And that will happen relatively soon, as Zimmerman's trial date - he is charged with second-degree murder - is set for June.
As we wrote in that earlier post, Maryland's self-defense law does not generally give people the right to use deadly force outside of the home. What ultimately happens depends on the facts and situation, of course, and in Florida, the self-defense law does not give you a duty to retreat from a threat (generally speaking).
Source: George Zimmerman agrees with attorneys, won't use 'Stand Your Ground' law before murder trial
]]>And the judge said no.
Essentially, the grounds on which the FBI sought the warrant were overly broad. No one knew where the computer was actually located, for one thing, which did not satisfy the general rule that a given police search will be confined to a particular location. Nor did the FBI show that its hacking would not involve innocent computer users, or those who weren't the subject of investigation.
Most troubling, perhaps, is what's going on outside this particular case. Farivar reports that the same judge who said no to the FBI has also said that law enforcement authorities ask for - and apparently get - thousands of these kinds of surveillance warrants every year.
Source: FBI denied permission to spy on hacker through his webcam
The criminal record, in turn, can impact a young person's future.
]]> The news is worse for those charged with actually creating the fake IDs. Kelly calls it a lucrative business. One anecdote describes a couple students with a laptop and laminating machine in a dorm room, doing 100 or 200 fake IDs per week. The punishment for creating IDs - as opposed to just using one in a liquor store or bar - can mean months or years behind bars, depending on the circumstances.Even though underage drinking is a misdemeanor in Maryland, it can still have an impact on a student's life in terms of jobs and other opportunities.
]]>Goldman Sachs said: "Matt Taylor provided false explanations when confronted about irregularities we detected in his account during [...] the trading day," while U.S. District Judge William Pauley III was more direct: "He cooked the books."
]]> The unauthorized trade was said to have caused a loss of more than $118 million to Goldman Sachs. Taylor says he made the trade in order to earn more compensation at the end of the year.According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which brought a civil lawsuit against Taylor, Taylor "fabricated" trades by doing an end-run around an internal system that would have sent those trades to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
As Bray reports, Taylor's conviction for wire fraud means he could get up to 20 years behind bars.
At the Law Offices of James E. Crawford, Jr., we defend people against all kinds of white collar charges, including wire fraud.
]]>Although it must be said that any juvenile crime like underage drinking will have an impact on a young person's life.
]]> In the case of 18-year-old James Barrow, who is the son of U.S. Congressman John Barrow, the young man has recently been arrested for underage drinking, after having "caused a disturbance," as the Athens Banner-Herald reports, near his mother's veterinary clinic.This makes it Barrow's third arrest for an offense involving alcohol. According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Barrow was arrested for DUI and marijuana in January, and caught a second underage drinking charge shortly before the third arrest.
Given the pattern of alcohol-related incidents, one may speculate that Barrow might have a substance-abuse problem - and getting locked up, if Barrow makes it worse by committing another crime - might only make that worse.
In Maryland, as elsewhere, young people accused of juvenile crimes can end up with criminal records. Underage drinking and possession of alcohol in Maryland are misdemeanor crimes, again, just like in other states, which makes Barrow's case of broad interest to any young person accused of a crime. Kids make mistakes, and they should have the opportunity to correct those mistakes, with the right help.
]]>You might find Fury's reason for setting the fire somewhat surprising. Apparently, Fury did it because he wanted to go home early from work.
]]> Fury was a civilian painter from New Hampshire at work on the sub while it was dry docked in a shipyard. Johnson reports that Fury spoke in court, saying that he did not mean to disrespect the U.S. Navy, and did not mean for anyone to get hurt (firefighters had a tough time battling the fire and several were injured).In Maryland, arson is generally a felony crime, and is often characterized as a violent crime, with lengthy time behind bars if you're convicted. If you cause enough damage, like Fury did, the case will almost always be charged as a felony. Maryland also has the "malicious burning" charge, which is less serious than arson, but it only takes $1,000 or more in damage to get charged with a first-degree felony.
]]>This, despite the apparent lack of evidence that Martin attacked him, as well as Zimmerman's claim that his state's stand-your-ground law justified the shooting, made this case major news.
]]> According to the Huffington Post, the latest in the Trayvon Martin case involves Zimmerman's choice to turn down a scheduled hearing that would have centered on the stand-your-ground law, a hearing scheduled roughly two months before trial.In many states, the stand-your-ground law applies only to homes. In other words, you can only justifiably use deadly force against a home intruder. You have no duty to retreat. However, in other states, including the state where the Trayvon Martin shooting took place (Florida), you can justifiably use deadly force against someone outside of the home and you don't necessarily have a duty to retreat.
The Huffington Post calls Zimmerman's waiver of his stand-your-ground hearing a "stunning twist," likely because the hearing would've given Zimmerman the chance to argue that his second-degree murder charges should be dropped under Florida law.
In Maryland, there is case law, but no statutory authority, for the right to act in self-defense in your home. But Maryland's stand-your-ground law generally does not apply outside the home.
]]>The 34-year-old, who resides in Florida, mailed a package marked as "Rangefinder" with a value of $70, although the package really contained night vision goggles that cost $7,000.
]]> He apparently did this twice, both times selling night vision goggles, which is illegal under the Arms Export Control Act, as Rector writes. The government argued that night vision goggles are "designed to enable military ground troop personnel to conduct night operations."The 34 year old, who was arrested and charged in 2011, has recently plead guilty and will be sentenced this summer. He faces up to 20 years behind bars.
We handle all kinds of criminal cases, including those cases involving the Internet. To learn more, please visit our Baltimore computer offenses page.
Source: Man pleads guilty for eBay sale of night vision goggles to undercover agent
]]>The only problem was the recipient of the threats was an undercover FBI agent who had infiltrated the MC. Because the undercover agent began receiving death threats, the FBI decided to make a move and arrest the Baltimore man.
Now he faces federal drug charges.
As Smith reports, the FBI built a "drugs-and-guns" case against various chapters of the Outlaws, which is a storyline similar to that in Sons of Anarchy. Only in this case, it's not fiction, and the 42-year-old man from Baltimore faces significant time behind bars if he is convicted.
Source: Baltimore man nabbed in FBI motorcycle-club probe in Philadelphia
]]>He faces federal charges for possession of child pornography. In support of the charges, the government cites two cases that describe "digitally modified or altered images" as included under the statutes describing child pornography.
He faces up to a decade behind bars if convicted.
]]> Not all jurisdictions are in agreement, however, about whether modified images are child porn, according to Dye. State courts have, in the last couple years, ruled that cutting and pasting children's faces in pornographic images did not constitute child pornography because the children themselves were not actually engaging in sexual activity.Needless to say, there is no uniform perspective on this, and courts will continue to grapple with the issue as it develops.
Source: N.Y. man charged with possessing cut-and-paste child porn
]]>As Paul Tullis writes for the New York Times, what these parents are talking about is forgiveness. And when it comes to forgiveness, Tullis asks whether or not there's a role for it in major felony cases like homicide, as opposed to traditional sentencing within the criminal justice system.
Conor and his girlfriend Ann had been arguing heatedly for more than a day or two, by phone and text message and in-person. It culminated with Ann on her knees, saying "No, don't!" and Conor pulling the trigger of a gun.
]]> Conor turned himself in and is now serving a prison sentence for homicide.But when the case was in progress, the parties sought a "restorative-justice conference" with Conor. Restorative justice is an alternative method of proceeding with a criminal case, in which all concerned parties speak and punishment is considered outside of traditional criminal justice norms.
Restorative justice focuses on the victim and the victim's family (as well as the offender and the community) as opposed to just looking at how to punish the offender.
The result is that each party hears from the other in a way that wouldn't be possible during a traditional trial. For instance, Ann's parents heard the entire story about Ann's shooting, in detail, directly from Conor.
Ultimately, the prosecutor offered a 20-year plea deal, which was higher than the 10 to 15 suggested by Ann's parents, but it did show a rare example of restorative justice at work in a major felony case.
]]>On top of that, Evans says, the majority of murder victims in Maryland are African American, and yet Maryland's five executions in the last few decades have only involved cases in which the victims were white.
Evans writes that Maryland lawmakers are apparently willing to get rid of the death penalty, were it not for the "stacked" Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, and ends his post by writing that the Committee's 2013 members are to be announced shortly - the result which could mean the difference between repeal and continued executions in Maryland.
Source: Race, Politics and Maryland's Lingering Death Penalty
]]>The purpose of the State Advisory Committee, as Wallington and Lomax report, is to advise the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
It's not clear why the State Advisory Committee chose to take no action after having heard the testimony of many, many different people and organizations.
This, despite what Wallington and Lomax say is "plenty to report about," such as the Maryland mandatory sentencing laws, which end up sentencing a disproportionate number of black men as opposed to white men, both of whom are often convicted of the same types of drug crimes.
Source: Maryland won't face up to discrimination in criminal justice
]]>Despite having been cleared (a grand jury refused to indict Wells) and a prosecutor's letter suggesting Xavier should reinstate Wells, the powers-that-be at Xavier did not.
Obviously, this left Wells's future in question.
]]> The whole case underscores the severity of consequences that follow after someone is accused of a sex crime. Wells was both expelled from school and lost his eligibility to play college basketball - all for a crime for which he was later cleared.On top of that, the NCAA initially denied granting Wells a waiver so that he could come back.
Fortunately, his story has a happy ending.
After an appeal to the NCAA Division I Legislative Council Subcommittee for Legislative Relief, that initial denial was overturned, and Wells was able to transfer to the University of Maryland and join the basketball program there.
As Nicole Auerbach reports for USA Today, Wells's new coach said, "This has been a long process for him and his family, and we're grateful he can put it behind him and focus on being a student-athlete at the University of Maryland."
]]>But tagged Facebook photos show a completely different story, including a boy throwing up in the kitchen sink and another sitting shirtless on the homeowner's son's bed. Had it not been for bragging, said the homeowner, and the tagged photos (which the police are using to identify suspects), no one likely would ever have been caught.
In Maryland, breaking and entering into a residence is a felony charge. A burglary conviction could result in serious consequences for these young students (classmates of the homeowner's children), including a criminal record for potential employers to see.
Source: Facebook photos point to burglary, party at Tega Cay home
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