A judge in Kings County has suppressed evidence which would have shown a man charged with a sexual crime photographed the child sex victim. The evidence was not allowed to be presented in court. This was an interpretation by a judge in Brooklyn of the United States Supreme Court precedent which protects cell phones under the fourth amendment to the … [Read more...]
Are Warrantless Cell Phone Searches by the Police Admissible into Evidence?
The United States Supreme Court Will Rule on This Matter The United States Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case regarding whether a police officer can search the cell phone of an individual under arrest without obtaining a search warrant. Today cell phones contain an enormous amount of information about an individual. The legal issue … [Read more...]
Gun Suppressed Due To Bad Search By Police
In the beginning of May 2013, Christian Munez was arrested for possession of marijuana. He was brought to the 44th precinct in the Bronx. He was questioned by Sergeant Christopher Pascale. Sergeant Pascale did not read Mr. Munez his Miranda Rights. Mr. Pascale questioned Mr. Munez about other crimes in that area of the Bronx. He alluded to the fact … [Read more...]
Hot Pursuit of an Individual Suspected of Committing a Misdemeanor Does Not Allow Police Officers to Enter His Home
Judge John Wilson sitting in the Criminal Court of Bronx County was recently presented with a case involving a warrant-less entry into a man's apartment. Police officers were investigating a crime scene in the Bronx. Mr. Cruz approached the scene and threw a piece of metal at one of the police officers. The police officer claimed the piece of metal … [Read more...]
Man Convicted Due To Cat’s DNA
In a case in London, England, a British DNA database of cat's DNA was used to convict a man of the crime of manslaughter.John Wetton of the University of Leicester stated "this is the first time cat DNA has been used in a criminal trial in the U.K." The Case Investigators found the dismembered torso of David Guy.His dismembered torso was found … [Read more...]
Intoxication, Without More Evidence, Does Not Establish Reckless Driving
In October of 2012, the Appellate Division of the Third Department, an Appeals Court in the State of New York, found a jury should have been instructed intoxication, without further evidence, did not establish reckless driving. Upon making this ruling, the court set aside the conviction of a defendant named Goldblatt. Goldblatt had been … [Read more...]
United States Supreme Court Limits The Use Of Drug Sniffing Dogs
In a decision of first impression, the Supreme Court of the United States has recently ruled police officers cannot take a drug sniffing dogs onto the property of a potential suspect without a search warrant. Police organizations are concerned this will limit their ability to use drug smelling dogs to locate illegal narcotics. Evidence Seized, … [Read more...]
Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Charges Dismissed
In a case before Gerri Pickett in the criminal court of Kings County the Judge found the accusatory instrument charging an individual with driving while intoxicated was facially insufficient. Her conclusion was based upon the fact there were no actual allegations supporting the charges essential elements in the accusatory instrument filed by the … [Read more...]
New York Police Officer Convicted of Robbing Drug Dealers
Jorge Arbaje-Diaz was a New York City Police Officer. He was arrested in 2008. He was charged in a federal court proceeding with fourteen other members of a robbery crew. The charges against him say that they posed as police officers for the purposes of robbing narcotics dealers in the east coast. Arbaje-Diaz and one other member of the … [Read more...]
Coerced Interrogations
A documentary “Scenes of a Crime” deals with ten hours of taped interrogations of Adrian Thomas at a police station in Troy, New York, in 2008. The ten hours of taped interrogations resulted in a disputed confession which is the subject of the documentary. The confession related to a high profile baby killing case. The Appellate Division for the … [Read more...]