In March of 2015, Neftali Avarez-Nunez (“Nunez”) was arrested in Catano, Puerto Rico. The arrest came after the police observed Nunez discarding a weapon outside a bar. The police retrieved and examined the handgun. It was loaded, fitted with an…
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
Criminal Jurisdiction:
A Criminal Law Blog from a Defense Perspective
2016
Category: Immigration Crimes
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) reports that prosecution for immigration-related crimes was down in June 2016 by 17.7 percent over the previous month. There were 5537 new immigration prosecutions in the month of June.
When all the numbers…
2016
Category: Prosecutorial Misconduct | Sex Crimes | Sexual Abuse
The National Registry of Exonerations has recorded 1855 exonerations to date. Roughly 15 percent of them involved false sexual assault cases. DNA exonerations in the sexual assault cases reveal a much higher percentage of wrongful convictions.
Rape is a…
2016
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Illegal Pornography | Internet Sex Crimes
There is this rule of law—dating back to 1932 when the U.S. Supreme Court first pronounced it—that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits multiple punishments for the same criminal offense.
Double Jeopardy
The double jeopardy…
2016
Category: Cyber Crimes | Drug Trafficking | Federal Criminal Law
Police love them. They are called Stingrays—surveillance devices that can deceive a criminal suspect’s cell phone into revealing its location.
The ACLU has combined a list of 66 law enforcement agencies in 24 states and the District of Columbia…
2016
Category: Drug Crime | Federal Criminal Law
Sentencing is a vital component of the federal criminal trial process. It demands fairness, impartiality, and justification by the judge imposing the sentence following a determination of guilt.
84 Month Guideline Sentence
Billy J. Robinson, Jr. was a…
2016
Category: Domestic Terrorism | Terrorism Criminology
CNN’s national security analyst Peter Bergen understands the concept of terrorism, both from an international and domestic level. Author of “United States of Jihad: Investigating America’s Homegrown Terrorism,” succinctly defines terrorism as “acts of violence conducted against civilians for political…
2016
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Prosecutorial Misconduct
Rules 16 and 26.2 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Jencks Act (18 U.S.C. §3500), Brady v. Maryland, and Giglio v. United States impose upon all federal prosecutors an obligation to disclose exculpatory and impeachment information.
DOJ…
2016
Category: Money Laundering
Fame can bring unexpected consequences. American dance instructor Abby Lee Miller is famous for expressing high expectations and use harsh words for her young dance students. The reality TV star, Dance Moms, is now facing harsh prison time for…
2016
Category: federal Sentencing | Illegal Pornography | Internet Sex Crimes
LimeWire is a file-sharing program that uses “peer-to-peer” (P2P) technology. LimeWire allows its users to share digital files through an Internet-based network called the “Gnutella network.” A LimeWire user can download any files located by LimeWire. When a user downloads…