Category: Criminal law

Criminal law, Society

In Memoriam: Sergeant Steve Owen, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.

Steve Owen
Steve Owen

Another Law Enforcement Officer suffered a senseless death at the hands of a career criminal. This time, as is usually the case, a caring, officer who established himself within his community and by simply doing his job, died far too early.

Sergeant Steve Owen, who worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff for twenty-nine years, was ambushed and assassinated after responding to a burglary complaint.

His fellow community members shared much grief over the loss of a well liked deputy who served many and fostered remarkable attention to those in need–above expectations and for the benefit of many.
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Criminal law, Society

Police Arrest Third Suspect In The Murder Of Professor Dan Markel [UPDATED]

unknown1405809806000-Dan-MarkelWe have been following the investigation of the murder of Florida State Professor Dan Markel – a case that has cast suspicions on the family of his ex-wife and fellow professor Wendi Adelson. Much of this suspicion has been drawn to Adelson’s brother, Charlie Adelson. Charlie Adelson was reportedly romantically involved with Katherine Magbanua, who just happened to be the mother of two children with Sigfredo Garcia, one of the two accused hit men (with Luis Rivera). Now, Magbanua has been arrested — drawing the case even closer to the Adelson family. UPDATE: Rivera has cut a deal to cooperate in a guilty plea. That deal appears connected to this arrest and will likely increase the pressure on Magbanua to cut her own deal.

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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law

House Committee: FBI Cut Side Deal To Limit Search Of Computers Of Key Clinton Aides And To Allow The Computers To Be Destroyed

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The FBI investigation into the Clinton email scandal seems to grow more questionable by the day.  As I discussed earlier, the five immunity deals handed out by the Justice Department were, in my view, largely unnecessary and undermined the development of any criminal case.  Now, House investigators have learned  that Justice Department officials, in addition to their immunity deals, cut a “side agreement” with Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson for agents to destroy their laptops after searching their hard drives for evidence.  With Congress seeking the information, the side deal clearly would obstruct that investigation and the details of the side agreement make little sense if the FBI were pursuing any and all evidence of criminal conduct.

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Criminal law, International

Duterte: Human Rights Is The “Antithesis of Government”

rodrigo_duterte_and_laotian_president_bounnhang_vorachith_croppedThe election of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte constitutes the lowest point for the struggling Filipino democratic system.  Duterte has used profanities against President Obama, the United States Ambassador to the Philippines, Pope Frances, the United Nations and others who have questioned his blood-soaked reign as president.  Recently, he even compared himself to Hitler in not only refusing to stop his extrajudicial killings of alleged criminals but saying that he was prepared like Hitler to murder millions.  Now this budding tyrant has declared that the very  concept of human rights is the “anti-thesis of government.” In reality it is Duterte who is pushing the Philippines back into a state of Nature where might is right and government is merely the dominion of the powerful over the powerless. What is particularly chilling is that Duterte is a lawyer and former prosecutor.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Media

Gay YouTuber Charged In Alleged Fake Attack

unknown-2We previously discussed the bizarre arrest of leading Gay YouTuber Calum McSwiggan in Los Angeles.  Now McSwiggan has been charged with felony vandalism. It is a truly odd turn over events for the an online personality who allegedly filed a fake police report that he had been beaten and attacked by three men in West Hollywood last June.  He originally said that the men also damaged a Lexus, which police now say that McSwiggan damaged.

 

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering

Former Corporate General Counsel Sentenced For Bank Robbery

steven-cormierSteven Cormier of Walnutport, Pennsylvania, has reached a very sad and unexpected conclusion to a once distinguished career. Cormier, 58, previously agreed to disbarment after his arrest  for bank robbery in a truly heart-breaking story of a former general counsel who found himself in a free fall.  He has now pleaded guilty to robbery, theft and receiving stolen property.  He also pleaded no contest to making terroristic threats.  He was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison

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Criminal law, Justice, Media, Politics, Society

Comey: Combetta Insisted That He Acted Alone In Destroying Evidence After He Was Given Immunity

I recently wrote a column on FBI investigation into the Clinton email scandal and revised my view as to the handling of the investigation in light of the five immunity deals handed out by the Justice Department.  I had previously noted that FBI Director James Comey was within accepted lines of prosecutorial discretion in declining criminal charges, even though I believed that such charges could have been brought. However, the news of the immunity deals (and particularly the deal given top ranking Clinton aide Cheryl Mills) was baffling and those deals seriously undermined the ability to bring criminal charges in my view.  Now, Comey has testified before both the Senate and the House. His answers only magnified concerns over the impact and even the intent of granting immunity to those most at risk of criminal charges.

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Congress, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Comey: Clinton Aides Refused To Cooperate Without Immunity

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziHillary Clinton’s position on the email scandal has repeatedly changed from its first emergence in the presidential campaign from denial of bad judgment to the denial of the use of the private server for any classified information to the denial of any material “marked” as classified to the denial of seeing or understanding classified markings. However, one claim has remained unchanged. Clinton has maintained that she and her staff have “cooperated fully” with investigators. That claim was previously shown to be untrue when it was revealed that neither Clinton nor her staff would agree to speak with State Department investigators even though they said that such interviews were needed to determine the scope any damage to national security or security breaches. Now, however, the lack of cooperation has been put into sharper relief with the testimony of FBI Director James B. Comey this week. My column this week raised serious misgivings over the handling of the investigation with the disclosure of five immunity grants by the Justice Department, including one given to Cheryl Mills. Those misgivings were raised with Comey before the United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee where Comey revealed the extent to which Clinton aides refused to cooperate, including an assertion of the privilege against self-incrimination raised before answering questions about a key telephone conference conversation before the infamous “bleaching” over email records being sought by Congress. Comey testifies today before the House Oversight Committee. I am currently scheduled to discuss these issues tonight on the O’Reilly Factor.

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Criminal law, Society

Gun In Charlotte Shooting Reportedly Was Stolen and Scott Had A Violent History

gun-use_20160924224445060_6155669_ver1-0_1280_720 The controversy over the death of Keith Lamont Scott continues to get more complicated. While the family insisted that Scott was unarmed, that now appears false. Not only was a gun found at the scene but it reportedly had his DNA and fingerprints on it. Now, reports now indicate that Scott’s gun was stolen and bought illegally from the thief. In the meantime, however, protesters are now calling for the resignation of the mayor and the police chief in Charlotte.

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Columns, Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

Searching For Answers In The Land Of The Immunized: FBI Discloses Five Separate Immunity Deals In Email Scandal

Jcomey-100cheryl_d-_millsLast week, the disclosure of a total of five immunity agreements handed out by the Justice Department as part of its investigation of the Clinton email scandal. The extent of the deals and the recipients were surprising, particularly in the failure to previously disclose those deals. As a criminal defense lawyer, I was surprised to see the deals include Cheryl Mills, one of the highest officials accused in the deletion of tens of thousands of emails and the failure to heed warnings over the risk to national security from the use of the Clinton private server. Below is the column.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Woman Found With Husband’s Entrails In Her Carry On Luggage . . . Austrian Officials Declare No Law Has Been Broken

lggn0527keep-calm-carry-on-posterCustoms officials at Graz airport in Austria made a shocking discovery in the carry on luggage of a Moroccan woman: the entrails of her husband. If that is not bizarre enough, Austrian police insist that there is nothing illegal in taking body parts of your loved ones as carry on — subject to any size limitations of the airline of course.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Hatred For the Dallas Cowboys Gives Suicidal Man Reason To Live

unknown-1100px-Dallas_Cowboys.svgLet it not be said that football does not bring people together . . . or at least the hatred of certain teams. When South Carolina Officer Michael Blackmore saw a man about to jump off a bridge, he struggled to find a common connection or interest. He found it in their mutual hatred for the Dallas Cowboys.  With the crushing defeat of my Chicago Bears last night, I also have found a new reason to live.

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Criminal law, International, Military, Society

Afghan Government Pardons The “Butcher of Kabul” And Gives His Terrorist Group Governing Authority

gulbuddin_hekmatyarIf you were still wondering what the thousands of dead and wounded U.S. soldiers (and billions in funds) lost in Afghanistan accomplished, your confusion is about to be exponentially increased. This week, our Afghan allies in the government pardoned one of the most ruthless terrorists in the world — a man who murdered Americans, supported throwing acid in the faces of girls and women, and stood out among the most blood-soaked terrorists in the world. He is now effectively the ally of the Afghan government and by extension the United States. The man is Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the hated leader of the militant group, Hezb-i-Islami. He is better known by his popular and well-earned nickname: “The Butcher of Kabul.”

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Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks