Recently in Criminal Law Category

Twelve years ago, Damaris Rawlins was arrested for driving under the influence in Kansas City and was taken to the local drunk tank. Upon arrival, she engaged in passive resistance and went limp. The police carried her to a cell, where she said that they slammed her into the wall and floor of the cell and assaulted her. She kicked an officer's shins three times (in self-defense, of course).

She was convicted of battery of a police officer after her attorney allegedly refused to submit photographs of her injuries to the court and after the judge denied a self-defense jury instruction.

Theodore McDowell, known colloquially as “Cush” by his loved ones, was recently convicted of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. Though both Mr. Cush and at least six of his coconspirators all reached the Tenth Circuit, and had opinions released on the same day, he was the only one to receive the distinctive honor of a published opinion — thanks in large part to his curtilage complaint.

In 2007, an alert officer was strolling along West Hubbell Street in Avondale, Arizona, attempting to locate a woman under investigation for assault in Surprise, Arizona (GO ROYALS!). It was the officer that was surprised, however, when his olfactory sense detected a faint hint of fresh, unburned marijuana. Though his nose pointed towards the garage, he approached the front door instead, where the smell was still present, yet far less strong.

Abasi Baker's Fourth Amendment rights were probably violated. He was convicted of seven counts of robbery, the use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The conviction was made possible after investigating officers, without a warrant, put a GPS tracker on his girlfriend's car.

He has an interesting suppression argument - especially in light of United States v. Jones, a SCOTUS decision that held that the attachment of a GPS device to a suspect's car is a search governed by the Fourth Amendment.

The police in Tulsa, Oklahoma got a phone call from a lady who had stumbled upon child pornography on her live-in boyfriend's computer.

The investigating officer showed up, the lady and her friend escorted him to the home office, and played back the video. After about ten seconds, the officer called the cybercrimes unit, and was instructed to seize the computer after obtaining witness statements from the lady and the friend.

Samuel Barajas is an unhappy drug smuggler. He was sentenced to multiple life sentences, followed by more prison time and supervised release (stand guard at the mausoleum!), after getting caught up in an investigation of Jesus Dominguez, the leader of the drug ring. Though the ring initially targeted and tapped the phones of Dominguez, the investigators eventually learned about a mysterious figure named "Samy," later identified as Samuel Barajas.

The investigators sought wiretaps on Barajas' phone. Though the requested wiretaps for Barajas did not ask for GPS (the ones for Dominguez did), the court's orders authorized the use of GPS pinging, which uses cell phone signals and GPS chips to locate the phone. The GPS technique eventually led investigators to drugs and money in Kansas City, as well as Barajas, who was in San Diego.

Paul Everett Rich III was just a wee lad of 14 when he committed his first crime: robbery with a dangerous weapon. That case was adjudicated and later "dismissed" as that term is used in Oklahoma Courts.

Two serious crimes later and a trip to a nightclub with a Bersa Thunder strapped to his hip, and he was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty to the charge and then faced a sentencing enhancement under the Armed Career Criminals Act, which includes "juvenile delinquency involving the use of or carrying of a firearm, knife, or destructive device" in its definition of prior "violent felonies."

Ronald Miller is an Oklahoma man convicted of two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor, who — based on the prosecutor’s statements — seems to be related to Miller.

Miller appealed his convictions to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA), citing alleged improper statements to the jury by both the prosecutor and the judge, as well as ineffective assistance of counsel claims due to his lawyer’s failure to object.

What were those statements?

Propensity evidence or proof of knowledge? It's a tricky question.

Timothy "New York" McGlothin's apartment was searched after he was identified as a suspect in a bank robbery. Authorities found a Glock pistol in a closet with letters addressed to McGlothin, a Yankees cap, and a stack of $2 bills.

He was convicted of being a felon-in-possession using a constructive possession theory. At trial, the prosecutors introduced two prior incidents involving McGlothin and a firearm:

We get it. A lot of alleged criminals aren't so bright.

But when a suspect has a lawyer — and a note from his lawyer saying that he doesn't want to talk to the cops without counsel — we can't understand why he would agree to speak to the FBI.

Luckily, the courts will occasionally step in to save people from themselves.

In April 1984, James Harper pleaded guilty to one count of selling and delivering confidential materials relating to national security. In exchange for his cooperation, eight other counts were dropped.

Along with immunity provisions, the plea agreement included a section stating that if the U.S. determined Harper’s cooperation led to substantial value of benefit, it would ask that Harper be given credit or consideration in connection with any parole commission proceeding. The agreement also included a provision prohibiting the use of any of Harper’s post-arrest statements against him in any civil or administrative proceeding.