500 and Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:53 pm

I said from the get-go that the search warrant used to get on the YFZ
Ranch property in Eldorado back in 2008 was overbroad, based on lies,
and that evidence derived from the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup
should be suppressed in criminal court. Now an Arizona judge has
concluded the same thing after prosecutors there tried agreed not to
introduce evidence against polygamist "prophet" Warren Jeffs
discovered as a result of information seized during the raid. In
Arizona, at least, such evidence will be Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:53 pm

DOJ Press Release, Two New Jersey Executives Each Sentenced to 27
Months in Jail for Roles in Nationwide Scheme to Defraud the Federal
E-Rate Program Celestine Bohlen, Bloomberg, German Bounty Tears Veil
Off Swiss Secrecy: Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant,... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:50 am

Amanda Bronstad, NLJ, law.com, Judge Tosses Remaining Broadcom
Charges, Finds 'Serious Problems' in SEC Complaint John Pacenti, Daily
Business Review, Law.com, Rothstein Pleads Guilty to All Counts in
$1.2 Billion Ponzi Scheme; Paul Brinkmann & Susan R. Miller, South
Florida... Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 6:55 am

Judge Posner (7th Circuit) offers a stinging opinion for Former
Chicago Alderman Eddie Vrdolyak. (see decision here) Vrdolyak plead
guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and received a
sentence of five years probation.(see here) The government appealed... Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 6:55 am

BY TIM CARPENTER Created March 16, 2009 at 1:48pm Updated March 16,
2009 at 10:15pm Bill sent back to committee after three-hour Senate
debate A bill repealing the death penalty in Kansas was shoved back
into a Senate committee Monday after a three-hour debate that left
proponents and opponents of capital punishment unsatisfied. The drama
pulled Kansans traumatized by a family murder into rival lobbying
campaigns for the first substantial legislative effort to drop the
death penalty since reimposition of Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 11:58 pm

The Associated Press TOPEKA Legislators have scheduled hearings this
week to review the cost and effectiveness of Kansas' death penalty
law. The Senate Judiciary Committee begins its work Tuesday. A bill
was debated last year that would have prevented new death sentences
after July 1, 2009, but the bill was sent back to committee for more
work. Kansas enacted its death penalty law in 1994, but there have
been no executions since it took effect. Many legislators say there
appears to be little chance that the Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 11:58 pm

The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a court ruling that invalidated
a former Black Panther's death sentence for killing a Philadelphia
police officer in 1981, one of two rulings it issued that reversed
actions by lower courts. The first move was the latest twist in Mumia
Abu-Jamal's racially tinged case that has drawn international
attention. The justices ordered the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in Philadelphia to take another look at Abu-Jamal's claim that the
jury weighing his punishment was given Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 11:58 pm

An article in today's Compliance Week, Koss Fraud Spotlights Small
Filers' Internal Control Issues (subscription required), quotes me on
internal controls and the auditors as it relates to the huge fraud
committed by VP of Finance Sue Sachdeva at Koss Corp (NASDAQ:KOSS).
I'm no fan of Sarbanes-Oxley because I believe it was ridiculously
expensive, and hasn't really produced any meaningful results. Fraud is
just as rampant as before SOX became law, and the only thing companies
have to show for it is a huge Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 1:24 pm

Dear Colleagues, Consumers and Pyramid Scheme Alert Supporters, A new
essay recently posted on the False Profits Blog addresses a question
many of you have raised. Why are multi-level marketing pyramids and
financial ponzis able to ensnare so many people today? What is the
power behind this Main Street epidemic? This question goes beyond the
lack of law enforcement, the failure of the FTC and SEC, or the
difficulty of grasping "exponential expansion." The False Profit Blog
ventures an answer: It is that Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 10:08 am

The case of the alleged theft of at least $31 million by Sue Sachdeva
from Koss Corp. (NASDAQ:KOSS) carries on. Last week, Sachdeva was
charged with 6 counts of wire fraud. Experts are saying this
indictment came much faster than usual, as the Feds usually spend much
more time thoroughly investigating cases. They're speculating that a
guilty plea is going to come quickly, and the indictment was the first
step toward that. The indictment is interesting. Not only did she use
company funds to pay her American Posted on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 6:56 am

UPDATE: If you had Warren Sapp in your arrest pool, you win! Booking
Info here. The Ex-Hurricane and Tampa Bay Buc (and Oakland Raider) was
arrested Saturday night in a domestic dispute. Who's going to use his
SB Ticket? Do they get to watch the whole game at TGK or is it lights
out before it ends? SUPER BOWL SUNDAY IN MIAMI. Doesn't get any better
than this. While you're enjoying "chamber of commerce weather" we
managed to squeak out of DC and get out here to Nevada. Who will win
the Super Bowl? Forget Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:46 pm

WE WON EVERY SUPER BOWL PREDICTION WE MADE! We won our guaranteed
super bowl coin toss lock. We picked the first team to score and how
(Colts, fg). We picked the under. And most importantly we told you to
take the Saints, forget the points and take the odds because the
Saints as underdogs would win outright. We swept the board. We said
the final score would be 28-17 and the final score was 31-17. Not bad
at all. And while we're bragging, we cleaned up at this neat little
resort outside of Vegas that had Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:46 pm

The Colonel of County Court reports: Alright, remain seated and listen
up. We continued our reconnoiter of the Monday County Court situation
and things are not looking good. This experiment of no soundings is
headed towards failure. The simple reason is that courts don't work if
people cannot get into court. And the standing room only crowds of
clients, witnesses, lawyers, and officers spilled into the hallway
several people deep outside of the courtrooms of Judges Bloom, Newman,
Miranda, Ortiz, Seff, Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:46 pm

Another Super Bowl comes today that I will not watch. I think I last
watched around 1992. Of course, by my not watching, I miss
television's efforts to avoid a repeat of nipple-gate and to be more
lenient in running controversial commercials; and miss any further
explanation of the roots of "Who Dat", including whether the phrase is
or is not racially demeaning. The problem about Soviet Olympic sports
was that the Soviet government apparently poured so much money into
its athletes as to make them hardly Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:03 pm

Dr. Phil exposes the unreliability of eyewitness testimony here. Just
click the video link listed below the headline EYEWITNESS EXPERIMENT,
and read in this link how, after seeing a video of a "suspect", "40
percent of [Dr. Phil's] audience chose suspect number 3. Dr. Phil
inform[ed] his audience that anyone who voted chose an innocent man
because the real perpetrator was not in the lineup." And there I was
assuming that Dr. Phil's show was just about fluff. That is what
happens when I make assumptions Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:03 pm

S.R. Sidarth and Jon Katz (Copyright Jon Katz.) I kept my composure
when encountering such excellent and accomplished people as Lou Jacobi
(through a storefront window), Geoffrey Holder (on a SoHo street), and
Madeline Kahn (in the audience of Aunt Dan and Lemon). A rare group of
people leave me awestruck. Tears welled in my eyes when I met McCoy
Tyner, who made musical and cultural history with John Coltrane. When
with Jun Yasuda, I try my best to restrain myself from doing a full
questionography of her Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 6:03 am

Over the past decade, Buddhism, Taoism, and Greek and Roman wisdom are
all being scientifically validated. Probably there is little reason to
read past Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. In general: You are who you
choose to be. You become your actions. Epictetus said: "If you want to
be a writer...write." How banal? Is it? How many people say, "I want
to be a writer," but don't write? Certainly many more than who
actually write. I want to be a good parent. Then parent. This means
turning off the television or Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:59 pm

Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:04 am

Catsouras v. State of California Highway Patrol (opinion here; case
discussion here), a newly-issued California Court of Appeal Opinion,
raises important First Amendment issues. In Catsouras, two California
Highway Patrol officers forwarded crime-scene photos of an 18-year old
who died after crashing her father's stolen Porsche into a guide rail.
The surviving family members sued the CHP officers, alleging invasion
of privacy. Siding with the family, the Court of Appeals departed from
decades of California Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 6:59 pm

Is a prior burglary of a vending machine a "crime of violence" that
triggers the draconian mandatory-minimum and guidelines of the Armed
Career Criminal Act? It can be in the Ninth, thanks to a very
disappointing decision in United States v. Terrell, 2010 WL 347914
(9th Cir. Feb. 2, 2010), decision available here. Players: Decision by
Judge Bybee, joined by Judges Tashima and Graber. Facts: Terrell was
convicted of being a felon in possession of a gun. Id. at *1. The
indictment alleged he had previously Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 1:46 am

U.S. v. Ressam, No. 09-30000 (2-2-10). In a decision that smacks of
disagreement with the sentence, the 9th vacates a 22-year sentence of
a convicted terrorist because the district court, in sentencing,
supposedly committed procedural error in failing to specifically
address the government's Guideline and 3553 arguments. The 9th
(Alarcon joined by Clifton) remanded to a different judge for
resentencing. Dissenting, Fernandez argues that the majority simply
disagreed with the sentence, arrived at by a Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 1:25 am

U.S. v. Treadwell et al, No. 08-50562 (1-28-10). Defendants ran a
Ponzi scheme that resulted in a $40 million loss. Defendants entinced
investers to "loan" money to companies that were doing humanitarian
projects, salvaging wrecks in the Caribbean, and other good deeds.
Charged and convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy, co-defendants
argued that the jury instructions failed to define "intent to deceive"
adequately, and that the element required intent to do harm. The 9th
rejected this argument, joining the Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 12:02 am

Last week, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog discussed cases involving
assaults of various natures. Some involved drugs. Some involved the
ultimate assault... homicide. This week, we begin with assault of a
different kind. Here, no person was assaulted. It was a wall. No, it
was not a drunk driving case, where an inebriated driver believed that
the traffic laws allowed "Straight On Red"...even if straight ahead
was a stone wall. This was just a regular corridor wall. Inside, not
outside. Eric B., 18, of Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 7:57 am

Conrad Murray, the personal physician of Michael Jackson, pleaded not
guilty to a single felony charge of involuntary manslaughter in the
death of the famous performer. Bail was set at $75,000-three times
more than the amount faced by most people who are charged with
involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors had wanted bail set at $300,000.
Michael Jackson's parents, Katherine and Joe, and his brothers Randy,
Tito Jackie, and Jermaine, and his sister La Toya were at Murray's
arraignment. Upon Murray's release Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 7:57 am

The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has regularly suggested how an
experienced defense attorney can help you if there is an outstanding
warrant for your arrest. It may be that Dr. Conrad Murray,(
hereinafter, the "Defendant") the doctor who administered the fatal
dose of Propofol to Michael Jackson and now is to face homicide
charges is a reader! Well, if not, at least he is being similarly
advised. According to law enforcement, his attorneys have been in
contact with the L.A. County District Attorney's Office Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 10:21 pm

The blog is five years old now. It's had a few good years, and a few
years of gentle steady decline. It's given me a place to post about
representation, depression, transitions, and a few odd obsessions (and
post about the kid, dogs and cats). It's made me some excellent new
friends and brought me into contact with some quite remarkable
lawyers, investigators, law professors and others (if I skipped a
link, look for yourself in the blogroll). And now it's time,
arbitrarily, capriciously, to give the blog a Posted on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 4:59 pm

From the New York Times: 12 and in Prison The editorial was prompted
by the release of "From Time Out to Hard Time: Young Children in the
Adult Criminal Justice System" by Michele Deitch of the LBJ School at
the University of Texas (homeland of Grits for Breakfast). The whole
report is here (pdf file). If you care about what can happen to
children 12 and younger in the system, it's highly recommended. Posted on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 3:25 pm

From the Ogden Standard-Examiner: No more Weber attorney group for
indigent After four decades defending the indigent, the Weber County
Public Defenders Association will be dismantled. The Weber County
Commission is moving in another direction by the end of the year in
providing legal services to defendants who can't afford an attorney.
The hope is to save about $100,000... Posted on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 2:25 pm

/* /*]]>*/ This post is about an old phenomenon that's been back in
the news lately: ransomware. Wikipedia defines ransomware as "malware
which holds a computer system, or the data it contains, hostage
against its user by demanding a ransom for its restoration." And it
says "the first known ransomware was the 1989 PC Cyborg Trojan," which
encrypted filenames. Over the last month or so, I've seen a number of
news stories about evolved varieties of ransomware. According to an
MSNBC story, there's been "an Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:57 am

/* /*]]>*/ This post is about a decision from the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that was issued in the civil case of
A.V. ex rel. Vanderhye v. iParadigms, LLC, 562 F.3d 630 (2009) [A.V.
v. iParadigms]. Before we get to the facts of the case, I want to note
the causes of action that were at issue in it. The plaintiffs brought
a copyright infringement action against iParadigms "based on its use
of essays and other papers written by plaintiffs for submission to
their high school teachers Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 1:52 am

/* /*]]>*/ As I explained in an earlier post, extortion is a type
of theft; but instead of simply taking someone else's property away
from them, the extortionist uses threats to force the owner of the
property to hand it over to him/her. As I noted in that earlier post,
the Model Penal Code - a template of model criminal laws drafted by
the American Law Institute - defines extortion as "purposely
obtain[ing] property of another by threatening to inflict bodily
injury on anyone". Model Penal Code § Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 12:02 pm

The first charter on human rights was authored by Cyrus the Great over
2500 years ago. As Iranians we are heirs to a proud tradition of human
rights and tolerance. Sadly, the Iranian authorities have not lived up
to this legacy, as can be seen by the mock trials, false
imprisonments, torture, child executions, and lack of equality for
women in Iran today. For the past 30 years the Iranian government has
barred Amnesty International from entering the country, affording us
no transparency in regards to its Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 7:40 am

More disappointing news emerged on Monday for those who believe that
US law and professional ethics should actually mean something. The
long awaited Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility
report into the quality and probity of the work produced on coercive
interrogation by John Yoo and Jay Bybee while working in the Office of
General Counsel has reportedly undergone internal revisions neutering
its findings. David Margolis, a career civil servant who served in the
Justice Department Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 9:23 pm

Originally posted on Politico.com By Sen. John F. Kerry, Rep. Bill
Delahunt, Kerry Kennedy & Larry Cox Rita Mahato, a mother of
three, works as a health adviser for the Women's Rehabilitation Centre
(WOREC) in Nepal, counseling rape victims and registering cases of
domestic violence routinely dismissed by the local police. In June
2007, a mob of more than 60 men surrounded her offices, threatening to
rape and kill Rita and her colleagues - demanding that they end their
work. Three years later, Rita and Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 9:23 pm

Fact to Face with Jon Ralston has posted videos of district court
judge candidate debates: Deborah Schumacher and Kris Pickering Linda
Bell v. Robert Spretnak Michael Villani v. Bruce Gale Doug Smith and
Josh Kunis Elissa Cadish and Ben Childs Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 4:52 pm

The Nevada Supreme Court has made available oral argument recordings
for arguments heard on October 6: Sheriff v. Bucham Landreth v. Malik
In re: William M. and Marques B. Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 4:43 pm

The Nevada Supreme Court has posted its oral argument calendar for
Wednesday October 15th, 2008: 10:00 AM -- D'NAL2 VS. HARBORS, LLC
(48519) 10:30 AM -- OUANBENGBOUNE (VANNASONE) VS. STATE (44763) The
defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery in a trial
before Judge Glass. He was sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole. I do not know the issues presented. The Las Vegas Sun
provides this article about the verdict and this article about the
sentencing hearing. 11:30 AM -- BERRY Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 4:26 pm

Mo' money, mo' money. The US Supreme Court's decision a couple of
weeks back in Citizens United v. FEC, which allowed corporations (and
unions) to make unlimited expenditures on behalf of candidates, got
approval this week from an unlikely quarter: Ohio Supreme Court Chief
Justice Tom Moyer. "There is a silver lining to the decision," [says
Moyer]. "For those of us who have been trying to impress upon the
public the deleterious effects of money in these elections, it helps
us make the point that we need to Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 1:53 pm

On Thursday I wrote about the Supreme Court's decision last week in
State v. Williams, bemoaning the fact that while the court had agreed
that felonious assault and attempted murder were allied offenses, it
bought into the idea that Williams could be convicted of two separate
counts of attempted murder because he'd fired two shots at the victim.
Several people have suggested I'm wrong, so I took another look at the
decision. There are three arguments against my position. First, the
opinion never says that Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 3:06 am

One of the major differences between criminal and civil cases is that
the latter afford several opportunities for trial avoidance. No matter
how overwhelming the defendant's guilt, or how weak the state's
evidence, the only way to determine the result is to put twelve people
in the box and let them sort it all out. Not so in the civil arena.
There are several weapons in the litigants' arsenal which allow a
judge, not a jury, to decide the case. To be sure, they're not easily
available. One, a motion to Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 3:06 am

The Clayton County school board voted to fire a teacher accused of
ordering a "hit" on a student, officials said. In a unanimous vote,
the nine-member board decided to uphold the recommendation made in
December by a tribunal to terminate the Mundy Mill High School
teacher. The teacher was arrested and charged in October with making
terroristic threats against an 11th grade student in one of his
classes. Authorities allege that the teacher asked whether the student
was gay, then offered $50 to a classmate to Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 1:23 pm

A Cobb County judge ordered the suspect in a shooting spree at a
Kennesaw truck rental company to be held without bond. An official of
the company, Penske Truck Rental and Leasing, said that four of the
five shooting victims were employees, and one was a customer. He said
the victims were apparently chosen at random. Police say the suspect
opened fire at the truck rental company on January 12, killing two men
and critically wounding three others. The suspect faces two counts of
murder and five counts of Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 8:38 am

Recently, deliberations of R&B singer, Ashanti, and her alleged
stalker began in New York City. The man claims that he was just "sex
texting" as a joke when he sent more than 30 messages with photos of
male genitalia to the singer's mother. The singer's manager testified
that the mother pulled Ashanti out of a rehearsal after receiving a
text indicating that the sender had seen Ashanti's car arrive at the
theater. The man is being charged with stalking and harassment. One
juror said yesterday that the Posted on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 5:50 am

I had a client recently-call him Sam-who got in the law's bad graces
for some conduct involving alcohol and the brandishing of a firearm in
his garage while his young daughter slept upstairs. The
daughter-well-fed, well-loved, well-adjusted and well-cared-for-was
never in any danger and never even knew what had happened. Only a
total idiot would think it was a good idea to take that child out of
that home, but CPS was all over Sam's case, questioning his daughter
at school, filing suit against him, Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:23 am

Houston criminal defense lawyers Herman Martinez and Dane Johnson
report separately on the state of the Harris County DA's DWI DIVERT
program. Here's Herman: This week the HCDAO decided that a defendant
needs to decide if they want to be considered for the DIVERT program
by their second court setting. This is patently unfair and lends
itself to the biggest complaint against the program, that is coercive.
And Dane: The new policy mandates that a person arrested for a Harris
County DWI must make a decision Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:23 am

After Rosa Villegas-Vatres ran a red light and hit and killed Steve
Morrison, she was arrested and charged with criminally negligent
homicide (John Nova Lomax, Houston Press; easier to read
all-on-one-page print version). Villegas-Vatres wanted to plead guilty
to misdemeanor deadly conduct. The prosecutor, Brent Mayr told Steve
Morrison's family that, and warned them that it was a difficult case
and that the chance of a guilty verdict was not very high. The
Morrisons were undaunted. After discussing the Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:35 pm

Imperfect self defense (which only applies if there is actual but
unreasonable belief in the need for self defense) reduces a murder to
a manslaughter. (Flannel, 25 C3d 668.) But what, exactly has to be
unreasonable? The CALCRIM on imperfect self defense for an actual
killing (571) says that imperfect self defense applies if EITHER the
defendant unreasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of
death or great bodily injury, OR the defendant unreasonably believed
that the immediate use of deadly force Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 3:44 pm

In this recent case, the deputy district attorney was permitted to
elicit the defendant's nickname, "Chucky," - the doll from the horror
movie who comes to life and slashes people - and then to argue all
about the horror movie. No problem, says this California Court of
Appeal. The defendant intended the nickname to be used to scare
people. But they do reject a kill zone argument. The single shot here
could have hit either of two people, but the third person couldn't
have been shot given the angles. The DA Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 3:44 pm

BRISCOE V. VIRGINIA Decided: 1/25/10 No. 07-11191 Full Text:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/09pdf/07-11191.pdf
CONFRONTATION CLAUSE (Signed certificates prepared by forensic
analysts are testimonial for purposes of the Confrontation Clause) The
United States Supreme Court issued a per curiam decision vacating the
judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia and remanding the case for
further proceedings consistent with its recent opinion in
Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. Briscoe was arrested for Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 12:04 pm

TampaBay.com is reporting that Anthony Giancola has been arrested for
violating his probation, prowling and loitering in St. Petersburg.
Giancola was on probation after he attempted to buy crack cocaine from
an undercover cop in his Hillsborough County middle school office
while a principal at Van Buren Middle School. He has been on probation
since June of 2007. The latest arrest for the former Tampa teacher
came at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning when Giancola was discovered in a
parked car waiting for a man Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 8:34 am

Charlotte County Sheriff's spent nearly two years investigating the
hit and run death of Alex Teehee. Now they believe that they have
their man. Ralph Loosman, Jr. was arrested in Las Vegas and will face
charges of vehicular homicide in the hit and run that took place July
13, 2008. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Loosman was
arrested in a Las Vegas hotel by U.S. Marshals and is expected to be
extradited back to Florida to face the charges. Marshals had
originally went to Arizona to track down Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 8:34 am

A July 9 car accident that left Richard Klose dead, ended in a DUI
arrest when the driver tested positive for cocaine. Nearly seven
months later the charges against David Lanier have been dropped. The
Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office dropped the case saying there
was no evidence of impairment. Assistant State Attorney Robert Eagan
wrote "Cocaine in one's system does not constitute impairment".
According to a story in the Orlando Sentinel, St. Cloud police crash
investigators determined the fatal DUI Posted on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 2:40 pm

Joseph Gullotta, a Queens fourth grade elementary school teacher, and
Abraham Fox, a teachers assistant, were arrested and arraigned in
Queens County Criminal Court after it was alleged that the two adults
encouraged and permitted a nine year old and ten year old to engage in
a physical confrontation. Both men are charged with two counts of New
York Penal Law 260.10(1), Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
According to the Queens County District Attorney Richard Brown: "When
two fourth graders became Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 6:49 pm

According to reports, Joseph Graves, the boyfriend of Broadway actress
Ashley Yeater, allegedly beat his girlfriend's yorkshire terrier with
a belt buckle. It is further alleged that Mr. Graves admitted to
striking the dog when investigators confronted him. Although the case
has not been presented to a New York County (Manhattan) Grand Jury,
Mr. Graves was arrested and charged with the "E" felony of Aggravated
Animal Cruelty pursuant to Agriculture and Markets Law section 353
(AML 353). If convicted, Mr. Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 6:49 pm

Imam Zul-Qarnain Shahid, a New York City Jails Chaplin, was arrested
yesterday after x-rays allegedly revealed he had three razors and a
pair of scissors on his person when he attempted to enter a New York
City Department of Corrections jail in lower Manhattan. Upon setting
off an alarm, corrections officers allegedly recovered the razors and
scissors from a bag held by Imam Sahid. There is no public information
at this time whether or not he was scheduled to see a particular
prisoner or prisoners. As a Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 6:49 pm

Parents often talk about how hard it is to see a child through their
teen years, and a father from Niceville, Florida would probably agree
with that assessment after he had to call the police on his fifteen
year-old son after a family dispute became (kind of) dangerous. The
two were reportedly arguing about the son being grounded when the
father demanded the son hand over his iPod. The kid refused and
reportedly grabbed a spoon "in a knife-like hold" with which to
threaten his dad. Fearing for his life, the Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 4:35 am

An Oregon couple was convicted of criminally negligent homicide on
Tuesday after a jury decided that prayer and anointing oils were not
sufficient treatment for the couple's son, who died from a congenital
urinary tract blockage. The couple belongs to a church known as
Followers of the Church of Christ and as such adheres to the view that
doctors are to be eschewed in favor of faith healing. Stories where
parents forego medical treatment in favor of faith healing practices
have become increasingly common, Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 4:35 am

Self-defense is a theory of defense that is generally available in
Tennessee to those who are charged with or accused of crimes involving
the use of force against another individual. The basic premise behind
the defense is that one person has the right to use a reasonable
amount of force against another to prevent the suffering of death or
bodily harm. This defense is recognized by statute in Tennessee, which
effectively limits its applicability to situations where the elements
are met. In other words, for Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 3:40 pm

A suspected Los Angeles DUI driver was arrested after crashing his van
into an police patrol car on Friday. The suspected South Los Angeles
DUI driver was also arrested for hit-and-run after immediately fleeing
the scene after the crash. Just before midnight, the CHP received a
report that a possible DUI driver had crashed his vehicle [...] Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 11:32 pm

partner marketing Brittany Schuetz knew of but ignored the dangers of
DUI. That is what the prosecutor told jurors today during opening
statements in the DUI murder trial of suspected DUI driver Brittany
Schuetz. Orange County District Attorney Susan Price told jurors that
21-year-old Brittany Schuetz knew of the dangers of DUI and ignored
all the warnings and [...] Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 1:03 pm

guidelinesinformation partner A man was robbed and stabbed in an
Oxnard Park on Thursday night. The Oxnard park robbery and stabbing
occurred as the man was walking through Durley Park located in the 800
block of Cedar Court. According to Oxnard police, the 40-year-old man
was walking southbound through Durley Park when he was confronted by
the Oxnard [...] Posted on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 8:44 pm

Experts believe that the man charged in a fatal DUI from 2006 may have
had a BAC four times the legal limit, NJ.com is reporting. On April
20, 2006, a car hit two teenage girls as they walked down the side of
a New Jersey road coming back from a movie theater. They were killed,
and now the driver of that car faces trial in Morristown, New Jersey.
Medical experts recently testified about the state of the driver in
the case, which moved into its fourth day at the time of the
testimony. Their determination was Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:52 am

A Florida woman's decision to drink and drive is once again
highlighting the unexpected consequences a DUI can have. Tampa Bay
Online reports a that a 39-year-old woman is accused of driving an
11-year-old child to school while under the influence of illegal
drugs. According to police, she crashed her car into another car, and
into a fence. The child was in the passenger seat of the car when the
incident occurred. She was not injured, though she was too upset to go
to school and went home with her father. Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:50 am

The penalties for a DUI conviction can dramatically increase with
multiple convictions. But one woman in New Hampshire pushed these laws
to their limits recently. The Associated Press recently reported that
a woman in Concord, N. H. was arrested three times in one week for
allegedly driving under the influence. Patricia Mondro now faces a
$50,000 cash only bail on three separate charges of a driving under
the influence issued within just days of one another. On January 16,
Mondro was arrested in a parking Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:50 am

Pot-dispensary boom has affiliated businesses buzzing - The Denver
PostUntil a few months ago, J.B. Woods was your standard-issue
insurance agent. Auto, home, life. Would you like flood coverage with
that? Then, in the middle of 2009, his phone rang: "I need insurance
for my medical-marijuana dispensary," the caller said. And since that
moment, few of the policies Woods has set up for clients Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:05 am

Repeat DUI offenders must get jail terms, panel says - The Denver
PostA state criminal-justice commission agreed Friday that repeat DUI
offenders in Colorado must go to jail. The commission endorsed a
legislative proposal that would mandate a jail term of 10 days to a
year for a second drunken-driving offense and 60 days to a year for
third or subsequent offenses. In addition, repeat offenders Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:05 am

Which way on medical pot? - The Denver PostIt doesn't take much
reading between the lines of the latest medical marijuana legislation
to see that its sponsors aren't interested in the dispensary model. So
why are they bothering to create a new bureaucracy that would oversee
a regulatory system so complex as to be unworkable? The bill sponsored
by Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, and Sen. Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:05 am

Postgame photo: Coach Leroy-West Spicer and the Renaissance are on the
left, while Coach Willie Bernardez and the Bombers are on the right.
From Case Manager Daren Mills On Tuesday, January 26th, two problem
solving court projects came together as part of the Bronx Community
Solutions Basketball League, with the Bombers of Bronx Community
Solutions taking on the Renaissance of Brooklyn Treatment Court. The
Bombers jumped out to an early 13-0 lead before coach Leroy
West-Spicer (Case Manager at Brooklyn Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:36 pm

In a recent article that appeared on npr.org, the plight of low-level
offenders who can't afford bail was given an in-depth look. Also
examined was the amount of money the taxpayers spend to house these
offenders. From arrest, to incarceration at Rikers Island (pictured
above), to their eventual trial/release, life for these individuals
often becomes a nightmare. For offenders who believe they're innocent
(such as 25 year old Shadu Green, who is profiled in the article at
npr.com), their refusal to plead Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 2:15 am

From Coordinator of Court Operations Elizabeth Swan As we enter the
project's 5th year, it's safe to say that Bronx Community Solutions
has made an undeniable impact within and beyond the walls of the Bronx
Criminal Courthouse. Some of the many achievements that have been made
since the project's inception include how Bronx Community Solutions
has changed sentencing practices by: Reducing the use of jail at
arraignments by a third. Increasing the sentencing options that are
offered to judges. Improving Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 2:15 am

There are certain subtle advantages to living in a city best known to
the outside world for the way Bugs Bunny pronounces it. Once is that
you learn not to make fun of other cities' names. Such as Yadkinville.
Even though Booger Swamp Road meets up with Main Street just west of
town. Instead, you make fun of other cities' judges. Or I would, if
they didn't do it for me: E-mails between Yadkin County officials and
a judge who was prodding them to build a new jail show that county
officials had repeatedly Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 11:32 pm

ABC's Jake Tapper, who almost certainly dislikes the Elvis Costello
song "Brilliant Mistake," has a blog entry with a prediction from
University of Texas professor Lucas Powe. Unfortunately, the quotation
doesn't answer the mystery of why he didn't drop the final "e" from
his surname, like Al Green. Wouldn't Lucas Pow be a great name? As
good as Morris Zapp. Maybe the professor does pronounce it "pow." I'd
advise him to, if he ever goes to spend a year as a guest scholar at a
German university. Anyway, Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:12 am

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported: The Assembly approved
legislation Wednesday that would make it a crime to not report violent
attacks... Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, the measure's
author, said the bill closes a loophole in state law, which previously
required people to report a violent crime only if it is being
committed against a child younger than 14. If the Senate passes Nava's
measure, witnesses would have to report any rape, murder or violent
crime they see, regardless of the Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 6:32 am

A senior Australian police officer was arrested earlier this week in
Sydney, charged with conspiracy for allegedly coordinating a plan to
smuggle precursor chemicals into the country in an attempt to
synthesize over $115 million worth of methamphetamine. Mark Standen,
51, who served as Assistant Director of the New South Wales Crime
Commission, was arrested in his office Monday, following a Posted on Friday, June 6, 2008 at 10:14 am

Early last week, 38 persons from Romania and the United States, some
with alleged connections to organized crime, were indicted in US
federal court for computer and credit card fraud. The scam reportedly
involved "phishing," soliciting personal information via email for
illegal use, and "smishing," soliciting personal information via text
messages for illegal use.[1] Deputy Attorney General Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 12:41 am

Alleged international arms dealer Viktor Bout, arrested in March in
Thailand during a joint operation involving agents from the Drug
Enforcement Administration, was indicted by a federal grand jury this
week on charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism.[1] As
previously reported in this blog, Bout had been accused of trafficking
arms to various blacklisted rebel groups and governments, Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 9:32 am

Jackson Township Municipal Court Location: 102 Jackson Dr. Jackson, NJ
08527 Phone: (732) 928-1205 Fax: (732) 928-4377 The judge is the
Honorable Daniel Sahin, J.M.C. The prosecutor is Joseph Coronato, Esq.
The court administrator is Erin Decristina. Jackson police write up a
heavy amount of summons for speeding, reckless driving and DWI. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 6:12 am

Millstone Township Municipal Court Location: 215 Millstone Road
Millstone Twp., NJ 08510 Phone: (732) 446-6219 Fax: (732) 446-4853 The
judge in Millstone Courts is the Honorable Francis F.X. Foley, J.M.C.
The prosecutor is Richard Kelly, Esq. The Court Administrator is Diane
Canzanella, CMCA. Millstone Township does not have its own police
department. The New Jersey State Police have jurisdiction over the
area and issue a large amount of speeding and other traffic tickets.
Also a fair amount of minor drug Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 6:12 am

Howell Township Municipal Court Location: 300 Old Tavern Rd. Howell
Township, NJ 07731 Mailing Address: Howell Township Court P.O. Box 580
Howell, NJ 07731 Phone: (732) 938-4848 Fax: (732) 938-7054 The Judge
is the Honorable Allen S. Kaplan, J.M.C. The prosecutor is John
Rihacek, Esq. and Sean Keane, Esq. The court administrator is
Elizabeth McGee. Howell has become one of the busiest municipal courts
in Monmouth County. Night sessions at the court can be overwhelming,
with a multi-hour waiting line to Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 6:12 am

//var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ?
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catch(err) {} //]]> This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted here and
here about child support and driver's license suspensions. Today I had
two people call within a half hour of each other. Each Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 8:15 pm

//var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ?
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license suspensions/revocations here, here, and here. So what's the
difference between a license suspension and a license Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 8:15 pm

//var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ?
"https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript
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pageTracker =
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catch(err) {} //]]> This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted on
roadblocks here, here, and here. She's a bit surprised that there is
no press release for a roadblock in the city tonight. Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 8:15 pm

I recently met with a friend of mine who had visited an attorney for a
routine legal matter. She explained how both the law partner and an
associate each claimed to be the best lawyers in Broward County.
Naturally, we both rolled our eyes at such a bold statement. The fact
is that South Florida has such a bountiful supply of highly skilled
attorneys seemed to make any such statement… well… bold. What is
troubling however is that statements such as these are regulated by
the Florida Bar. This is especially Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 9:59 pm

New York was the first state to adopt what has commonly become known
as the "implied consent law" in 1953. This law was designed to force
possible drunk drivers to submit to a blood, breath or urine test
after the driver had been stopped by an officer and the officer then
had a reasonable belief that the driver was impaired. The theory
behind the practice of implementing implied consent laws (also known
as informed consent) is that any driver who used the roads and
highways implicitly consented to giving Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 4:38 pm

Broward County DUI defense attorneys routinely see DUI investigators
conducting the pen light exercise when conducting an investigation.
The proper name for this test is Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus and it is
designed to detect impairment based on a jerking of the eye at certain
angles. HGN exercises are unique in that of all standard field
sobriety exercises, HGN is a medical test requiring certain training
an experience before being admissible in a defendants Broward County
DUI trial. Broward County DUI Posted on Thursday, December 24, 2009 at 8:44 pm

Instead of "Hope," Shepard Fairey might consider the word "Truth" as
inspiration. The Los Angeles-based street artist, who rose to fame
during President Obama's campaign when he designed the iconic "Hope"
image, will face criminal charges as part of an ongoing legal dispute
between him and the Associated Press. According to theLos Angeles
Times, a federal judge based in New York City announced during a
hearing with both Fairey's and the AP's lawyers present that the
artist would face a criminal Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 10:15 am

The doctor serving as Michael Jackson's personal physician when he
died recently hired a criminal defense attorney, according to ABC
News. Dr. Conrad Murray has not officially been charged in Jackson's
death from an overdose, but a legal team has been assembled for Dr.
Murray, who could face a possible involuntary manslaughter charge in
connection to Jackson's death on June 25, 2009. Glendale,
California-based criminal defense attorney Michael Flanagan is the new
addition to Murray's legal team, the Posted on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 1:22 am

In Covington, La., a dad gagged and tied up his daughter in the
passenger seat of his pickup truck and drove down the highway.
Obviously he got caught - which is apparently what the pair was going
for, alleging that the whole thing was a stunt - merely a practical
joke, according to an Associated Press report. Tim Williams, 45, bound
and gagged his 12-year-old daughter with duct tape and drove down a
Louisiana interstate, where other drivers were stunned by the sight
and surrounded Williams' car until a Posted on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 12:45 am

I understand that the Houston DWI DIVERT program is a novel concept
for Harris County, Texas. I further recognize that with a new program
tweaks will be made to make improvements. However, it seems that the
Harris County District Attorney's Office (HCDAO) is continually making
changes to this program. This causes confusion to all the parties
involved. Whether you are misdemeanor judge, a misdemeanor prosecutor,
a DWI attorney, or an accused changing the rules weekly leaves
everyone uncertain as to how to Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:31 pm

Houston has a lot of great qualities but public transportation
wouldn't make the top ten list of good things about Houston. If you
plan on going anywhere in Houston you are probably going to have to
drive. It seems recently that we have had an uptick of clients who
have hired us after having been arrested for DWI on Washington Avenue.
If you've even had one drink, I wouldn't suggest going near Washington
Avenue if you are driving. Either choose a designated driver or call a
cab. Another alternative would be Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:31 pm

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. The Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning
take on Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. The day has become an
American holiday except no one gets the day off on Monday. I'd like to
propose the movement to make the day after the Super Bowl an official
holiday. Everyone really enjoys themselves on Sunday and needs a day
of recovery. Lets be honest, their isn't a whole lot of workforce
production the day after the Super Bowl. Who would really be opposed
to making it a holiday? Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:31 pm

Lieutenant Commander Bill Kuebler, who is serving as defense counsel
for accused terror suspect Omar Khadr, released a statement over the
weekend indicating that US interrogators had been instructed by the
Department of Defense to destroy any handwritten notes that may have
shown they had used harsh or illegal techniques on detainees at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Kuebler further added that he considered the
notes to be pivotal to the defense of Khadr during his impending trial
for murder, to be held in front of Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 7:51 pm

A British television news program has reported that Binyam Mohamed,
the only remaining British resident being held at Guantanamo Bay, has
been charged with terrorism-related offenses and will be tried before
a military court. Reports indicate that Mohamed has been accused of
aiding Jose Padilla in a plot to detonate a "dirty bomb" on United
States soil. Similar charges against Padilla were eventually dropped,
as federal prosecutors were unable to prove the allegations.[1]
Mohamed claims to have been Posted on Friday, May 30, 2008 at 7:46 pm

During a speech delivered at the headquarters of internet giant Google
on Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended harsh
interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects and approved by
the Bush administration. Rice stated that the tough interrogations
were necessary to prevent new attacks targeting Americans, and
complied with US law and treaty obligations.[1] Rice did admit that
the US was "a different place" following 9/11, and that the Bush
administration's top priority had been aimed Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 10:30 am

You have to read this book. That's all I really need to write here,
but it's impossible to stop typing about how David Dow's memoir is so
important for anyone connected with capital punishment to read -- and
why this is so. First, he provides a clear and unique perspective.
David Dow is not only a professor at the University of Houston Law
Center, he's also the head of litigation at the Texas Defender
Service. Professor Dow has been in the trenches of death penalty
defense for years, and knows of what he Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 2:15 pm

Before he was governor of the Great State of Kansas, Mark Parkinson
worked in the state senate as a legislator, helping to draft the
current law approving of capital punishment in that state. Kansas'
death penalty statute was passed into law back in 1994. However, it's
a new day and last Friday, another piece of legislation started making
its way through the Kansas legislature -- a law that would repeal the
death penalty, and replace it with a crime of capital murder with
aggravation, punishable by life Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 2:15 pm

All this morning, there have been almost minute by minute updates on
the web regarding whether or not the appellate attorneys feverishly
fighting to stop this morning's execution of Kenneth Biros by the
State of Ohio will be successful. Biros' attorneys are literally
banging on the doors of the United States Supreme Court, asking that
the highest court in the land act immediately to stay the execution of
Ken Biros -- who is set to die this morning (the execution is
scheduled for 11 am) unless something BIG Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 4:46 pm

A suspected San Diego drunk driver crashes into a parked car and while
trying to flee the scene he hits three pedestrians when he puts his
car in reverse, according to the San Diego Police Department. Three
pedestrians that were standing outside The Silver Fox Lounge in
Pacific Beach at 1833 Garnet Avenue were struck by a man suspected of
driving under the influence about 2:00 a.m. on Friday. The San Diego
DUI driver who had just smashed into a parked car had put his car in
reverse while trying to escape Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 2:39 am

A 17 year old involved in a San Diego DUI fatality that took the life
of a Santee Woman pleaded not guilty to charges of gross vehicular
manslaughter on Monday. In Juvenile Court on Monday the girl whose
name has not been identified was ordered to house arrest by Judge
Dwayne K. Moring. The alleged San Diego drunk driver was driving on
State Route 125 on September 20 around 6:30am when she broadsided the
victims Ford Explorer while exiting at Mission Gorge Road. Pamela
Marabeas was stopped waiting to make a Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 2:39 am

A San Diego man who was convicted in September of two counts of gross
vehicular manslaughter, DUI causing injury and driving with a blood-
alcohol level of .08 percent or higher was sentenced to 16 years in
prison. Shannon Shrimp of El Cajon was driving under the influence of
alcohol and methamphetamine when he crashed his pickup truck into a
Lexus after losing control when he tried to pass other cars on state
Route 78 on July 22 around 6:00 p.m. killing 52 year-old Joseph
Edwards a passenger in his car. Posted on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 2:03 am

Ernesto Miranda, the defendant who took an appeal all the way to the
United States Supreme Court after his arrest was ultimately convicted
of the same crime at his second trial. Furthermore he was ultimately
murdered at a bar following his release from prison. When advised of
his right to remain silent, his killer exercised his right to refrain
from incriminating himself thanks to the very protections that his
victim was responsible for establishing. To see a photo of Miranda
himself check out Ernesto Posted on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 2:38 pm

Broward County Arrest Warrants - Requirements When issued, the arrest
warrant must (1) be directed to a law enforcement official, (2) name
the accused or set forth a description by which the accused can be
identified with reasonable certainty, (3) describe the offense
charged, (4) command that the accused be arrested and brought before a
court of appropriate jurisdiction in the city, county, or town in
which the alleged offense was committed, and (5) be signed by the
issuing officer. Posted on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 2:38 pm

An "assault,"or "simple assault," is an intentional, unlawful threat
by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with
an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a
well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent.
Thus, the statute requires proof of three elements: (1) an
intentional, unlawful threat; (2) an apparent ability to carry it out;
and (3) creation of a well-founded fear that the violence is imminent.
Caution: An assault is not committed Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 9:38 pm

Where DNA evidence exists in a capital case common sense suggests it
should be tested. Texas, in Hank Skinner's case, says no. In a little
over two weeks Texas is scheduled to kill Hank Skinner despite large
quantities of potentially exculpatory DNA evidence readily available
for testing. The State at trial had a heavily circumstantial case
against Mr. Skinner. Adding to an otherwise mediocre case was the
allegation by ex-girlfriend, Andrea Joyce Reed, that Mr. Skinner
confessed to her the murder of his Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 10:41 am

So far we've spotted only a handful of decisions of note for the next
email edition, all of which are after the jump Robert W. Jackson, III
v. Danberg, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 2100 (3rd Cir 2/1/2010) Panel upholds
Delaware letha l injection protocols but takes it to task for its
"blitheness." James Phillip Barnes v. State, 2010 Fla. LEXIS 172 (FL
2/4/2010) Mr. Barnes waived counsel, entered a plea of guilty, and
presnented no mitigation at trial. On appeal, no error is found, save
for the failure to allow Mr. Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 10:41 am

Leading off this edition: No new opinions of note are had this
edition. In the news, NPR's Fresh Air has an exceptional piece
interviewing David Dow discussing his Autobiography of an Execution.
In a sign of the times, Gabriel Gonzales returned to the same Bexar
County courtroom Monday where, 13 years earlier, a jury had condemned
him to die for killing a pawnshop owner during a robbery, this time .
Gonzales received life. In Maryland, key changes to the public
defender service appear to be working their Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 10:41 am

This is a tough economy and many clients need until the last minute to
come up with legal fees. No one plans on needing a criminal defense
lawyer and even career criminals don't keep a defense lawyer fund
handy. Ergo, it is not uncommon for a client to retain my services the
morning of their court appearance. In Kaufman, I have often met
clients the morning of an announcement at my office, signed them up as
a client, and then passed their case and requested discovery. This
scenario is convenient for the Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 6:36 pm

Well my trial ended so now I've got some time to blog. Here is roundup
of sorts I was working on last week. Want to be on Penn and Teller
Bullshit? I got a call from a producer with Penn and Teller looking
for an interview on sexting. I wrote a general post on the laws in
Texas but BS is looking for an attorney or defendant who have been
involved in a sexting case. Particulary for defendants who have had
their lives ruined by overzealous puritanical prosecutors. BS will be
in Dallas in February to film. Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 9:55 pm

I had a DWI jury trial for most of last week. I don't blog about
trials or cases in detail, and I'm not going to start here. But I
would like to talk about the experience of trial stress and what it's
like to represent a defendant in front of a jury of her peers. I
usually start feeling trial anxiety the weekend before. That is when
my thought process becomes dominated by visions of voir dire and
opening statements. If my mind isn't occupied with other matters I'm
making arguments in my mind to imaginary Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 9:55 pm

An Orange County woman is waging a one-woman campaign to identify the
man she says groped her while riding the Tower of Terror ride at
Disneyland's California Adventure. It seems the Anaheim Police aren't
working quickly enough for this person. She bought a keepsake photo of
herself on the ride and has tried to implicate a man seated next to
her on the ride. The police don't say whether they have identified
this person or whether he's given a statement. The alleged groping
took place in the dark. Groping is Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 2:25 am

I am always impressed when the laws of physics are turned on their
ear. But when it's combined with a lot of verbal hoohah, I am doubly
so. Consider this story out of Santa Ana, California. A "special
officer" with the Orange County Sheriff's Department got into an
altercationwith another motorist. As the other car was driving away,
the "special officer" pulled out his gun and fired at the fleeing
vehicle. Where are we? Pecos, Texas? Come on! So......the Sheriff's
department mouthpiece had the cojones to Posted on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 8:11 pm

You can't say he wasn't creative. Adolfo Aparicio, a documented Santa
Ana gang member misidentified himself as an illegal alien so that he
could avoid capture for an attempted murder charge for which he was
being sought. Turns out Aparicio got into a domestic dispute with his
wife and mother in law. When the cops came, he took off but soon
returned and took some shots at his wife, who fortunately, wasn't
hurt. Aparicio fled the area again and was arrested in Arizona, where
he gave a fake name. But his Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 2:26 am

Authorities allege that Brett Golkin and Peter Schladebeck, 46, both
from Colts Neck, sold 32 vehicles at their dealership, Freedom Auto
Center in East Brunswick, but used the proceeds to pay personal
expenses. They were charged with theft by deception and theft by
failure to make the required disposition of cash received for the
vehicles. Manuel Sameiro, assistant Middlesex County prosecutor, said
Golkin and Schladebeck sold the cars at the dealership's two locations
on Route 18 on consignment for Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 6:36 pm

Robin S. Bone of Madison, has been charged with distribution and
possession of child pornography. The Government alleges that on April
17, 2005, Bone e-mailed sexually explicit images of minors to another
individual. On August 22, 2005, Bone also possessed a CD ROM
containing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit
conduct. The charges against Bone are the result of an investigation
conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Madison Police
Department, and U.S. Immigration and Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 3:16 am

RAY ANTHONY DAVEZAC, of Destrehan, Louisiana, was charged today in a
one-count Bill of Information with Conspiracy to Solicit and Give
Bribes Involving a Public Official. DAVEZAC owned and operated Davezac
Consulting Engineers, LLC. The Government alleges that the President
of St. John the Baptist Parish, William Hubbard, solicited a bribe
from DAVEZAC. DAVEZAC paid a $5,000 bribe made payable to a local
automobile dealership for the benefit of Hubbard. DAVEZAC received a
contract from St. John Parish at a Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 3:16 am

From the Wall Street Journal Law Blog: The night of Bush v. Gore,
Scalia called to see if Ginsburg was alright. She wasn't. But the fact
that he cared enough to call her demonstrates unseen inner workings of
those who make up the highest court. If a case goes to the Supreme
Court, you can assume that reasonable minds can differ on what the
outcome should be. In this case, if you want to predict how I would
vote, pick however you think Justice Scalia would vote. And then put
me down for the opposite. But Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 1:16 pm

The Maryland Daily Record reports that MICPEL - long a leader in
Maryland legal education - would cease operations at the end of
February due to financial troubles. John Cord writes about this on the
Daily Record's Generation J.D. Blog. Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 3:32 pm

The Maryland Daily Record has an article on a battle between
Silverman|Slutkin|Thompson|White and SuperMedia, formerly Idearc,
which was formerly Verizon, which was formerly [fill in joke here]. (I
had a great joke but decided it was a little over-the-top.) Most
certainly, lawsuits are a common mating ritual between lawyers and
yellow page advertisers. Anyway, the battle is over the back page of
the Yellow Book. Silverman Slutkin sued SuperMedia claiming they
welshed on the deal to give them the back cover Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 12:11 pm

When I moved down from Philadephia to D.C. and opened my own criminal
defense law practice, I decided to find out what some of the criminal
defense lawyers I respected in Philadelphia did with respect to
marketing. So I went on-line to check out the websites of such
Philadelphia lawyers as Brian McMonagle, Daniel Paul Alva, and Barnaby
Wittels - guys I wanted to emulate - only to find that not a single
one of them even had a website. The same seems to be true for at least
some of the most established Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 10:04 am

Bad luck. My client is middle-aged. He has children and runs his own
business. He is a respected member of our community. And he has never
been arrested before. He is pulled over for speeding at two am on New
Year's morning and charged with drinking-and-driving. Two hours
earlier, he would have been eligible for a D.C. diversion program. A
fine. A payment to the crime compensation fund. A class or two. No new
arrests. And six months later, he could have gotten out of it,
chastened, without a conviction on Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 10:04 am

As a college student in the 1970s, I visited East Berlin with some
friends. One night, after returning back into West Berlin through
Checkpoint Charlie, we were at a pizza parlor when we witnessed a
fist-fight outside a nightclub next door. I had never seen anything
like that before, and was shocked by the brutality of the fight. I
kept wondering when the police would arrive but they never did.
Instead, the two guys eventually tired of the fight and, dusting
themselves off and checking their wounds, each Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:14 pm

There have been two recent developments which potentially relieve an
individual from a duty to register under Maine's Sex Offender
Registration Law, 34-A M.R.S.A § 11201 et seq. "SORNA"). On September
11, 2009, new legislation went into effect which allows certain
individuals to apply to be deregistered. On December 22, 2009 Maine's
Law Court issued an opinion in the case of State v. Letalien, 2009 ME
130 which expanded the category of those not required to register. I.
LEGISLATIVE CHANGES On September 11, Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:10 am

No doubt everyone has seen this via Drudge but an intersesting
accident at the intersection of security and civil liberties
nonetheless: The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British
airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the
creation of indecent images of children, the Guardian has learned.
Privacy campaigners claim the images created by the machines are so
graphic they amount to "virtual strip-searching" and have called for
safeguards to protect the privacy of passengers Posted on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 11:45 am

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has put out a powerpoint presentation
that hits a bunch of current topics related to child pornography
sentencing and related isses like proper probation conditions,
restrictions on internet usage and other sundry details that often
arise. I commend it to you here. The cites to circuit caselaw are
particularly useful. Posted on Monday, December 21, 2009 at 9:53 am