Budget constraints affect federal prosecution of crimes on Indian Country

Navajo Police Lt. Phillip Joe and Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe assist Navajo Police Officer Jonathan Johnson on Aug. 7 in Ojo Amarillo during a ride-along. (Daily Times file photo)

FARMINGTON — The number of federal prosecutions of tribal crimes dropped more than 13 percent in 2013 as a result of the budget sequestration that year, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report.

The sequestration was intended to force Congress to agree on a budget with the threat of across-the-board cuts to most federal programs, including everything from social services to defense. When lawmakers failed to agree, the cuts went into effect.

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JAY LEIDERMAN IS A FREQUENT COMMENTATOR ON TELEVISION, THE RADIO AND IN PRINT

Officials say arrests of Mexican Mafia are effective despite revolving door [Jay Leiderman in the news]

Ventura County authorities say arrests of Mexican Mafia members are effective in deterring drug trafficking and other crimes here, despite a revolving door that sees them eventually replaced on the street.

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Defense attorney Jay Leiderman, who represented one defendant in the 2012 case, disagreed. He said his client, Edwin Mora, was not a high-ranking member of the Mexican Mafia as authorities alleged. In fact, Mora was kicked out of his Moorpark apartment for not paying rent, Leiderman said.

"He is hardly a drug kingpin," Leiderman said.

Read more: 

http://www.vcstar.com/news/local-news/county-news/officials-say-arrests-of-mexican-mafia-are-effective-despite-revolving-door_27791057

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Ventura Lawyer Handling Criminal Cases In Federal Court

Jay Leiderman 

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Is The Criminal Justice Act of 1964 A Failure?

What is called “the” 1964 Civil Rights Act is justly celebrated for outlawing racial and other discrimination in employment, “public accommodations” and elsewhere. But that year’s second civil rights act, the Criminal Justice Act, which is 50 years old this month, is, some say, largely a failure because of unanticipated changes in the legal and social context. Is it?

Read more:
http://www.southdadenewsleader.com/opinion/columnists/george_will/is-the-criminal-justice-act-of-a-failure/article_bef36be4-2ed9-11e4-939e-0017a43b2370.html

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Ventura Lawyer Defending Criminal Cases In Federal Court

Jay Leiderman 

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Suspects arrested in San Mateo panga pot bust face federal charges

Nine people accused of hauling more than 5,000 pounds of marijuana off of a boat from Mexico that landed at a San Mateo County beach earlier this month are now facing federal drug smuggling charges, according to court records.

Charges by the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office were dismissed Wednesday after a federal criminal complaint filed in San Francisco on Tuesday charged them with possession of and conspiracy to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of marijuana.

Read more: 

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/suspects-arrested-in-san-mateo-panga-pot-bust-face-federal-charges/Content?oid=2887042

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Jay Leiderman defends criminal cases in federal court

If you have been investigated, arrested or charged contact Defense Lawyer Jay Leiderman 

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Is Beard Cutting a Hate Crime?

Nearly two years ago, in September 2012, a federal jury in Cleveland answered "yes" to that question after three weeks of deliberation. The jury convicted Sam Mullet Sr., bishop of a renegade Amish clan, and 15 of his followers for forcibly cutting off the beards of Amish men in nighttime home invasions in 2011. The jury struggled with two big questions: Was cutting off a beard temporary disfigurement? And were the attacks motivated by religion?

Federal prosecutors sought to convict the defendants of hate crimes under the 2009 Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This statute defines a hate crime as bodily injury inflicted because of a victim's actual or perceived religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, national origin, or disability.

Read more: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donald-kraybill/is-beard-cutting-a-hate-c_b_5724230.html

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JAY LEIDERMAN HANDLES CRIMINAL CASES IN FEDERAL COURT

Baton Rouge ordinance banning guns in bars violates Second Amendment, federal judge rules

A Baton Rouge ordinance banning the possession of guns at bars or any other place that sells alcohol was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge on Monday. The ordinance also applied to parking lots of places that sell alcohol, including those at restaurants and grocery stores.  

Read more:

http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2014/08/baton_rouge_ban_of_guns_in_bar.html

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How Rick Koerber beat federal charges alleging a Ponzi scheme

The day after a federal judge threw out the 18 criminal charges of fraud, money laundering and tax violations against him, Koerber showed up to crow at a downtown hotel wearing a black cowboy hat, and with six of his children, his wife and several friends in tow.

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http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile3/58326787-219/koerber-case-attorney-federal.html.csp

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Monkey selfies do not qualify for copyright protection, US regulators say

By Victor Li

Aug 22, 2014, 03:12 pm CDT

Ape rights will have to wait until the day they take over the Earth, like in Planet of the Apes.

The Telegraph reported Thursday that the U.S. Copyright Office announced that it will not issue copyrights to any picture taken by a nonhuman. The Copyright Office issued updated rules and regulations earlier in the week that spelled out its policy on copyright protections in the digital age.

Read more: 
http://www.abajournal.com/mobile/comments/monkey_selfies_do_not_qualify_for_copyright_protection

JAYLEIDERMAN.COM

Supreme Court justices regularly seek to change the errors of their ways

ABA JOURNAL

By Mark Walsh

Aug 22, 2014, 04:21 pm CDT

"The court makes all sorts of revisions, ranging from the most mundane to the most intriguing, with the vast majority not surprisingly falling into the former category," writes Harvard Law School professor Richard J. Lazarus in "The (Non)Finality of Supreme Court Opinions," an upcoming article for theHarvard Law Review. "With regard to the latter, several distinct pathways have emerged for revising opinions with varying degrees of transparency."

Read more: 

http://www.abajournal.com/mobile/comments/supreme_court_justices_regularly_seek_to_change_the_errors

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WHITE-COLLAR CRIME

Ex-attorney put on probation in $500K client theft now gets 10 years for drinking, practicing law

Posted Aug 21, 2014 4:30 PM CDT
By Martha Neil

A disbarred Texas lawyer was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday for violating the terms of his probation in a client-theft case.

David Bonilla, 59, got a suspended prison sentence and was put on probation for 10 years in 2011, when he pleaded guilty to stealing some $500,000 from clients while he was still in practice, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reports. The newspaper said Bonilla made restitution in the same amount to 37 clients at the same time he took the plea deal in the Nueces County case.

After his disbarment, Bonilla was employed at his dad's law firm as a legal assistant. At a Wednesday hearing, however, Bonilla admitted he had illegally practiced law while working there. He also admitted drinking alcohol, which he was prohibited from doing.

Read more:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-lawyer_put_on_probation_in_500k_client_theft_now_gets_10_years_for_drink/

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Criminal 1983 Claims Are Hard to Prove

What would federal prosecutors have to prove in the Michael Brown shooting? ("Proving a federal civil rights violation in a police shooting is not easy.")

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More on warrantless GPS tracking

Fourth Circuit Divides Over Warrantless GPS Tracking ("City police in Baltimore acted in good faith in using a tracking device without a warrant, a divided federal appeals court said Tuesday in upholding a firearms conviction.")

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Federal Court: Florida man, 83, admits hiding $1.1M from IRS

An 83-year-old Florida man pleaded guilty Tuesday to hiding at least $1.1 million from the IRS in secret Switzerland and Israel bank accounts for more than a quarter century.

Delray Beach resident Bernard Kramer, held the secret accounts from 1987 to about 2012. He used the code phrase "Hot Lips" to refer to them in communications with Swiss bankers in Zurich, where he opened the first account, according to a criminal filing in Manhattan federal court.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/08/19/bernard-kramer-tax-evasion/14301477/

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Sentencing Disparities in White Collar Cases

Vocativ

Not All White-Collar Crime Sentences Are the Same Length ("'What that has resulted in is a lot of inconsistency depending on which judge happens to sentence you,' says Barry Pollack, a defense attorney based in Washington, D.C. 'If you have a judge who follows the guidelines-even though they are advisory-you are going to get an extraordinarily high sentence. Whereas, if you get a judge who thinks that the guidelines are too harsh, that judge might choose not to follow the guidelines.' The result? 'You have two people that commit two very similar crimes but then get wildly different sentences,' Pollack says.")

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AZ death penalty questioned

Arizona Loose With Its Rules in Executions, Records Show ("That improvisation is not unusual for Arizona, where corrections officials and medical staff members routinely deviate from the state's written rules for conducting executions, state records and court filings show. Sometimes they improvise even while a convict is strapped to a table in the execution chamber and waiting for the drugs coursing through his veins to take effect.")

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805-654-0200

www.jayleiderman.com

Please visit the Jay Leiderman Law Homepage

JayLeiderman.com

5740 Ralston St 300

Ventura, California 93003

805-654-0200

WHERE'S THE JUSTICE AT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE?

Op-Ed Columnist: Where's the Justice at Justice? ("The Justice Department is trying to scuttle the reporters' privilege - ignoring the chilling effect that is having on truth emerging in a jittery post-9/11 world prone to egregious government excesses.Attorney General Eric Holder wants to force Risen to testify and reveal the identity of his confidential source on a story he had in his 2006 book concerning a bungled C.I.A. operation during the Clinton administration in which agents might have inadvertently helped Iran develop its nuclear weapon program.")

Please visit the Jay Leiderman Law Homepage

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Police Misconduct and A DA's Duty to Disclose

New Case About the DA's Duty to Turn Over Police Misconduct Material

DUTY OF PROSECUTOR TO REVIEW POLICE PERSONNEL FILES FOR BRADY MATERIAL

What duty does the DA have to review police officer personnel files for Brady (373 US 83) material? The C/A says that the DA must conduct such a review. If the DA finds Brady material, the DA must make a Pitchess motion in order to obtain a court order disclosing that material to the defense.

People v. Superior Court (Johnson); A140767; A140768; 8/11/14; C/A 1st, Div. 5