Nassau County, Long Island, now has a new pilot program designed to help 16 and 17 year olds charged with a crime avoid going to jail. Nassau County is one of nine counties throughout New York State to have a specific court designed to hear cases involving 16 and 17 year olds who previously have been treated as adults subject to criminal … [Read more...]
The Prosecution of Pedestrians
Recently, in Georgia, a pedestrian was convicted of vehicular homicide related to the death of her four year-old son. The boy was killed in a car accident caused by a hit and run driver. Raquel Nelson took a long bus ride with her three children. This was in April of 2010. At the end of the bus ride, she tried to cross the road directly in front … [Read more...]
Nassau County’s Continuing Crime Lab Problems
The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that laboratory technicians will have to testify regarding lab tests for such tests to be accepted into evidence. This will create significant problems for the Nassau County District Attorney's Office. Nassau County Crime Lab Closed Since February In February of 2011, the Nassau County Crime Lab … [Read more...]
Smoker Told to Take Doctor’s Advice or Return to Jail
Mrs. McCloud was released from jail three months early to have a heart transplant. She ignored the advise of her doctors to stop smoking. She now either has to stop smoking, pursuant to the order of Judge Francis D. Ricigliano, or go back to jail! Nassau County District Judge Francis D. Ricigliano told Diane McCloud that she must stop smoking. … [Read more...]
NYC Child Welfare Workers Charged with Negligent Homicide
In March of 2011, two former New York City child care workers were charged with negligent homicide related to a girl's death. The girl was four years old at the time of her death. The child care workers had a responsibility to monitor her family's situation. Damon Adams was a child welfare worker who worked for the Administration for Children's … [Read more...]
Guns, Guns, Guns
The National Rifle Association takes the position that every American should have a gun. There are numerous proposed laws backed by the National Rifle Association pending in the State Legislatures. These new statutes are based on the proposition that one of the big problems we have in the United States is that there are not enough people who carry … [Read more...]
Drug Treatment Programs for Prisoners
There are approximately 60,000 inmates in New York state prisons that require drug treatment or drug counseling. If given drug treatment or drug counseling, these men and women will have a greater opportunity to live drug free when they are released from prison. The New York State Department of Corrections recently conducted a three year study … [Read more...]
Loss of License for Talking on a Cell Phone
It is against the law to speak on a cell phone while driving a motor vehicle in the state of New York. This past summer, Justice Edmead, sitting in the Supreme Court located in New York County, suspended a driver's license for thirty-one days when she was found guilty of talking on her cell phone. The defendant argued that the courts … [Read more...]
Wrongfully Convicted
Mr. Warney was convicted for killing a man and a woman in Rochester, New York. He was sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison. He had signed a confession admitting that he killed the man and woman. He later took the position that he was tricked into confessing. The innocence project at Cardoza Law School represents Mr. Warney. In … [Read more...]
Emotional Distress Caused by Hidden Camera
Michael J. Muratore was a landlord on Long Island. Mr. Muratore installed hidden cameras inside smoke detectors in the apartment he leased to his tenant. Mr. Muratore was arrested and charged with two class "E" felonies for criminal video voyeurism in addition to two misdemeanors. Mr. Muratore was convicted of these crimes. Civil … [Read more...]