Category Archives: Criminal Defense
Ameer Benno Presents Lawline’s Second Annual SCOTUS Preview!
Last week, Erica Dubno and I presented Lawline’s Second Annual SCOTUS Preview. We addressed the following critical cases that are to be decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in its 2018 Term: Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission Gill v. Whitford Class v. U.S. Jesner v. Arab Bank McCoy v. Louisiana Christie […]
NINTH CIRCUIT RULES THAT INNOCENT BEHAVIOR IS SUSPICIOUS
In a recent court decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a combination of non-suspicious driving characteristics can give rise to the suspicion of criminal activity sufficient to justify pulling over the motorist. A border patrol agent in a marked border patrol vehicle observed motorist Rufino Ignacio Valdes-Vega driving a […]
FEDERAL JUDGE RULES THAT FIRST AMENDMENT DOES NOT PROTECT MAN ACCUSED OF PLOTTING TO KIDNAP, RAPE AND KILL WOMEN
New Jersey resident Michael Van Hise, Stuyvesant High School librarian Robert Asch, Massachusetts Veterans Affairs police chief Robert Meltz allegedly chatted over the internet about kidnapping, raping and killing women – including Vanhise’s wife, his stepdaughter, his sister-in-law, and the sister-in-law’s minor children. According to this article: Vanhise was [already] tucked away in jail when undercover […]
TWO FT. LAUDERDALE POLICE OFFICERS ARRESTED FOR SERIOUS MISCONDUCT
Two Ft. Lauderdale police department detectives have been arrested and charged with nearly twenty counts of racketeering, kidnapping, grand theft, extortion and official misconduct. A spokesman for the Broward County State Attorney said that Detectives Brian Dodge and Billy Koepke “were involved in an ongoing pattern of criminal conduct that focused on stealing money and […]
NY POLICE OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT AFTER HAVING INAPPROPRIATE SEXUAL CONTACT WITH WOMAN DURING TRAFFIC STOP
According to the Wall Street Journal, prosecutors claimed that Police Officer Garrett Mannerz pulled over a car in East Meadow, summoned one of the car’s female passengers to his police car, and “coerced her into touching him sexually.” As reported by the WSJ, Mannerz let the car’s occupants go, but allegedly called one of them later for […]
NYPD DETECTIVE IS FOUND GUILTY OF PLANTING DRUGS
Check out the New York Times article HERE. According to the NYT, New York State Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach, who presided over the criminal trial, “scolded the [NYPD] for what he described as a widespread culture of corruption endemic in its drug units,” and declared that “this court was shocked, not only by the seeming […]
NJ GOVERNOR SIGNS “SEXTING” LEGISLATION
New Jersey teenagers caught “sexting” – using cell phones to text sexually explicit photos or post them online – can now avoid prosecution on child pornography charges under a new law signed by Gov. Chris Christie this week. Check out the story here.
FLORIDA COURT RULES THAT DRIVERS HAVE FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO BLAST MUSIC
A Florida court has struck down a Florida law that makes it illegal for a vehicle’s sound system to be “plainly audible at a distance of 25 feet or more from the motor vehicle” on the basis that playing loud music on the radio is constitutionally protected speech. This comes on the heels of a lawsuit arguing that flashing […]
PROTESTORS KETTLED AND MACED BY NYPD COPS
Despite the fact that the First Amendment guarantees ”the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,”a group of female protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street organization were “kettled” (corralled with plastic netting held by officers), a tactic used to contain and control protesters, then pepper-sprayed for good […]
NYPD COPS’ RACIST REMARKS CAUGHT ON WIRETAP
According to the Daily News, the wiretap recordings at the heart of the ticket-fixing probe captured conversations between police officers that were filled with racist and inflammatory remarks. According to the article, ”prosecutors have worked feverishly to keep transcripts of the wiretapped calls from being made public.” Apparently, Bronx juries have already acquitted two accused criminals arrested by cops embroiled in […]
