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Criminal Law Tag

Posted by Amy Miller on September 02, 2015 13 Comments
Last Friday, Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth stopped to fuel up at a suburban Houston gas station. Soon after, Shannon Miles pulled up, put a gun to the back of Goforth's head, and shot him 15 times. It wasn't a murder---it was an execution; and now, those close to the investigation are asking whether or not nationwide anti-cop rhetoric played a part in it [emphasis mine]:
Surveillance video from the gas station shows that Goforth, 47, had just come out of a convenience store after he had pumped gas and that Miles got out of his red truck, she said. “He runs up behind Deputy Goforth and puts the gun to the back of his head and shoots. Deputy Goforth hits the ground and then he continues to unload his gun, shooting repeatedly into the back of Deputy Goforth,” [Harris County District Attorney Devon] Anderson said. Goforth was shot 15 times and a witness saw the shooting, Anderson said. She added that the shell casings match the .40-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun found at Miles’ home. Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said Saturday that the attack was “clearly unprovoked,” and there is no evidence that Goforth knew Miles. “Our assumption is that he (Goforth) was a target because he wore a uniform,” the sheriff said.

Posted by Amy Miller on September 02, 2015 7 Comments
Do Cops' lives matter? The answer wasn't so obvious to whoever murdered Abilene, Texas-based Officer Don Allen. Allen, 27, was found dead in his Abilene-area home Monday evening. Investigators found nothing to suggest that the killing was a random act of terror against police officers in general, but are treating the death as a suspicious homicide. More from Fox News:
At a news conference Tuesday, Abliene Police Chief Stan Standridge described Allen's death as "suspicious" and said the FBI, ATF, and the Texas Rangers were among the agencies investigating the case. Standridge did not specify exactly how Allen died, but said that multiple leads were being investigated and multiple motives were being considered. The Tarrant County medical examiner was due to conduct an autopsy on Allen's body.

Posted by Amy Miller on August 07, 2015 17 Comments
Three years ago, James Holmes walked into the midnight showing of a new Batman movie, pulled out a gun, and opened fire into the crowd. He killed 12 people, injured 70 others, and referred to his victims as "collateral damage." In the aftermath, the media scurried for explanations, blaming everything from the tea party to mental illness for such a senseless and upsetting act of violence. Still, justice prevailed, and a jury found Holmes guilty of 24 counts of first-degree murder and 140 counts of attempted murder. Today, that same jury will decide whether or not Holmes should face the death penalty for his actions. A decision is expected at 7 p.m. ET, and we'll cover it live here (hopefully with an embedded livestream.) More from NBC News:
For the final decision, the jury deliberated for less than seven hours, starting on Thursday afternoon and continuing through Friday. If the jury decides against the death penalty, Holmes will get life in prison without parole. Twelve people were killed and 70 were injured in the attack. During the trial's penalty phase, Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler told the jury that Holmes deserved to die. "For James Egan Holmes, justice is death," he said. Defense attorneys argued that Holmes suffered from schizophrenia and he was legally insane when he carried out the attack. The jury rejected that defense in finding Holmes guilty. In the penalty phase, Holmes' lawyers said it would be inhumane to execute a man who suffered from mental illness.
***UPDATES*** We have a live stream:

Posted by Amy Miller on August 04, 2015 15 Comments
In June of last year, Ali Mohammad Brown shot 19 year-old Brendan Tevlin 10 times while Brendan was stopped at a traffic light in Essex County, New Jersey. The murder itself was underreported, and media watchdogs and activists took to social media to demand an explanation for the lack of coverage of such a violent, inexplicable crime. (You can read Legal Insurrection's coverage HERE.) They were right to do so. After Brown was caught and arrested, he told police that the murder was a “just kill” and said it was an act of “vengeance” to compensate for U.S. military killings in the Middle East. He was vocal in his opposition to American intervention overseas, emphasized multiple times the vengeful nature of the act---and yet the media did nothing to expose what could have been the next act of violent jihad come to America. The media's malpractice in this case has been well documented, yet outlets for the most part have only just begun to scratch the surface of what happened. True justice for Brendan, however, is in reach. Last Thursday, Brown was indicted on charges of terrorism, murder, felony murder, carjacking, and robbery, as well as multiple weapons offenses.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 30, 2015 11 Comments
Chaka Fattah, a Democrat who represents Pennsylvania's second district, has been charged with racketeering conspiracy alongside four other people in a case that smacks of influence peddling. The Department of Justice announced the charges yesterday:
Congressman Chaka Fattah and Associates Charged with Participating in Racketeering Conspiracy A member of Congress and four of his associates were indicted today for their roles in a racketeering conspiracy involving several schemes that were intended to further the political and financial interests of the defendants and others by, among other tactics, misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal, charitable and campaign funds. Congressman Chaka Fattah Sr., 58, of Philadelphia; lobbyist Herbert Vederman, 69, of Palm Beach, Florida; Fattah’s Congressional District Director Bonnie Bowser, 59, of Philadelphia; and Robert Brand, 69, of Philadelphia; and Karen Nicholas, 57, of Williamstown, New Jersey, were charged today in a 29-count indictment with participating in a racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including bribery; conspiracy to commit mail, wire and honest services fraud; and multiple counts of mail fraud, falsification of records, bank fraud, making false statements to a financial institution and money laundering.
Naturally, Fattah denies the charges:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 30, 2015 99 Comments
On July 4, 2015, 22 year-old Lane Pittman decided to take his electric guitar and play the Star Spangled Banner on the street outside his friend's house in Neptune Beach, near Jacksonville. Pittman says that after a police officer asked him to stop, he asked if it was okay to play on the sidewalk, and was told that was okay. And play he did:
"I don't think I ever played that song as good in my life as I did on that day. It felt right. It was an emotional roller coaster."
The crowd topped 200 people, spilling onto the street around him: Then Pittman was, to his surprise, arrested for breaching the peace:

Posted by Andrew Branca on July 29, 2015 304 Comments
On July 19, just 10 days ago, UC police officer Ray Tensing shot and killed motorist Sam DuBose in the course of a traffic stop, according to reports by CNN and others. Today, prosecutor Joe Deters announced that Officer Tensing had been indicted for murder in the killing. The silver lining for bloggers everywhere is that much of the event was captured by Officer Tensing's body-cam. You can watch the full video here, but I have relevant portions reproduced in slow-motion and relevant screen captures below, as well. Officer Tensing claims that he shot DuBose because the driver began dragging the officer with his car. Certainly, dragging someone with your car is conduct likely to cause death or grave bodily harm, and thus warrants the use of deadly force in self-defense.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 29, 2015 11 Comments
Back in June, we reported on the bizarre New York prison break that led to a three-week manhunt for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat. Richard Matt was eventually shot and killed by police, and David Sweat shot multiple times and captured alive; but the most interesting---and bizarre---character in the frightening saga is the prison worker who helped the two men escape---at great risk to herself, her husband, and her family. Joyce Mitchell, 51, was was arrested on June 11 and charged with Promoting Prison Contraband in the 1st Degree and Criminal Facilitation in the 4th Degree; today, Mitchell pleaded guilty to those charges. She faces a prison sentence of 27 months to seven years and a $6,000 fine. Mitchell's descent into the madness that was Matt and Sweat's escape scheme started slowly, with small favors; as time passed, however, Mitchell fell victim to her own idiocy---and the apparent allure of weird sex with a convicted murderer. From the New York Times:

Posted by Amy Miller on July 28, 2015 11 Comments
When Walter Scott was was shot earlier this year during what should have been a routine traffic stop, the country launched itself into a justified discussion over how local governments should work to ensure the safety of citizens during encounters with police---without crossing the line into invasive surveillance. The Walter Scott case hit South Carolina Senator Tim Scott hard, and those raw emotions spilled over on the night of the Charleston shootings. He may be touted as the GOP's "only black senator," but for Scott, his efforts to reform the criminal justice system have less to do with race, and more to do with a renewed effort by members of both parties to rebuild trust in inner city communities. Today, Scott is slated to introduce a bill that will authorize up to $100 million per year in grant money to pay for body cameras for local police departments. The bill's hefty price tag comes with controversial offsetting provisions, but fortunately for Scott, members of both parties are already on board with various efforts to reform the criminal justice system. More from Politico:
The costs of the five-year bill — named the Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015 — would be offset by limiting administrative leave for federal employees to 20 days per year. But that offset is bound to cause some concerns from Democrats who have argued that federal workers have been unfairly targeted by Congress for years.

Posted by Andrew Branca on July 24, 2015 180 Comments
So there's another notable arrest in the news, that of black woman Sandra Bland by white Texas patrol officer, and thus we have yet another "teachable moment" in non-compliance to lawful police orders. (Note that I address here only Bland's arrest--I've no particular insight into her death three days later while in custody.  Also, I limit my points to the issue of legality, as opposed to procedure or policy.) Thanks to the officer's dash-cam, almost all of the interaction between him and Bland is captured on video.  If you haven't seen it, here it is: Now that is a free lesson in how not to act during a traffic stop if you don't want to get yourself arrested. As usual, there's a considerable amount of outrage being expressed by people who possess a very limited practical and theoretical understanding of the laws and dynamics governing arrest.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 17, 2015 13 Comments
Yesterday's murders in Chattanooga unleashed a hailstorm of speculation about the origins of the shooter, his motives, and whether or not he was affiliated with ISIS, al-Qaida, or another network of Islamic extremists. Even before the authorities released the shooter's name---Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez---reasonable speculation ensued. Throughout the course of the day, we learned that he was 24 years old, was a naturalized citizen from Kuwait, and that he was "religious," but not the type of person any of his friends would peg as a budding terrorist. The U.S. Attorney's office has said that the attacks are being treated as an instance of domestic terrorism; the FBI, while not contradicting the U.S. Attorney, has cautioned against speculation as to Abdulazeez's motives.

We know the names of the murdered Marines

Technicalities aside, the Marines have released the names of the four men he slaughtered in cold blood:
  • Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan of Hampden, Massachusetts;
  • Staff Sgt. David A. Wyatt of Burke, North Carolina;
  • Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist of Polk, Wisconsin;
  • Lance Cpl. Squire K. Wells of Cobb County, Georgia, who went by "Skip"

Posted by Amy Miller on July 16, 2015 45 Comments
Horror in Chattanooga today---four Marines dead, a soldier and police officer wounded, and a city in chaos. Five people have died after a lone attacker unleashed a spray of gunfire at two separate military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee. CNN (as well as every other mainstream media outlet) are running live updates:
Four Marines were killed in Thursday's shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a senior defense official told CNN's Barbara Starr. The families of those killed are being notified of their deaths, the official said. The suspected shooter is also dead, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said Investigators "have not determined whether it was an act of terrorism or whether it was a criminal act," FBI special agent in charge Ed Reinhold told reporters. "We are looking at every possible avenue, whether it was terrorism -- whether it was domestic, international -- or whether it was a simple, criminal act." U.S. Attorney Bill Killian earlier told reporters that authorities were treating the shooting as an "act of domestic terrorism."
The identity of the shooter has been confirmed:

Posted by Amy Miller on July 15, 2015 2 Comments
On Saturday, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped from Mexico's maximum security Altiplano Prison. As head of the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel, it wasn't Guzman's first run in with the law---and it wasn't even his first prison break from a maximum security facility. In new surveillance footage released by the Mexican government, you can see the moment Guzman disappears from his cell and into the mile-long tunnel that eventually led him to freedom. In the video below, you'll see Guzman change his shoes, walk over to the shower area of his cell (conveniently equipped with a half-wall for privacy---great idea,) bend down, and disappear through a gaping hole beneath his shower grate. (Authorities discovered the escape hatch after they realized Guzman was gone.) Watch, via via Fox News:
The dividing wall blocked the interior camera's view of the hole into which Guzman appeared to disappear at 8:52 p.m. local time this past Saturday. Reuters reported it was one of two blind spots for the security cameras in Guzman's cell. National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido that the blind spots were intentional and designed to permit Guzman some privacy while washing.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 12, 2015 13 Comments
Convicted killers Richard Matt and David Sweat are still on the run after escaping a maximum security prison in upstate New York late last week, but investigators have since revealed that they suspect a prison employee aided in the convicts' flight. Joyce Mitchell, 51, was arrested yesterday and charged with Promoting Prison Contraband in the 1st Degree and Criminal Facilitation in the 4th Degree. If convicted, she could face up to eight years in prison. Via Fox News:
Earlier, [District Attorney Andrew] Wylie said Mitchell, a supervisor in the prison's tailoring shop, brought "contraband" into the prison but he declined to elaborate on what, specifically, she gave the men. The Albany Times-Union reported late Thursday that Mitchell told New York State Police she gave Matt, 48, and Sweat, 34, access to a cell phone and smuggled tools into the prison.

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 11, 2015 87 Comments
It appears that black activists in Detroit are so impressed with how Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby is doing in Baltimore that they've adopted the same strategy in Cleveland, based on reports by Cleveland.com. Exactly a week ago we provided an update on the case of Tamir Rice, a black 14-year-old who was shot and killed by Cleveland police officers responding to a man-with-a-gun call:  VIDEO: Shooting of Tamir Rice by Police Goes to Grand Jury." Residents had called 911 because Tamir was walking around a public park with an apparent gun and pointing it at people.  When police responded to the scene, Rice immediately reached for the "gun" in his waistband and was killed by police gun fire. All that happened back in November 2014, and just last week the police finally wrapped up their investigation. The conclusion?  The evidence did not warrant charges against the one officer who actually fired shots, Officer Timothy Loehmann.  Further, if there was not sufficient evidence to charge the Loehman there would certainly not be sufficient evidence to charge to second officer, Frank Garmback, who had merely driven the patrol car. This certainly seems consistent with the actual video evidence available (embedded below the fold), as covered at length in our previous post on the subject but re-embedded here for your convenience:
Indeed, the surveillance video (below the fold, and annotated by the author) clearly shows Rice openly handling an apparent pistol (seemingly spinning it on his finger cowboy-style at the 1:20 mark), placing and removing it from his waistband (e.g., at 2:00 mark), and even apparently pointing the gun-like object at passersby. There are at least 10 occasions captured by the grainy footage of the surveillance video in which Rice is openly displaying the apparent gun in some fashion.  To an actual observer at the scene, the handling of the gun would have been far more apparent. When police pulled up to his location, they say Rice immediately reached for the apparent gun in his waistband (highlighted in the photo below, and seen at the 7:27 mark in the video), and they engaged him with defensive fire.

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 08, 2015 123 Comments
If you hadn't already heard the internet roar, there is outrage brewing at the use-of-force by police in McKinney, Texas. The biggest driver of outrage appears to be a ~13 minute cell phone video. Here's that video in its entirety, but I call out specific relevant portions below if you don't want to sit through the whole thing: I watched the video expectantly for the claimed police misconduct. One would think from Twitter comments regarding McKinney that the police dropped uninvited onto a placid pool party of little children to wreak havoc on the festivities. Is that what really happened?  Is that even vaguely credible? Nah. So what DID happen?

Posted by Amy Miller on March 11, 2015 11 Comments
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry has signed on to a groundbreaking criminal justice reform movement aimed at increasing transparency, lowering recidivism rates, and making sure that criminal laws on the books actually promote a safer society---and not bigger government. The Texas Public Policy Foundation's "Right on Crime" initiative has been making moves to combine small government, conservative principles with efforts to fix an overcrowded, underfunded, and mismanaged corrections system. Over the years they have secured the endorsements of high profile conservatives committed to bringing problems with the criminal justice system out of obscurity and into the spotlight. From TPPF:
Governor Perry joins 80 prominent conservative leaders who have endorsed the principles of conservative criminal justice reform, including former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, current Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, and many others. “Both Republicans and Democrats are talking about criminal justice, but very few elected officials have made the kind of impact on criminal justice issues that Rick Perry has,” said Brooke Rollins, President at CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “As Governor, he was responsible for the sweeping reforms that, in addition to lowering crime rates and saving taxpayers money, made ‘the Texas model’ on criminal justice—as well as the Right on Crime campaign—possible. That model is the great example we’ve been able to tout across the country. We look forward to his continued leadership on this issue.”
That "Texas Model" has served as a blueprint for corrections overhauls in places like Mississippi, South Dakota, and Georgia, and as proof to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that being tough on crime doesn't necessarily mean dumping money into a rapidly expanding prison system.
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