On Monday morning, the FBI executed a series of search warrants at the home, office, and hotel room of Michael Cohen, a personal attorney for President Donald Trump and a former executive at the Trump Organization. News reports say that the warrants were sought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York based on a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, and that Cohen is under investigation for bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance violations. Keep reading for more news.
Legal Financial Obligations Table
In my last post I wrote about some of the statutory options for providing relief from various criminal legal financial obligations. Several of my “friends” gave me a hard time about the post, saying the subject must be pretty complicated if I wasn’t able to compile it into some sort of table. Challenge accepted.
Surviving Your Next Sovereign Citizen
This scenario will sound familiar to many criminal attorneys: you’re in court, the DA calls the next case, and the judge asks John Q. Defendant how he pleads?
“Your Honor, I am not ‘JOHN Q. DEFENDANT,’ which is a fictional corporate entity. I am a natural living being, appearing pro per on behalf of John Q. Defendant, free citizen, for the limited purpose of challenging jurisdiction….” What follows next is a confusing series of questions to the judge about standing and injured parties, and quasi-legal arguments full of buzz words about the U.C.C., admiralty court, strawmen, right to travel, capital letters, red ink, fiduciaries, de facto government, accepted for value, etc. On and on and on it goes, for however long the court is willing to listen.
Yep, you’ve got a “sovereign citizen” on your hands.
Readers may have different opinions on the best way to handle these defendants in court (which I hope you will share in the comments), but I recommend taking the simplest approach of all: don’t play the game.
GiveUNC: A Message from the Dean
Today’s post is a little bit different from our usual fare. It doesn’t analyze a recent case or answer a frequently asked question. Instead, it is a message from Mike Smith, the Dean of the UNC School of Government, about GiveUNC — an annual, one-day event during which we ask those who value the university to … Read more
Can an Airplane Passenger Ignore the “Fasten Seat Belt” Sign?
I was on a plane recently, listening to the usual safety briefing, when I heard the flight attendant say that “it is a violation of federal law” to ignore illuminated safety signs, such as the “fasten seat belt” sign. I was surprised because, on another flight, I had overheard a flight attendant tell a passenger who wanted to use the bathroom while the “fasten seat belt” sign was illuminated that she couldn’t authorize him to get out of his seat but that she wouldn’t stop him either. The sense I got from that previous exchange was that the sign was essentially a recommendation. So, I decided to look into it.
News Roundup
Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the country has celebrated his legacy this week while also reflecting on our national obligation to continue to work towards a society of equal justice. The Associated Press has republished selections of its contemporaneous coverage of King’s assassination, and the News Hour aired a segment discussing King’s enduring influence on campaigns for civil rights. Keep reading for more news.
Relief from Monetary Obligations Aside from Waiver
Not all types of relief from a criminal monetary obligation trigger the statutory requirements for notice, hearing, and findings.
Is Your Neighborhood’s 17 MPH Speed Limit Enforceable?
I was out for a run the other day when I saw signs posted on a private pathway advising me not to exceed 7.5 miles per hour since children were playing. Sadly for my split times (but happily for the children at play), I was in no danger of exceeding this limit. Those signs reminded me, however, of a question that I’m asked from time to time: Are the speed limits posted on private subdivision streets enforceable?
Updated Criminal Defender Manual Chapters
Over the past several months, the Indigent Defense Education group at the School of Government has been working on updating and expanding its free resources for indigent defenders. On our Indigent Defense Manuals website, you can find new editions of the Immigration Consequences Manual and Juvenile Defender Manual as well as the first installment (on motions practice) of a new Practice Guide Series. Also now available are an updated Expunction Guide and a new edition of a general reference for judges and attorneys on Abuse, Neglect, Dependency, and Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings (prepared by our colleagues Sara DePasquale and Jan Simmons with support from the Administrative Office of the Courts Court Improvement Program). For our two-volume criminal defender manual, we’re taking a slightly different approach and are posting chapters as we complete them. The first ones—on Personal Rights of the Defendant and Duties of the Presiding Judge—are hot off the computer and ready for use. In the next several months, we will be posting several more updated chapters in both Volume 1 on pretrial procedure and Volume 2 on trial procedure.
When Is a Residence Abandoned under the Fourth Amendment?
An officer normally needs a search warrant to search a residence, unless an exception to the warrant requirement applies. That’s because residences are protected by a reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. But what about residences that lie vacant and in disrepair? At what point do they become abandoned such that the reasonable expectation of privacy no longer applies?