Hairston was driving a rental car when he was stopped. According to police reports, there were two other men in the car at the time. A search of the vehicle turned up a 9-millimeter handgun, but none of the three men claimed to be the owner. All three were charged with drug possession.
]]> Coach Williams has stated that he is waiting until all the facts come out before deciding what punishment, if any, is warranted for Hairston. Like the criminal defense lawyers at Roberts Law Group, he appears to also believe that a person is innocent until proven guilty.North Carolina has not joined other states in legalizing medical marijuana nor decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of it. You can also be criminally charged with impaired driving if you are under the influence of marijuana while behind the wheel, or "drugged driving."
Currently, a bill is pending before the North Carolina legislature that would eliminate criminal penalties for the possession of marijuana in quantities less than one ounce. The proposed law would also allow those who are charged and convicted with drug possession of marijuana to request an expungement of the crime after two years of maintaining an otherwise clean criminal record.
Currently, possession of a 1.5 ounces or less of weed is a misdemeanor drug crime in North Carolina.
Source: Yahoo Sports, "North Carolina's P.J. Hairston arrested on charges of marijuana possession," June 6, 2013
]]>Cobar submitted a request for information about the DEA informant who testified against him via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in 2011. The FOIA request was accompanied by an affidavit from a DEA agent identifying the informant in Cobar's case.
]]> The confidential informant had failed at least one polygraph examination and admitted to given false information to the DEA agents he was working with. The informant was also fingered as a heroin supplier for a known drug dealer. This all happened in 2009, the same year that Cobar was convicted on federal drug crimes.The government has been fighting compliance with the FOIA request, citing a privilege against disclosure of documents used for law enforcement purposes and privacy rights of the informant. Cobar has taken the fight to federal court and has survived the government's first attempt to silence his request. The district judge denied the government's motion for summary judgment, allowing the FOIA case to proceed.
It remains to be seen whether Cobar will ever get his hands on the information he seeks about the informant in his case. The government still may have the option to provide a Vaughn index of the requested documents that includes the legal basis for withholding the information from Cobar.
Source: Courthouse News Service, "DEA May Have to Share Records on Ex-Informant," June 11, 2013
]]>In deciding that DNA sampling after an arrest was acceptable, the Justices in the majority considered DNA typing to be the modern-day equivalent of fingerprinting, a widely-accepted booking process. But at least one Justice wondered where the line would be drawn on DNA collection - now that anyone who is arrested can by typed and profiled, can that extend to all school teachers? Other work places? What about to anyone who is given a driver's license?
]]> The Court did not define what a serious crime is that would allow for collection of DNA after arrest, nor did it determine whether DNA evidence should be removed from the database if the arrested person is not convicted of a crime or tied to another open case through the national database. Currently, CODIS guidelines and North Carolina law allow a DNA profile to be removed if there is no conviction.North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper appeared pleased with the Supreme Court's decision, noting in a release that the collection of DNA can help solve open crimes, decrease investigation time and exonerate the innocent. North Carolina law currently allows for the collection of DNA after an arrest for a serious felony offense.
Source: WFMY News, "Police Can Collect DNA From Arrests In Serious Crimes, Supreme Court Rules," June 3, 2013
]]>The same is not true in the federal prison system. Individuals convicted of a federal crime who must serve time in a federal prison can earn credit toward early release but it will likely not substantially reduce a sentence like it would in the North Carolina state prison system.
]]> Federal law allows a credit of 54 days for every 365 days (or one year) of good behavior. To be eligible for early release, a person must be sentenced to more than one year in prison. You may have heard of sentences of a year and a day that may have sounded odd, but that extra day means that person could be eligible for the early release program, whereas someone sentenced only to a year would not be.The maximum number of days that can be awarded for good conduct is 54. The Bureau of Prisons has discretion to award any number of days less than 54 based on its evaluation of the inmate's conduct.
Calculation of the Good Time Credit in federal prison is not simple by any means. A 10-year-sentence does not mean that an inmate can be released 540 days early for good behavior (54 days per year x 10 years). The credit is based on time actually served. So, if early release for good conduct is granted on a year-and-a-day sentence, the inmate could be out as soon as 46 days before the actual end of his her sentence. The full 54 days will not be granted unless a full year is served by the individual.
Those who are sentenced to life in federal prison are not eligible for early release based on the good conduct formula.
Source: Families Against Mandatory Minimums, "FAQs About Federal Good Time Credit" (pdf)
]]>Hunt insists that the relationship with the 14-year-old female student was consensual. The two attend the same Florida high school. She is hopeful, however, that Florida's Romeo and Juliet law will spare her from lifetime registry as a sex offender if she is convicted.
]]> In Florida, a person convicted of having an inappropriate relationship with a minor can avoid lifetime registry if:Approximately 241 teens have been granted safe harbor under the Romeo and Juliet law for consensual relationships that were prosecuted as sex offenses based on the ages of the teens involved.
Statutory rape in North Carolina is defined as sex with a minor between the ages of 13 and 15 by a person who is four or more years older than the minor. If the minor is under 13 and the other person involved is four or more years older, the criminal charge is first degree rape.
North Carolina currently does not have a Romeo and Juliet law similar to Florida's that would allow for a person convicted of statutory rape to avoid being forced to register as a sex offender.
Source: WPTV, "Florida's Romeo and Juliet Law could be used in Kaitlyn Hunt case, removes sex offender status," May 20, 2013
]]>The NTSB reported that as many as 10,000 lives are lost each year to impaired driving accidents, justifying its recommendation to lower, again, the impairment level for DWI. The last time the DWI limit was changed, from 1.0 to .08, it took almost 20 years for all states to adopt the BAC change.
]]> The NTSB is also calling for harsher penalties for first- and second-offense DWIs. Apparently they are unaware of the already steep penalties that follow a North Carolina DWI conviction. Not only are there substantial civil penalties through the Department of Motor Vehicles, there are criminal penalties that can include up to two years in prison for a first offense.North Carolina also already allows law enforcement to arrest a person for impaired driving regardless of your blood alcohol content if you appear to be under the influence.
The American Beverage Institute (ABI) has already come out as strongly opposed to the impaired driving limit change. It argues that the NTSB is trying to criminalize non-criminal activity. The ABI estimates that one drink would put an average woman over the .05 limit. The ABI also points out that, of the 32,000 lives lost last year to fatal motor vehicle accidents, less than 320 involved drivers with a BAC between .05 and .08.
Source: ABC News, "NTSB Wants to Toughen Alcohol Limits for Drivers," May 14, 2013
]]>Marlon Miller is now facing sex crimes charges of second-degree forcible sex offense, first-degree kidnapping and communicating threats related to the alleged attack. Miller doesn't attend NC State but is often around campus skateboarding. Several people claim that he admitted to the attack within the days following the campus sex crimes report. He turned himself into police voluntarily.
]]> Miller's bond was set at $752,000 for the sex crime, kidnapping and threats charges. The victim told police that he had threatened to kill her if she screamed during the attack.Additional police are patrolling the NC State campus as classes wind down for the spring semester. Several other criminal events have been reported in recent weeks, including an alleged armed robbery and a violent theft. Another female student reported being approached by a male while walking on campus, but was able to fend him off with pepper spray and flee the area.
Officials encourage students to remain vigilant about their own personal safety. Do not walk alone and avoid dimly lit areas. Stay alert to your surroundings and report any suspicious activity to campus police.
Source: WRAL, "Garner man charged in NC State sex assault," May 6, 2013
]]>An audit of the NCLESS's holdings revealed missing weapons in 2009, triggering the investigation that ended in 55-year-old Brian Minish's arrest. Upon questioning, Minish allegedly sent investigators on "a wild goose chase across [North Carolina]" for the missing weapons. He attempted to cover his tracks by mailing weapons to his office purportedly as returns from a sheriff's office in the state.
]]> Minish was actually keeping several of the weapons at his home and had sold $30,000 worth of DOD loaner equipment on eBay. He was also the President of the Kerr Lake Volunteer Fire Department and stored several weapons and gear there. Minish reportedly sold some of the equipment that he stole from NCLESS to his fellow volunteer firefighters in Kerr Lake.Investigators say they traced closed to $55,000 of missing NCLESS equipment to Minish. They discovered gun safes, goggles, spotting scopes, gun cleaning kits and other weaponry were missing. Officers searched Minish's home as part of the investigation and seized detonation cards, a personal laptop, tax records, ammunition, weapon parts and other items considered evidence in the federal theft crimes case.
Minish will be sentenced for the federal theft crimes in August.
Source: WRAL, "Ex-state worker pleads guilty to stealing surplus military weapons," April 30, 2013
]]>The state appealed the grant of a new trial, claiming that the expert's questionable credibility and testimony did not play a major factor in the jury voting to convict Peterson. The expert, Duane Deaver, had testified that the pattern of blood smatter in the Peterson's staircase indicated that the wife had been pushed down the stairs, rather than fallen, as Peterson asserted.
]]> According to Peterson's defense attorney, Deaver's testimony accounted for more than half of the verbal testimony presented at trial. The defense also asserts that Deaver overstated his own qualifications as an expert blood analyst and the scientific nature of his tests, improperly swaying the jury to trust his conclusions.Deaver was fired for questionable lab practices two years ago.
Peterson spent eight years in prison after being convicted of killing his wife. He has been out of prison on house arrest for the past 16 months, awaiting a new trial. The Court of Appeals isn't expected to decide the State's appeal of the grant of a new trial until sometime this summer.
Source: WRAL, "Discredited SBI agent at crux of Peterson appeal," 4/24/2013
]]>Bond was set at $1 million for Cortez, who did not have a known permanent address in Raleigh. He is still being held in jail on the drug trafficking charges. In total, he faces 11 drug crimes including multiple counts of possession, transporting, selling and delivering.
]]> Drug crimes invoke North Carolina's mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Drug crimes in North Carolina involving cocaine possession are punishable as, at least, a Class I felony. Trafficking in cocaine in North Carolina involves the sale, delivery, manufacture, transportation or possession of 28 or more grams of cocaine. Cortez was accused of delivering 28 to 200 grams to Wake County officers during the three controlled drug buys.Penalties for trafficking in cocaine depend on the amount of drugs involved:
Mandatory minimum sentences for felony drug crimes can result in harsh punishments. An experienced criminal defense lawyer who has successfully handled drug crime charges in the past can help you understand your best drug crime defense options.
Source: Raleigh News Observer, "Wake deputies charge cocaine trafficking after three undercover meetings," April 15, 2013
]]>Almost twice as many women as men fell victim to fatal domestic violence episodes in 2012. Wake County saw more domestic violence murders than any other North Carolina County, with Mecklenburg County not far behind.
]]> Those most at risk of a fatal domestic violence attack, based on last year's statistics, are couples who have lived together in the same household. Of those who were victims of a fatal domestic violence incident, seven had, at one time, taken out a protective order against their attacker. Only three had active protective orders at the time they were killed.A protective order is essentially a stay-away or no-contact order against the accused. If the person accused of domestic violence is ordered to stay away from a school, a copy of that protective order will be sent to the school.
Protective orders can be secured in North Carolina both with and without letting the accused attacker know. However, a judge must set a hearing in order to take testimony from the accuser prior to issuing a domestic violence protective order. If an ex parte protective order is granted, a second hearing will be scheduled before a permanent protective order is granted.
Protective orders can be an important safety tool for victims of domestic violence, but they can also be a life-changer for someone who has been falsely accused of injuring or threatening a girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife or other partner.
Source: WRAL, "Domestic violence homicides increased last year in NC," April 9, 2013
]]>The prosecution's determination to seek the death penalty was made in part based on the wishes of those who survived the horrific tragedy, their families and the families of those who did not walk out of the theater. It is still possible, however, that a plea may be negotiated before the capital trial begins, possibly next year.
The shooter's defense team is still considering whether an insanity defense is the best criminal defense strategy in this case.
]]> Does North Carolina Have A Death Penalty?Yes, and according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, more than 1,000 people have been sentenced to death in North Carolina since 1910, when the state took over executing convicted criminals. The number of death sentences in North Carolina appears to be in decline. There were no death sentences made in 2012 and only three in 2011.
The last execution in North Carolina occurred in 2006; there were 152 people on death row in this state as of December of last year. The death penalty can only be imposed on those who have been convicted of committing 1st degree murder in North Carolina.
But, the tide may be changing in North Carolina. According to a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling, more people in North Carolina are in favor of repealing the death penalty, leaving life without parole as the strongest punishment for those convicted of first degree murder. Even more of those polled supported repealing the death penalty if the person convicted had to work to pay restitution to the family of his or her victim while serving a life sentence.
Source: The Washington Post, "Prosecutors say they will seek death penalty against Colorado theater shooting suspect," April 1, 2013
]]>In fact, federal prisons are 39 percent over capacity. Without substantial changes to the federal mandatory minimum sentencing structure, that number will likely continue to grow. But, Senators Rand Paul and Pat Leahy introduced a bill to help prevent prison overcrowding by bringing sentencing better inline with the actual crime a person is convicted of.
]]> The Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013 would allow judges to deviate below a guideline sentence if the sentence that the guidelines would impose does not fit the crime or the convicted individual. The bill would require:Judges must declare in writing why he or she deviated below the mandatory minimum guidelines and applied the safety valve.
The proposed bill would not give individual defendants a right to a lesser sentence, but it would allow judges additional discretion in ensuring that the punishment actually fits the crime committed.
Source: Reason, "Today Rand Paul and Pat Leahy Introduced a Bill to Fix Our Atrocious Federal Mandatory Minimum Laws, March 20, 2013
]]>Online users and Craigslist itself tried to stop the police officers sting operation. Ads posted by officers posing as teens willing to participate in sex acts with adults were flagged by other users. The officers' posts had to be made from three different IP addresses as Craigslist vetted its own users.
]]> Those officers who were corresponding with the men about potential meetups were instructed to:According to those working the internet sex crimes sting operation, police are under no legal duty to inform someone that they are a cop unless they are involved in a search or chase.
The internet sex crime sting operation took place in Wisconsin with assistance from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC). But, this type of sting can take place anywhere. If you are attempting to engage others for a sexual meetup online, be sure that the person with whom you are corresponding is 18 years old or older. Or, you may be facing criminal charges for internet sex crimes or exploitation of a minor.
Source: Green Bay Press Gazette, "Casual Encounters: An inside look at the Internet child sex crime investigation that led to 17 arrests around Wisconsin," March 19, 2013
]]>The eye witness was wrong. The jury was wrong. He was falsely accused and wrongly convicted of sex offenses involving a minor; Johnny Williams was innocent.
]]> Williams had been convicted, at least in part, on the testimony of a nine-year-old girl who had identified him as the man that attacked her twice, on separate days, on her way home from school. The young girl had told her mother that the man who attacked her said his name was Johnny. From that point forward, her mother was certain that Johnny Williams was the culprit.A relative who saw the young girl's attacker after the first instance was unable to identify Williams in a lineup, but later pointed him out as the culprit in court. The young girl picked Williams out in a photo lineup, but she had already heard or been told several times that he was her attacker.
During the second attack, the man who sexually assaulted the young girl ejaculated on her shirt. The police did not retrieve her shirt for analysis until 10 days after the attack. The lab found no semen on it.
But, with the help of the California DNA project, that same shirt would turn out to be Williams' key to freedom. A subsequent analysis did find biologic material on the shirt but it didn't match Williams' DNA. It was not a match for any information in the database. Although Williams had spent several years of his life in prison for a sex offense he did not commit, the little girl's attacker is or was still on the loose.
Source: The National Registry Of Exonerations, "Johnny Williams"
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