Archive for the 'Criminal Defense Law' Category

Regina Lofton put her 13-month-old twins down for a nap in the upstairs bedroom of her home in the 10600 block of Wentworth Avenue in Chicago. She left the home, even getting a shrimp basket from a local diner. Lee Sweis, the manager said “She seemed happy.” She didn’t actually check on her children for a total of five and a half hours, until she went upstairs to feed them. According to the Chicago Tribune, when the police were called to the home at about 5:50 pm, it was already too late. The twins were pronounced dead less than an hour later.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports the condition of the home as “deplorable.” The temperature had crawled over 90 degrees outdoors, and the only air conditioner in the upstairs bedroom was turned off. The window of the room was open, but blocked by towels, increasing the temperature of the upstairs bedroom. The entire second floor of the home was covered in dog feces, urine, and dirty diapers.

The autopsy confirmed that the twins died of hyperthermia, environmental exposure, and failure to thrive due to maternal neglect. Hyperthermia can lead to other complications, such as dehydration, salt imbalances, and even heart complications. This is especially true for such small children, who were underweight and undernourished. (Kimora and Kamari were only thirteen pounds; the typical weight for a thirteen-month-old is about 22 pounds, according to kidsgrowth.com.) Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis reminds people that “extreme heat conditions can be very deadly for the very young and the very old,” as tragically demonstrated in this scenario.

The deaths have been ruled a homicide, and Loft has been charged with endangering the life of a child, a class three felony. Loft’s family insists that she did not intentionally neglect her child, but was overwhelmed. At 21 years old, she already had five children, one of which is in neonatal care at the hospital because of premature birth.

Judge Portman ordered Lofton held in lieu of $350,000 bond. She faces up to 20 years in prison. The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services is investigating the possibility of neglect at Lofton’s home, but has never had any previous contact with the family.

Jaqueline Ray, the children’s paternal grandmother, insists “Gigi is not a bad mother. She’s just young and she’s been through a lot. She’s not a bad person; everybody makes mistakes.” Lofton has been living with Ray for about a month in order to get back on her feet.

The children’s father was not available for comment.

In 1988, Donald Schmidt was convicted of sodomizing and murdering a three-year-old girl. He was sixteen and was sentenced to a juvenile detention center.

Schmidt is now 38 years old, and is the oldest member of California’s juvenile system. Most juvenile convicts are moved to the state prison at the age of 25, but prosecuting attorneys turned to a little-used state law to keep him in the juvenile system by declaring him dangerous. Prosecutors used the same law in order to make Schmidt ineligible for parole.

However, last week the state considered sending Schmidt to a halfway house in Good Hope, California, in order to rehabilitate him during the last few years of his sentence. The facility was less than a mile from Good Hope Elementary School, reports SWRNN. Riverside County immediately began to protest the placement, noting the location of the halfway house, as well as the fact that Schmidt had no family in the county to help him recover, nor did his crime actually take place in their county and therefore they were not responsible for his rehabilitative needs.

The county drew up two emergency ordinances to make the area less “inviting” for parolees and probationers. The first measure calls for a prohibition against anyone operating a halfway house in one of the county’s unincorporated communities. Small, state-licensed facilities were exempt from the ordinance. The ordinance also barred any land-use approval or building permits from being issued for parole-probationer homes.

The second ordinance is more common, and prohibits any convicted sex offender from living within 2,000 feet of any school, park, or child day care facility. However, it also prohibits convicted sex offenders from living together or even staying in a hotel together unless they’re married. It even prohibits hotels from knowingly renting more than 10% of their rooms to convicted sex offenders. Both ordinances are expected to be in effect for forty-five days, at which point the county will draw up more permanent regulations.

Because of the quick action taken by the county, Schmidt will not be placed at the halfway home in Good Hope. The Riverside County Board considers it an example of “what a community can do if it stands up early.” And while the county considers it a victory, the state of California disagrees. Schmidt must be released by June 2011, unless he is placed in some sort of rehabilitative home, in which case he could be monitored until 2013.

Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections maintains that Schmidt’s treatment “is in the best interest of every community in the state.”

What do you think? Should communities be able to draw up these sorts of measures in order to prevent criminals from receiving treatment there? Or is California correct in their belief that it’s better Schmidt go somewhere and be watched rather than just released into society?

A U.S. military court recently threw out the murder conviction of a former Marine sergeant who was charged with killing in Iraqi man in 2006.

The Washington D.C.-based military appeals court ruled that Lawrence Hutchins was not given a fair trial, since his defense attorney was inappropriately dismissed from his service just before the Hutchins’ court martial went to trial, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Hutchins is about four years into an 11-year prison sentence after he was convicted of killing Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, in the town of Hamandiya, west of Baghdad. Hutchins and eight other U.S. soldiers were charged with leading Awad to a ditch near his home and shooting him.

Hutchins was convicted of unpremeditated murder and was dishonorably discharged. While seven other Marines and one Navy corpsman were tried in the case, none of the others served more than 16 months behind bars.

Marine Lance Cpl. John J. Jodka III, of Encinitas, Calif., pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Navy corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos of Franklin, Wis., pleaded guilty to kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap and making false official statements.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., of Matlock, Wash., pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, of Tracy, Calif., pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Prosecutors working the case claimed that Hutchins led an effort to kidnap a suspected insurgent, kill him and then cover up the death by claiming the man died in a fire fight.

The killing was meant to send a warning to other insurgents to show a punishment for planting bombs along the roads in Iraq, according to the L.A. Times.

Hutchins was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison, but his term was reduced to 11 by the commanding general.

“As a mother, honest to God, I’m so happy” his mother, Kathy Hutchins, told the Associated Press. “I thank God for these professionals because they restored my faith in my country. Wow!”

The next move in the case will lie in the hands of the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps, who will decide whether to appeal the ruling or proceed with a new trial, according to Associated Press. No decision about whether Hutchins will remain in prison during the deciding process was announced.

“Let’s hope Larry can come home,” she said. “It’s not like the charges can be dropped, there still can be a retrial, but we hope that he can come home and hold his daughter.”

Three Miami cops are among at least eight city employees that have been charged with criminal activity, the Miami Police Department recently announced.

Officers Daniel Fernandez, David Valentin and Christian Alvarez-Vega were criminally charged in the first major movement by the recently-created corruption division of the Miami Police Department Internal Affairs, according to NBC Miami. Other similar investigations into corruption within the police department are expected by the division.

“This is the beginning of the end of the culture of corruption in the city of Miami,” City Commissioner Tomas Regalado said. “This is something we promised the people of Miami.”

Alvarez-Vega, a 12-year veteran of the police force, is facing federal charges of identity theft stemming from a response to a car accident on January 11, according to CBS 4 Miami.

Alvarez-Vega took an injured person to the hospital from the accident. During the transfer, Alvarez-Vega allegedly found the person’s bank card, according to documents from a U.S. Attorney’s office. Alvarez-Vega allegedly called the person later to ask for the PIN number connected to the card, claiming it was necessary for the police investigation.

The person told him the PIN number, and he reportedly went to an ATM and withdrew $460 from the person’s account.

Alvarez-Vega was released on a $150,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on April 29, according to CBS 4. He faces a maximum possible sentence of six years in federal prison for the identity theft charge, and also for the charge of depriving an individual’s civil rights while acting within law enforcement.

Fernandez and Valentin are charged with crimes of attempting to intimidate people by threatening law enforcement punishment through their status as police officers.

Valentin, who has served with Miami PD since 2002, also worked as a property manager at an apartment complex. Fernandez, a 16-year veteran, also managed the same complex during his off hours.

Valentin arranged for a tenant to be arrested on fake charges after not paying rent for an undisclosed period of time. According to NBC Miami, the move was meant to send a message to other tenants on what would happen if they fell behind on rent.

Both Valentin and Fernandez are being charged with theft and official misconduct.

The other five people arrested in the probe worked for the city and community non-profit groups. They included city employee Alex J. Martinez, as well as Laura Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez of the non-profit organization “Vecinos en Accion.” Johnnie Brown and Vincent Cobham, who work for the Alternative Program a nonprofit group focused on community service for criminals, were also arrested.

In February, Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito said arrests would be made shortly after the creation of the corruption division.

“Our unit has been in operation for four weeks and we will have arrests,” Exposito said at the time.

Florida’s former Republican chairman is now the target of a criminal investigation by Florida State law enforcement, as is a company he reportedly hired to raise donations.

Jim Greer, who resigned in January from his position of state GOP chairman under pressure from accusations that he misspent party money, is the investigation’s target, according to the Washington Post.

While the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has not officially named Greer as the main target, a political source confirmed that he was the focus. The department did say that it was investigating “possible criminal activity surrounding a former senior official of the Republican Party of Florida and Victory Strategies, LLC,” according to the Post.

The Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported earlier that Greer was the majority owner of Victory Strategies, and that the company had brokered a contract that paid commissions on money raised for the Republican Party.

Greer has denied misspending any money belonging to the party, and was not reached for a recent comment about the state’s investigation.

Around when he resigned, Greer said he was falsely accused by members within the party that were looking to create a more conservative base among the state politicians.

The investigation notice comes on the heels of another spending issue with the Republican National Committee. The RNC is now being scrutinized after it was revealed that thousands were spent at luxury hotels, and close $2,000 was spent for meals at a Hollywood area nightclub, where apparently topless dancers and a bondage theme were part of the evening’s entertainment.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, also a Republican, said that he learned around mid-March from the current state party chairman John Thrasher that details within the party’s financial audit may lead in a similar direction to the investigation.

“This information indicates there may have been criminal activity surrounding a former senior official of the Republican Party of Florida and a company called Victory Strategies, LLC,” McCollum said. “Upon learning this very serious and concerning information, I immediately referred the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”

Thrasher, McCollum and representatives of the Florida State Law Enforcement Department all declined to offer any further comment about the criminal investigation.

Florida Democrats are now urging the state’s governor Charlie Crist, also a Republican, to bring in a special prosecutor to investigate both the fund raising contract and the accusations of improper spending.

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Karen Thurman said only a special prosecutor can legitimately determine what happened.

Law enforcement authorities in Connecticut announced they will pursue a criminal investigation into what led to an explosion at a gas plant that killed five people, and said they have not ruled out negligence.

Middletown, Conn. Mayor Sebastian Giuliano was quoted saying that if the Kleen Energy Systems plant located within the town was running as it was supposed to, an explosion would not have happened, according to the Associated Press. No cause for the explosion has been discovered at this time, and authorities say investigations could take weeks.

Giuliano was also quoted saying that negligence can go to the point where it will be considered a criminal act and come under scrutiny of police.

Acting Middleton Police Chief Patrick McMahon said police detectives have determined that no intentional harm was done.

McMahon elaborated further that detectives are now focusing their investigative efforts on whether negligence came into play while workers were clearing air from gas lines when the explosion happened.

Aside from killing five people, the blast injured at least a dozen people and the shockwaves were felt as far as six miles away, AP reported. Survivors were later found among the rubble left behind by the explosion.

Aerial photos taken of the plant shortly after the explosion showed a large, burnt out gap in the middle of the two main smoke stacks at the center of the energy plant.

At least 50 people were in the area of the plant when the explosion happened around 11:15 a.m. Sunday, February 7. An exact number of people at the plant had been difficult to produce since several different contractors with their own individual staff lists were working at the time, according to AP.

The plant was in the process of construction to produce natural gas at about 620-megawatts. When the explosion happened, workers with the O&G Industries construction company were purging the gas lines of air. The procedure was described as a “blow down,” according to AP.

Gas line purging has been a controversial subject among the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and their investigators. Last year, a similar procedure performed at a Slim Jim manufacturing facility in North Carolina led to an explosion that killed four workers.

The board has also linked explosions in other plants and factories to workers venting gas lines unsafely within buildings.

Natural gas-powered plants are becoming more prominent throughout the U.S. for generating electricity, AP reported.

Natural gas emits roughly half of the greenhouse gases produced by coal-fueled plants and new technology allows supplies of natural gas to be tapped that could last for about 100 years.

The London-based office of convicted con artist Bernie Madoff will not be charged in the criminal investigation into a large investment scam resulting in billions of lost investments around the world.

The United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office said their investigators have not produced enough evidence against the London branch of Madoff’s operation to “provide a realistic prospect of conviction,” . But the SFO also pointed out they will continue to investigate a handful of funds with outposts in Europe that invested with Madoff in the search of “wider aspects of the fraud.”

In March 2009, the Manhattan-based investor pleaded guilty to one of the largest recorded Ponzi schemes in history. Madoff had used funds from new investors to pay off older investments in a vast pyramid-style scam that has resulted in $13 billion of lost investments, according to U.S. prosecutors.

The conviction has sparked numerous lawsuits in Europe and the U.S. as beguiled investors untangle a complicated system carried out by Madoff. The scheme involved selling investments with no real value, on the promise of a high return that would come through in a short period of time.

Madoff Securities International was mostly owned by Madoff himself and functioned as the main office for trading, according to Bloomberg. The office staff was comprised of about 25 people, including traders, support staff and office managers.

Defense attorney Nicola Finnerty, who is representing former Madoff Securities International CEO Stephen Raven, told Bloomberg that Raven is satisfied with the decision made by the SFO, and that “he and his directors have been fully exonerated.”

One of the main facets of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was sending sums of money back and forth between his New York and London offices. U.S. prosecutors have found about $250 million was sent back and forth between the two offices, “to give the appearance that he was conducting securities transactions on behalf of the investors, when, in fact, he was not,” according to the indictment.

Madoff, now 71, is serving 150 years in federal prison in North Carolina as the main sentencing for the criminal charges filed against him in relation to the massive fraud.

While investors who gave money to Madoff and his offices are not being investigated, several of his former staff members have come under investigators’ scrutiny.

Stanley Chais, Madoff’s former money manager, is under a criminal investigation in the U.S. for channeling money to Madoff’s “business” through other accounts, Bloomberg reported.

Madoff’s chief aide Frank DiPascali, accountant David Friehling and computer programmers Jerome O’Hara and George Perez have also been charged in connection to the widespread scam.

The doctor serving as Michael Jackson’s personal physician when he died recently hired a criminal defense attorney, according to ABC News.

Dr. Conrad Murray has not officially been charged in Jackson’s death from an overdose, but a legal team has been assembled for Dr. Murray, who could face a possible involuntary manslaughter charge in connection to Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009.

Glendale, California-based criminal defense attorney Michael Flanagan is the new addition to Murray’s legal team, the doctor’s lead attorney Ed Chernoff told the LA Times recently.

An autopsy performed on Jackson revealed the powerful sedative propofol in his system, which contributed to his death from a heart attack, Houston-based broadcast network KIAH reported.

Since Jackson’s death, Murray has admitted to prescribing the drug – which is also described as an anesthetic. Potential charges could also include gross negligence against the doctor.

Citing an unnamed source, the Associated Press reported that the Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation unit wrapped up their efforts into the cause of Jackson’s death. The LAPD will be presenting its case to the area district attorney’s office so a formal indictment can follow, according to AP.

“We have refused to comment on stories involving unnamed sources,” Chernoff said in a statement, in response to the possibility of charges against Murray.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said no decision has been made in Dr. Murray’s case.

Flanagan described the possibility of an involuntary manslaughter charge as “not surprising.”

This is not the first time Dr. Murray has been connected to legal consequences for prescribed use of propofol. One of his nurses was charged with involuntary manslaughter after propofol was used on a patient who died. But the nurse was acquitted of the charge, according to the LA Times.

In November, Dr. Murray returned to medical practice at his Houston, Texas based clinic.

Dr. Murray, who specializes in cardiology said publically at a church shortly after he reopened his Houston practice that he “was at the wrong place and at the wrong time.”

“I know what trouble is,” Dr. Murray said. “I, with my compassion, was only trying to help my fellow man.”

About six weeks after he reopened the Houston clinic, Dr. Murray was in court on a different matter. The doctor struck what the New York Daily News described as an “11th hour deal” to avoid jail time on charges of failure to pay child support.

Dr. Murray was reportedly $13,000 in debt from missed payments when he made the deal to pay just over $1,000 a month to his son’s mother Nenita Malibiran, and continue the payments.

Dr. Murray has reportedly fathered seven children by six different women, according to the Daily News.

A two-year criminal investigation into rape charges against famed illusionist David Copperfield were dropped Tuesday without formal charges ever being filed, about a month after local police reported that his accuser made a separate false charge of sexual assault against a different man.

No official reason was given for closing the criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Seattle, the branch in charge of looking into allegations against Copperfield. An assistant U.S. attorney made a motion Tuesday afternoon, effectively closing the case, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. Attorney’s office released a statement saying that any investigation can be shut down without charges filed if no federal laws were broken, no federal jurisdiction entitles the office to look into a matter further or if the allegations couldn’t be proven beyond any reasonable doubt.

The statement also said Neither the investigation, nor its termination should be perceived as a comment on guilt or innocence, the AP reported.

She is disappointed, but it wasn’t completely unexpected given the jurisdictional issue of prosecuting him here for something that happened on his private island, said attorney Rebecca Roe, who represented the woman.

Copperfield’s defense attorneys Patty Eakes and Angelo Calfo said the illusionist denied all aspects of the charges and described the action as extortion for money, according to AP.

In a civil suit related to the case, the woman said Copperfield brought her up on stage during a 2007 show in Kennewick, WA. The suit continues to allege that Copperfield later invited the woman to his private island in the Bahamas, where he attacked her sexually after she arrived, according to AP.

The woman, described by the AP as a 23-year-old fashion model, waitress and former Miss Washington, has potential charges pending against her by Bellevue, WA, police of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant and prostitution.

On Dec. 2, the woman who accused Copperfield met with a man and another woman for drinks, according to AP. The other woman reportedly told police that she left the two because they were being very affectionate with each other, to the point where she didn’t feel comfortable around them.
The 23-year-old woman then went with the man to rent a hotel room. Surveillance cameras caught the two kissing and holding each other in the hotel lobby. Images from the cameras were included in the police file, AP reported.

The woman then told hotel staff the man tried to assault her, according to the police documents. But the man had also contacted police officers and said she left the room after he refused to pay $2,000 for sex, according to the report.

Attorney Roe described the police report as overblown.

Rapper Lil Wayne – real name Dwayne Carter – recently pleaded guilty to attempted gun possession in front of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge of criminal possession of a weapon because he claims the gun was not his.

The Associated Press reported that Lil Wayne received one year in prison for his conviction. If he would have been convicted of criminal possession he would have faced three-and–a-half years in prison, which is the mandatory sentence in the state of New York.

Lil Wayne was arrested back in July 2008 for possession of a .40 caliber pistol. Police pulled over the rapper’s bus after it left the Manhattan concert venue, The Beacon Theater.

Police claimed they smelled marijuana smoke coming from the bus when it was parked in the lot of the venue. The officers made everyone exit the bus, and then they found Lil Wayne in the back.

Police stated that as they approached the rapper, he discarded a Louis Vuitton bag containing the gun. Lil Wayne is not licensed in the state of New York to carry a gun.

Lil Wayne’s defense attorney, Stacey Richman, claimed the gun did not belong to her client but to one of his associates who was willing to take full responsibility and ownership of the gun.

Richman continued to state the prosecutors allegedly used faulty forensics to investigate the case. There was a very tiny sample of cells taken from the trigger that match Lil Wayne’s genetic profile.

During the court proceedings both sides argued to determine if this small sample was evidence enough to link the gun to him.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office states the small amount of DNA cells linked the gun to Lil Wayne, and they believe this method of DNA testing is accurate, but the defense disputes the accuracy.

Lil Wayne is also facing trial in Arizona on felony drug possession and a weapons charge. He was stopped and arrested at a border patrol checkpoint in2008. He pleaded not guilty to these charges brought against him.

His slew of legal troubles may or may not have any effect on his music career besides the obvious that he will be unable to tour for the year he is in prison. At this point he is still a popular artist.

His court date for his New York arrest is December 15 of this year - the same day his new album “Rebirth” is scheduled to be released.