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July 31st, 2008 Filed Under Legal News
I knew that once Avvo for lawyers came, it was only a matter of time before the success of this site would spread to every other industry…then came ratemycop.com. Not really a practical extension of the idea but still the same premise. I tend to agree with Injustice in Seattle, that ratemycop has little, if no real value. It allows anonymous postings and was gaining ground as a place to call out officers that were invading the province of the thin blue line. But today. Well today we have www.therobingroom.com. Now, for all I know this site has been around for ages and I am late to the party. But I am interested to see whether our judiciary takes the same position on this site as they did on Avvo.
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And Now a Word From Armentano
July 29th, 2008 Filed Under Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Reform
The Killing of Rachel Hoffman and the Tragedy That Is Pot Prohibition.
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History Lessons
July 29th, 2008 Filed Under Off Topic
Via the Seattle Weekly’s Dan Ward.
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Referencing a Reference
July 29th, 2008 Filed Under Assault, Bicycling Under the Influence
Didn’t I just say in a post about drinking and bicycling, don’t be THAT guy? Well, we had to show up Portland, right? I hope you are happy Seattle. Well, as with most cases, there are two very different versions of the story.
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The Future of Privacy
July 28th, 2008 Filed Under Privacy Concerns
Something to consider is how much of our privacy we willfully hand over in the name of consumerism. It is a strange fact that becomes part of my business, as we subpoena records from phone and internet companies. It is also what we see when the Prosecutor hands over a persons private data, mined from phone calls and other sources. I think every criminal defense attorney cringes when we hear the phrase, “if your not guilty, you have nothing to be afraid of.” It is a phrase that was thrown around quite a bit, in Germany, in the 1940’s. This topic is relevant to us as attorneys because we seem to be doing this in lock step with our other civil liberties, in the name of security.
“This is an automated message. You have the right to remain silent. Please note anything you said on the internet in the past 35 years can and will be used against you.”
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The Pendulum Swings
July 25th, 2008 Filed Under Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Reform
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Thumb on the Scale
July 25th, 2008 Filed Under DNA, Foresnics
Guest post from Dan E Krane:
What makes scientific evidence so powerful in court is very simple: it’s supposed to be scientific. That means that it is supposed to be objective and completely independent of the subject of an investigation (a suspect or a defendant). It is therefore absolutely shocking that DNA testing laboratories routinely put themselves in a situation where specific information about a subject’s DNA profile might influence their interpretation of an evidence sample.
Last December, eleven prominent experts from around the US and even Scotland met in Washington, DC to discuss the problem of examiner bias/context effect in DNA profiling. Given the breadth of expertise and roles of these experts it surprised many of us that we were able to not only agree about the magnitude and nature of the problem, but also to a solution. The result was the generation of a position paper that has been published in this month’s Journal of Forensic Sciences (http://www.bioforensics.com/articles/sequential_unmasking.html).
Our bold and surprisingly controversial recommendation is the essence of simplicity: analysts should interpret evidence samples, at least initially, without any knowledge of the DNA profile of any suspects being investigated. Arguments to the contrary are ludicrous and are generally equivalent to a student demanding to see an answer key prior to taking an exam because that makes it so much easier for them to come up with the right solutions. Information about a suspect’s DNA profile does help with the interpretation of evidence samples in the resolution of surprisingly common ambiguities that lend themselves to a variety of alternative interpretations. But, using a defendant’s profile in that way is unequivocally wrong and invariably works to their disadvantage at the same time that it seriously undermines the scientific nature of the test.
Please help us spread the word that DNA profiles should always be interpreted objectively. More information about the authors of this position paper and the opportunities for subjective interpretation of DNA evidence is available at the Forensic Bioinformatics web site (www.bioforensics.com). It will also be a topic for discussion during our annual meeting coming up in just a few more weeks.
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Upcoming Conference for Forensic Bioinformatics
July 24th, 2008 Filed Under Conference, Crime Lab, DNA
Here is the plug: Forensic Bioinformatics is holding its expert forum on the science of DNA profiling on August 15 through 17. This will be our seventh annual meeting in Dayton and I think you will agree that the program is one of our best ever.We have always been fortunate in being able to get prominent experts to share their insights and learn from each other at this meeting and this year is not an exception. Notable speakers for this year’s forum include: Simon Ford; Christine Funk; Keith Inman; Roger Koppl; Larry Mueller; Gabe Oberfield; D. Michael Risinger; Tania Simoncelli; and Bill Thompson.Last year’s introductory parallel session run by Christine Funk on the first day of the forum was so successful that we have decided to build the whole first day of this year’s meeting (Friday, August 15) around it. This set of presentations for less experienced attorneys with cameo appearances from world-renowned experts is intended to bring relative new-comers to the field up to speed on the technical aspects of DNA profiling so they can appreciate the cutting edge discussions about DNA databases and statistical issues associated with DNA test results on the days that follow.This year we are again offering the opportunity to generate your own DNA profile (from DNA extraction to statistical interpretation) during the day of Thursday, August 14. Keith Inman from Forensic Analytical will be running this special workshop using Wright State University facilities for the first ten conference attendees who express an interest in this $200 course.Early registration ($295) for this year’s expert forum runs through August 1 and represents a $130 savings over the full registration cost. Groups of four or more can obtain a 20% discount and a limited number of scholarships are still available upon request.As always, much more information about the speakers, their talks and the meeting in general (including registration forms and hotel information) are available at the Forensic Bioinformatics web site (www.bioforensics.com).
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DNA & Crime Labs Make the News (again).
July 21st, 2008 Filed Under Crime Lab, Legal News
Full article by Jason Felch and Maura Dolan can be read in the Los Angeles Times here.
Prosecutors and crime labs across the country routinely use numbers that exaggerate the significance of DNA matches in “cold hit” cases, in which a suspect is identified through a database search.Jurors are often told that the odds of a coincidental match are hundreds of thousands of times more remote than they actually are, according to a review of scientific literature and interviews with leading authorities in the field.Two national scientific committees, including the FBI’s DNA advisory board, have recommended portraying the odds more conservatively. But interviews with expert witnesses and DNA analysts from crime labs across the country show that few if any have adopted that approach.The FBI lab, which oversees the nation’s offender databases, has disregarded the recommendation of its own advisory board, bureau officials acknowledged. So far, the courts have ruled in law enforcement’s favor on this issue.As a result, some experts fear, a technology best known for freeing the innocent could be causing its own miscarriages of justice.”It is only a matter of time until someone is wrongfully convicted because of this,” said Keith Devlin, a Stanford mathematician who has studied the problem.DNA profiles are widely perceived as a unique genetic fingerprint. In fact, they are slivers of the human genome — up to 13 markers that contain about a millionth of the information on all the chromosomes. Relatives often share many markers, and even unrelated people on average share two or three.So DNA “matches” by themselves can never definitively link someone to a crime.The best science can do is to estimate the likelihood that a match has occurred by sheer chance. These statistics are easily distorted or misunderstood by lawyers, judges, juries and even expert witnesses.
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Update: Case Closed
July 18th, 2008 Filed Under Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Reform
Although it is not clear why the case is closed. You can read the full article from the PI here. Exerpt from Moises Mendoza’s article:
Police officers returned a laptop and patient records they seized from a University District medical marijuana cooperative, but for now they’re holding on to 12 ounces of marijuana and several bongs confiscated during their Tuesday evening search. Martin Martinez, who heads the Life Vine cooperative at 1406 N.E. 50th St. near University Way Northeast, said he and his lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, picked up the roughly 500 records from the Police Department Thursday. But it’s not clear if they will get the marijuana back, which advocates say is for use by seriously ill patients.
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Smell (Two Steps Back, One Step Forward)
July 17th, 2008 Filed Under Legal News, Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Reform
It was reported this morning that Seattle Police seized a number of medical marijuana plants and medical records. The Seattle Times reports:
“The search occurred Tuesday after a nearby police bicycle officer reported the smell of marijuana…no one was arrested but officers seized about 12 ounces of marijuana in addition to the patient files and a computer…The police “have a heck of a lot of patient records I don’t think they should have,” said Douglas Hiatt, a Seattle attorney who specialized in medical marijuana cases. “For one thing, those records are protected under federal privacy laws. If you’re a medical marijuana patient, you don’t want the police to know who you are or where you live, and this is why - because you don’t get treated very well.”
Also today, State v Gande. A decision that was based on Constitutional grounds.
“We hold that the smell of marijuana in the general area where an individual is located is insufficient, without more, to support probable cause for arrest. Where no other evidence exists linking the passenger to any criminal activity, an arrest of the passenger on the suspicion of possession of illegal substances, and any subsequent searches, is invalid and an unconstitutional invasion of that individual’s right to privacy.”
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Why Innocent People Should Not Talk to the Police
July 17th, 2008 Filed Under Police Interrogation
John Duane explains why innocent people should never talk to the police. Watch the video here. If you are wondering what the Police think on the subject, you can also watch George Bruch’s response to Mr. Duane’s presentation.
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Learning the Basics
July 14th, 2008 Filed Under Legal News
Source: Written by Hector Catro and published in the PI. You can read the full article here.
If an inmate acts up in the back of the patrol car, slam on the brakes so he hits the cage divider and just say you ran into a patch of squirrels.
If you get in trouble for violating policy, take your suspension during fishing season.
And if you run out of options for housing a mentally ill person, drive him to a remote area, like a railroad yard, and threaten to shoot him if he doesn’t leave town.
Those are among the lessons allegedly taught by two instructors at the state’s academy for corrections officers.
Those officers have since been fired, but so was an instructor who complained about their behavior. And now the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, which operates the Corrections Officer Academy, is under investigation by the state’s Human Rights Commission.
Doug Blair, one of the deputy directors of the training program, said the problems there have been resolved.
“When it was brought to our attention, we dealt with it immediately,” Blair said. “We were not aware that this was going on at the time, or we would not have tolerated it. We’re looking for the utmost in professional people to train our new recruits.”
But Robert Kerrigan, a corrections officer for Pierce County and one of the instructors fired, said if he did anything inappropriate in his class, it was with the full knowledge of his superiors.
“I’m man enough to admit I probably said some things I never should have said,” Kerrigan said.
But his behavior in class was meant to prepare recruits for work in a jail and, he said, was approved by the same supervisors who later fired him.
“They didn’t take any ownership on what they were allowing us to do,” Kerrigan said.
Kerrigan isn’t the only one bitter over the matter.
King County Corrections Officer Abdul Mohamed, the instructor who complained about Kerrigan and former instructor Richard Scott, believes he was fired for complaining.
The retaliation claim is one of the key elements of the investigation.
Human Rights Commission Director Marc Brenman said the investigation likely will take longer than the 135-day time period during which most cases are handled.
“This is probably going to be one of the more complicated ones,” Brenman said. “It always seems like cases involving law enforcement are tougher than many other institutions.”
The Corrections Officer Academy is just one of the courses taught at the Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien. Last year, the Corrections Division there had 55 classes with more than 900 students.
Corrections officers on loan from their agencies teach classes. Some, however, are contracted as Teacher Advisor Coach officers and are hired for two-year stints.
Kerrigan and Scott both taught classes at the academy for several years.
Scott is retired from Snohomish County and denies the accusations.
A clash of styles
In September 2005 Kerrigan was contracted as a TAC officer and Scott was hired the next year.
Both had excellent reputations, Blair said.
“They had a wealth of experience and were good instructors. The class, for the most part, liked them as instructors,” he said.
In March 2007, Mohamed was hired as a TAC officer.
Mohamed, who had been a King County Corrections Officer since 2001, was eager for the position. He believed, he said, that it would help him earn a promotion to sergeant.
From the start, though, he did not fit in with the other TAC officers.
Kerrigan found Mohamed, a martial arts expert who once provided security for the Saudi royal family, too strict and by-the-book.
“He’s a good instructor, but we all have different styles,” Kerrigan said. “He’s very forceful, very authoritarian, and that’s not my style.”
Mohamed, for his part, considered the freewheeling, casual style of Scott and Kerrigan unprofessional.
“I let those guys do their own thing, but I kept note of everything bad that they did,” Mohamed said.
Eventually, he complained.
Among Mohamed’s allegations: Scott made obscene gestures to his students, who would return the gesture; Scott sometimes rubbed the shoulders of female recruits and had other physical contact with them; and that profanity was rampant in the classrooms.
Greg Baxter, human resources director for the training commission, investigated the allegations and reported they were unfounded.
Baxter wrote that the problem was Mohamed.
“Witnesses agree that he over-dramatizes incidents, and is hypercritical of people who disagree with him, criticize him or question his judgment,” Baxter wrote.
In November, Mohamed’s contract as a TAC officer was terminated, though it was originally scheduled to last until March 2009.
Observing sergeant appalled
The next month, Mohamed complained to the Human Rights Commission. It was coincidentally around this time that the corrections officer training program was being scrutinized internally.
In 2007, directors began an assessment of the program to ensure classes were meeting the needs of the agencies hiring the recruits. Six corrections officers were asked to observe the classes.
King County corrections Sgt. Catey Hicks, a former TAC officer herself, was one of the assessors and sat in on classes for the Corrections Officer Academy in December 2007 and January 2008.
Some of what she saw appalled her.
“The COA academy is in a state of dire condition that is in desperate need of an immediate and dramatic overhaul,” Hicks wrote in her review of the program.
The sergeant described widespread profanity, none of it, she wrote, part of any role-playing.
She also noted examples of what she believed to be inappropriate sexual innuendos.
In one such incident, a recruit played the part of a handcuffed inmate. Standing behind him, Scott toyed with a soft baton in a manner to suggest he would sexually assault the recruit.
“It was obviously inappropriate, uncomfortable and highly offensive,” Hicks wrote in her report. “Particularly in light of the emphasis in corrections in the media for sexual misconduct and the recent passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act.”
During a class on behavior management, Hicks said Kerrigan described handling an uncooperative inmate being transferred in a patrol car by doing what he called a “brake check” — stepping on the brakes hard so the inmate is thrown against the protective barrier separating the back part of the car from the driver.
Hicks recommended firing Kerrigan and Scott.
By Jan. 28, Scott was asked to leave, and Kerrigan told to leave the next day.
A crimp in their careers
“I knew it was going to happen. They actually escorted Scott off the campus,” Kerrigan said, “To me, it was done dirty.”
The terminations for all the officers were at odds with their respective course careers.
Scott, who worked for Snohomish County from 1980 to 2006, had a file full of commendations. The only disciplinary action he faced came from two instances involving calling in sick or missing a work shift, and a third incident in 1993 when he fastened an inmate to a post with duct tape as a joke. For that latter incident, Scott received a written reprimand.
Kerrigan received numerous commendations during his career in corrections, both with the academy and from his supervisors in Pierce County, where he began working in 1993. In 2007, he was named the Corrections Division’s instructor of the year, the first to receive the new award.
But he has since returned the award.
“I was hurt by what this whole thing did to me,” Kerrigan said. “I pride myself on my reputation.”
Though in corrections less than a decade, Mohamed also has been recognized many times for his work ethic and expertise in defensive tactics.
“He’s an officer who tries to get involved in anything and everything,” King County corrections Major William Hayes said of Mohamed. “He takes his job very seriously.”
Mohamed remains angry that his time with the corrections academy was so abruptly terminated and is adamant it was payback for refusing to ignore what he felt was inappropriate conduct.
“When you complain about it, you are the guy making things up, you are the guy that’s crazy,” he said.
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Drinking and Biking
July 11th, 2008 Filed Under Bicycling Under the Influence
It is legal in our state. You can read more about this subject at a post we wrote last year. Just remember to keep your cool. Another gift from our sister-state. Don’t be “that guy.”
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Portland is Ahead of the Curve
July 3rd, 2008 Filed Under Uncategorized
If you ever wonder how to think progressive when dealing with how to tackle the problem of DUI, one need look no further than our sister city Portland, Oregon.
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