Deferred Prosecution Agreements: A View From the Trenches and a Proposal for Reform
Deferred and nonprosecution agreements are the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) new weapons of choice for “reforming” corporations.1 Rather than risk the severe collateral consequences that accompany an indictment and conviction,2 companies now are offered the opportunity to cooperate, pay massive fines, commit to elaborate undertakings, and remain under probation-like supervision for some period of time […]
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Death Penalty Splits Senate
Two state senators from southeast Iowa are hoping a death penalty amendment won’t stop lawmakers from passing a tougher sex offender bill this year. State Sens. Tom Courtney, D–Burlington, and Gene Fraise, D–Fort Madison, are hoping lawmakers will vote on the sex offender bill without getting caught up in politics over getting the death penalty […]
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Government Drops Prosecution of Miami Attorney Ben Kuehne for Receipt of Legal Fees from Drug Kingpin
Last Wednesday, the Government, through Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco, filed a brief Motion to Dismiss Third Superseding Indictment with Prejudice seeking to dismiss its indictment against Miami, Florida, attorney Benedict P. Kuehne, and also Colombian attorney Oscar Saldarriaga Ochoa, in the criminal action of U.S. v. Velez, 1:05-cr-20770-MGC, in the U.S. District […]
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Brooklyn Carjacker’s Excessive Sentence Reassessed
A Brooklyn Federal Judge John Gleeson has successfully lobbied U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to take another look at a Queen’s carjacking case involving a man by the name of Holloway who was sentenced in 1995 to 57 years in prison. Thanks to Judge Gleeson, Holloway will likely be freed in nine months according to his […]
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Defendant Lawyers Complain that Recorded Phones Calls at Jails Violate Defendant’s Sixth Amendment Rights
Attorneys in Florida, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and now Texas have been complaining that their phone calls with their jailed clients are being recorded by law enforcement. A Texas lawyer has filed an amended class action complaint stating that this practice violates a defendant’s 6th Amendment constitutional rights. The Sixth Amendment guarantees criminal defendants […]
READ MOREJax Home Invasion Robbers Sought
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in identifying those responsible for a pair of home invasion robberies that have occurred in two areas of the Westside. Police said they are working to identify a man who they said used the victims’ credit cards at local businesses. The man […]
READ MOREMichigan Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Cooley Law School
A federal district court recently dismissed a class action lawsuit brought by the graduates of Cooley Law School. The graduates had accused the school of misrepresenting statistics for graduate job placement. The graduates claim that their decision to select Cooley Law School was based on misinformation. However, the judge did not agree with these contentions on […]
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Friends ID victim shot backstage after Wiz Khalifa concert in Mountain View
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — A 38-year-old man has died Saturday morning as a result of injuries suffered during a shooting after a Wiz Khalifa concert at Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheatre on Friday night, police spokeswoman said. The Coroner’s Office has yet to name the victim but friends have identified him as 38-year-old Eric Johnson of […]
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Criminal Threats and How to Deal with Them
Criminal threats are a serious crime and should be considered as such. They are often also known as terrorist threats. Criminal threats refer to a situation when a person intentionally makes a threat of violence or indicates an intention to hurt, injure or kill someone. The threat can be made in person, or over the […]
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Predictive Data and Judge’s Sentencing Patterns
Attorney General Holder spoke to the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys in a meeting in Philadelphia on Friday August 1 regarding his opinions on judges sentencing low level non-violent offenders based upon risk assessments. Holder believes that judges should not base sentencing guidelines for offenders on risk assessments of whether someone’s educational or socioeconomic […]
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