In a prosecution for possessing a counterfeiting device, a denial of a habeas petition is affirmed where petitioner’s sentence was proper because the question of whether a parolee has remained free of prison custody depends on whether he has either remained on parole without revocation, or been discharged from custody, preceding the required continuous five year period. Read In re Preston, No. A122583 Appellate Information Filed August 18, 2009 Judges...
A Florida judge apologized and has offered to recuse himself from a case, after he insultingly called a man a “sexual predator” – in traffic court. Courtroom video shows Seminole County Judge Carmine Bravo revving up to berate the man, who was charged with driving without a license. The judge apologized days later, driven by TV news reports that added fuel to the controversy. Bravo knew the defendant, Rodrakus Hooks, from Hooks’ prior appearances before the bench....
That first year of law school is a bit – what’s the word? “Daunting,” yeah that’s it. When you come from a different background, sometimes it’s hard to find the right word. That’s why some law schools offer programs for first-generation law students. The programs are designed to bring diversity to the legal profession. First Generation It is more than scholarships or help paying for law school. It’s students who come from underrepresented, marginalized, or “tough” communities where lawyers are scarce....
Hide your children! Hide your wives! The Georgia Annotated Code is free online! The annotated code was put online, gratis, by Public.Resource.org, the nonprofit run by Carl Malamud, a longtime advocate of moving legal documents into the public domain. Georgia has sued, claiming that the upload is an attempt to “terrorize” the state into publishing the laws “under Malamud’s terms.” Georgia’s lawsuit objects to publishing the Official Code of Georgia Annotated online, accessible to all, for free....
Trial court’s upholding of a ruling of an administrative law judge that defendant California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) underpaid retirement benefits to plaintiff and his widow by more than $3 million is affirmed as CalPERS failed to order a transcript within 100 days of rejecting the proposed decision and did not timely issue its own decision under Government Code section 11517. Read Matus v. Bd. of Admin. of CA Public Employees’ Ret....
Who would ever have guessed that a video game could be used to launder money? Perhaps someone that’s watched enough of Netflix’s wildly popular series, Ozark. Jason Bateman, playing the lead character, always comes up with crazy ways to launder criminally earned money – strip clubs, mortuaries, and downtrodden resorts. But video games? Interesting! What Is Money Laundering? As a brief overview, money laundering is the term used to “clean” money that has been obtained through illegal means....
Here are three recent notable cases out of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals: Groupon Groupon Inc. is enjoying a victory in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals this week. The online coupon company’s patent lawsuit against Mobgob LLC and Cy Technology was successful, reports Bloomberg Businessweek. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued the decision without comment, so for practitioners who want the juicy inside info on the case, there isn’t much out there if you don’t have access to PACER....
Conviction for kidnapping for rape and other crimes is affirmed where: 1) the trial court did not err in admitting evidence of defendant’s earlier rape offense as the the risk of undue prejudice from its admission did not substantially outweigh its substantial probative value and the events were sufficiently similar to support an inference that defendant acted with the same intent on both occasions; 2) the court did not err in excluding expert testimony offered by the defense as the record supported a conclusion that the proposed testimony would have little probative value; and 3) the court did not err in its kidnapping instruction to the jury, and the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction....
In proceedings involving the criminal charges against fugitive movie director Roman Polanski, Polanski’s petition to compel the trial court to dismiss the prosecution against him or, at least, to conduct an evidentiary hearing on his request, is denied as the trial court did not abuse its discretion in applying the fugitive disentitlement doctrine and refusing to consider dismissing the action. In so ruling, the court of appeals does not disregard the extremely serious allegations of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct that have been raised, and urges the parties to take steps to investigate and to respond to the claims....
Evidently, an Asian carp is a scary creature. It can jump into your innocent little fishing boat and break your nose. But that’s not even the real problem with this invasive species, originally brought to the American south in the 1970’s to eat algae in fish farmer’s ponds. The real problem is the carp have made their way into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and are heading for the Great Lakes where they will threaten or even wipe out the valuable indigenous Great Lakes fish population....
By a 7-4 vote on Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a law permitting the operation of Airbnb rentals in the city. Finally, Some Regulation Here’s what the new ordinance provides for: Only a “permanent resident” can offer short-term rentals. This means no more living in one place but renting out other places purely as rental properties. (Hosts must also be a “natural person,” not a corporation.) Hosts must register with the city, collect the city’s hotel tax, and keep records of compliance with the ordinance....
When it comes to stressful professions, lawyers and surgeons have a lot in common. The big difference is that when a surgeon is operating on a patient, there isn’t another doctor in the room disrupting the procedure. Law is a really competitive business, and it starts in law school. That’s why leading universities are committed to helping students deal with the emotional challenges of law school. It’s an outreach to promote mental health....
File this one under: boy, is our legal system not perfect. The Miami Herald and CNN report this week that 78 year-old grandmother Gabrielle Shaink Trudeau was held for 15 days in jail, missing Thanksgiving with her family, for driving too slowly. This comedy of ooops began when Mrs. Trudeau was pulled over for, as grandmothers will, driving to slowly. She was issued a ticket. Ten days after that initial incident, our cautious grandmother received a notice from the court that her driving privileges where “restored pending further review....
Copyright protection is great, but it’s not forever. The length of any copyright will depend on the type of work, authorship, and renewals, but every copyright will expire completely at some point. And for works created in 1923, that point is now. 2019 begins the expiration of copyright protection for a multitude of works created 95 years ago, meaning we’ll have another such release next year. So why are the works coming into the public domain, what are we getting, and what might we get in the coming years?...
No one can resist social media. The urge to tweet and post on someone’s Wall reaches to the highest levels of our nation, as Justice Stephen Breyer is taking advantage of Twitter and Facebook. “Can’t believe Scalia isn’t going to fight that fender bender ticket in traffic court! Or maybe “What has Clarence Thomas’ wife been up to lately? Haven’t heard much about her in a while.” Breyer, 72, told a congressional hearing on the Supreme Court’s budget that he has a Twitter account because of his interest in the protests in Iran after the 2009 presidential election, the ABA Journal reports....
Drywall debris on the law firm floor was the clue. Investigating the ceiling behind a crumbly tile, a maintenance man found wires, cameras, and microphones at the law firm. Someone had been spying on the lawyers, but why? The personal injury firm has sued a former investigator for invasion of privacy, and two former associates have sued the firm for allegedly unethical practices. It’s a tale that shows if anything is stranger than fiction, it’s law practice....
Can you get arrested for kissing a cop on the nose? Apparently, you can. This is exactly what happened to 62-year-old Peggy Hill of Bradenton, Florida. According to The Huffington Post, police officers were reporting to a call about an altercation between Hill and her neighbor one Saturday night in late June. Hill, who said she had been drinking, then planted a wet one on an officer when he was talking to her....
If your bosses know about certain risks to people in your profession, but they don’t tell you about it, you’d probably feel compelled to sue them if and when you got injured. This can apply to anyone – even professional wrestlers with World Wrestling Entertainment. Unfortunately for two such wrestlers, a judge in Connecticut has dismissed their claims that the WWE knew about the dangers of head trauma and failed to inform them....
If you want to score higher on your law school midterms and final exams, try writing more. A new study by researchers at Brigham Young University’s law school claims that law students can bump a 3.3 grade on timed essays up to a 3.4 simply by including 923 more words in their answer. But don’t just mash your keyboard during your upcoming exams. If you want to do better, you’ll probably have to do more than just up your verbosity....
Previously, on “How To Get Away With Murder”: Lots of murders, the least accurate depiction of law school ever, and sexy sexing for nearly everyone. See Episode 1 and Episode 2 recaps for more. Oh, and though it may be obvious: SPOILERS FOLLOW. Episode 3 begins with more fun with the dead body (Prof. Annalise Keating’s husband, Prof. Sam Keating), but mainly focuses on another case – the hooker house mom who was once a domestic terrorist....
