Recently it seems like not a day passes by, without a report of some form of government corruption in the news. In just the last few weeks, two high ranking Kern County police officers were convicted of smuggling drugs with the mafia; the attorney general of Pennsylvania was sentenced to five years in prison for perjury and obstruction; and our
As of Dec. 1, 2016, via the power of a single search warrant, the FBI can legally hack into an unlimited quantity of computers well-beyond the judicial district where said warrant is issued. Th is new expansion of power is a function of the recently amended Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 41 is a set
A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has created turmoil for federal prosecutions involving the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). This decision raises more questions than it answers in an already nebulous area of law. What is the CFAA? The CFAA, which is set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 1030, imposes criminal liability on individuals who
About a year ago, I received a call from a 24-year-old female who immediately said to me, “My friend said you are the only one who can help me.” We will call her Rochelle. She sounded very distressed and she met me the next day in my office. I asked her to tell me the story. The tears didn’t take
As an attorney who often deals with the intersection of criminal defense litigation and Title IX investigations, I was intrigued by a recent news article addressing the dismissal of Jovon Robinson from the Auburn University football team. In July 2016, a female student at Auburn sent an email to Auburn’s head football coach, Gus Malzahn, claiming that Robinson had physically
What happens when the probationer will be supervised in another state? Few lawyers (and not all judges) realize that when one’s client lives in another state, the client may not leave Tennessee until the other state has “accepted” (which is a term of art) the client for probation supervision in the other state. Do you mean my California client must
“In Ohio, the governor can request extradition of any fugitive arrested in a different state.” What is “extradition?” Extradition is the process by which an individual who is being held in one state is surrendered to another state (demanding state) in connection with separate criminal proceedings. If the individual is taken into custody in a separate state, the demanding state
Federal drug conspiracy charges can be daunting for defense attorneys and their clients. These cases are often the product of covert investigations spanning years. The quantity of narcotics and the conduct of the conspirators will dictate the potential penalties that can – and will – be imposed. The Mandatory Minimum Sentence Unlike a typical criminal prosecution, the defendant’s conduct and/or
It is generally understood that a person acting in “self-defense” is not criminally liable for injuring – or even killing – their assailant. Unfortunately, the legal requirements for establishing “self-defense” and the specific instructions to be given to the jury are not always clear. This is particularly true in instances where the assailant and the party claiming “self-defense” have an
June 13, 2016 will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v. Arizona. At its inception, the holding created a new protection for defendants in the criminal justice system. Today, the case is still relevant as it continues to guard the rights of the accused. In 2000, the court acknowledged that the holding “has become embedded
Recently it seems like not a day passes by, without a report of some form of government corruption in the news. In just the last few weeks, two high ranking Kern County police officers were convicted of smuggling drugs with the mafia; the attorney general of Pennsylvania was sentenced to five years in prison for perjury and obstruction; and our
As of Dec. 1, 2016, via the power of a single search warrant, the FBI can legally hack into an unlimited quantity of computers well-beyond the judicial district where said warrant is issued. Th is new expansion of power is a function of the recently amended Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 41 is a set
A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has created turmoil for federal prosecutions involving the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). This decision raises more questions than it answers in an already nebulous area of law. What is the CFAA? The CFAA, which is set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 1030, imposes criminal liability on individuals who
About a year ago, I received a call from a 24-year-old female who immediately said to me, “My friend said you are the only one who can help me.” We will call her Rochelle. She sounded very distressed and she met me the next day in my office. I asked her to tell me the story. The tears didn’t take
As an attorney who often deals with the intersection of criminal defense litigation and Title IX investigations, I was intrigued by a recent news article addressing the dismissal of Jovon Robinson from the Auburn University football team. In July 2016, a female student at Auburn sent an email to Auburn’s head football coach, Gus Malzahn, claiming that Robinson had physically
What happens when the probationer will be supervised in another state? Few lawyers (and not all judges) realize that when one’s client lives in another state, the client may not leave Tennessee until the other state has “accepted” (which is a term of art) the client for probation supervision in the other state. Do you mean my California client must
“In Ohio, the governor can request extradition of any fugitive arrested in a different state.” What is “extradition?” Extradition is the process by which an individual who is being held in one state is surrendered to another state (demanding state) in connection with separate criminal proceedings. If the individual is taken into custody in a separate state, the demanding state
Federal drug conspiracy charges can be daunting for defense attorneys and their clients. These cases are often the product of covert investigations spanning years. The quantity of narcotics and the conduct of the conspirators will dictate the potential penalties that can – and will – be imposed. The Mandatory Minimum Sentence Unlike a typical criminal prosecution, the defendant’s conduct and/or
It is generally understood that a person acting in “self-defense” is not criminally liable for injuring – or even killing – their assailant. Unfortunately, the legal requirements for establishing “self-defense” and the specific instructions to be given to the jury are not always clear. This is particularly true in instances where the assailant and the party claiming “self-defense” have an
June 13, 2016 will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v. Arizona. At its inception, the holding created a new protection for defendants in the criminal justice system. Today, the case is still relevant as it continues to guard the rights of the accused. In 2000, the court acknowledged that the holding “has become embedded
