Criminal Procedure

Published on: January 6, 2012

Civil Rights Groups in Ohio Rail Against Crimeless Deportation

by Stephen Bilkis

Some Ohio immigration-reform groups claim a program created to catch criminal illegal immigrants is also sending away people who have not committed any crimes.

These groups claim that 25% of the people deported by the federal Secure Communities program had never had any criminal conviction. In other places, they claim more than half of those deported through the program had no criminal record.

“We’re not talking about people who are truly dangerous criminals,” a representative of the ACLU explained. “These are people who are getting caught in the dragnet of law enforcement.

Published on: January 5, 2012

Woman Killed by Cop Car Collision

by Stephen Bilkis

A woman from has died after being struck by a police car as she was walking home.

The 63-year-old woman was struck by a police cruiser at 10:41 p.m. on a Saturday night as she walked home during a rainstorm, family members and police told a New York Criminal Lawyer.

She was taken directly to the hospital, but was pronounced dead at 11:25 p.m. She was only a few blocks from her home when the accident occurred, during a spate of severe weather.

Published on: January 5, 2012

The Saudi Arrest Campaign Explained

by Stephen Bilkis

As a New York Criminal Lawyer explains, criminal law is very different in the US as it is to Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities condemn and forbid any demonstrations or protests over the way the country is run.

There is however an increasing dissatisfaction over the way that the country is run. There have been many anti-government protests over the past few months.

The government is cracking down on these protests to try and limit their impact on the country. Eye witness accounts indicated that many of the protestors were detained for taking part in the protests.

Published on: January 4, 2012

Former Hedge-Fund Manager Accused of Making Death Threats Against Regulators

by Stephen Bilkis

A former hedge-fund manager sits in a New York City jail today after he was arrested January 13 for making death threats against federal regulators, a collegue discovered. The government alleges that the accused sent emails that were laced with profanity to at least 47 current and former members of the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTA), the National Futures Association (NFA), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FIRA).

Sources report to a reporter that U.S. prosecutors further allege that the former 50-year old commodities trader maintained an “execution” list of these regulatory officials on his company website. They are including the words that are alleged to have come from his website, “Go buy a gun, and let’s get to work in taking back our country from these criminals,” and that “I will be the first one to lead by example.” One of the government’s pieces of key evidence is that one of the emails that was reportedly sent by the accused to the NFA’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) reportedly reads, “It wasn’t ever a question of ‘if’ I was going to kill you, it was just a question of when.”

As is always the case, there are two sides to every story, and this story is no different, claims a source. The accused former trader says that these charges are the result of those officials in the regulatory agencies that have a grudge against him that began about 10-years ago after he was acquitted of charges of mail fraud and for allegedly making false statements. Following his acquittal, he applied to have his licenses reinstated, which was denied. Completion of the appeals process would also see the denial of reinstatement of his licenses. Following these denials, the accused had allegedly sent out threats to those involved at that time as well. These threats resulted in the accused agreeing to undergo therapy for anger management.

Published on: December 18, 2011

Disturbing reports are very common particularly domestic violence issues wherein the victims are the wives and the children.

by Stephen Bilkis

Because women are suppose to be physically weak there are some men who take advantage of this and physically abuse their partners, wives, daughters and others. Disturbing reports are very common, particularly domestic violence issues where the victims are the wives and the children.

On March 7, 1997, the defendant who is the ex-boyfriend of the victim attacked her in front of her apartment. She and her three daughters where coming home from the supermarket when the defendant attacked from behind. The victim then was wheeling the baby carriage when the attack began and her two older daughters who were 7 and 12 years old were frightened by what they saw and began to cry. The victim’s face smashed against the fence and the baby carriage was knocked over. The defendant was very angry because the victim filed a complaint against him previously and put him in jail apparently because of domestic violence.

The defendant then grabbed the victim by the back and neck and ordered her to open the door knocking her head on the door in the process. The children followed behind, the older children carrying the baby inside. Upon entering the apartment, it is very fortunate that the children know where they will go. They went straight to their bedroom and stayed there while the defendant continuously assaulted the victim. They could hear him verbally abused their mother. The defendant also beat the victim using his hands, feet and a metal pipe. The defendant’s terror lasted 10 hours. The horror that the children experienced while they were trapped inside their bedroom has left them traumatized for a long time. They were afraid for their safety and afraid for their mother’s safety as well. All along the defendant was threatening the victim that he will leave her children motherless because of what she did to him before.

Published on: December 11, 2011

This Case is all about Domestic Violence

by Stephen Bilkis

Domestic violence whether we admit it or not has been a problem of society even during the early days. Unfortunately, the ultimate victims of this crime are the children. Often times a third party has to step in because both parents are incapable of recognizing that they are in a very menacing situation. Social Welfare may have to step in when the mental, physical and emotional development of the children are being compromised. A New York Criminal Lawyer can explain that social welfare acts as a government arm that ensures the children are safe and not in any kind of danger.

This case is all about domestic violence. The parents has been identified as people who keep on engaging in domestic violence and neither one has the capacity to get out of the vicious cycle of hurting each other. Friends, relatives, neighbors, police officers and even work colleagues have been asked to testify by the court. This procedure was necessary in order to establish a pattern that the parents have been continuously engaging in domestic violence for over 10 years already.

As a result, their eldest daughter has been diagnosed with enuresis or most commonly known as bedwetting at the age of six. The parents along with the eldest daughter were called in to undergo an evaluation at the a county mental health clinic because of their problem with their eldest. Apparently it was found out that the eldest has been playing “referee” or “peace maker” for her parents who were arguing most of the time. These arguments often end up in physical confrontations.

Published on: December 7, 2011

Political Activist Charged With Threats,

by Stephen Bilkis

Just hours after Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot, a Massachusetts man made threatening emails to a Florida Representative. The man who made the threat says he is a political activist and was arrested for the threatening emails he had sent. The email contained a message to stop legislation that would crack down on illegal immigrants entering Florida’s work places, reported a newspaper. He was also suspected of stalking.

Besides threats, the email was riddled with spelling and grammar errors. The report says the man who made the threats used a public access computer within a coffee store. The coffee store was only a few blocks from the man’s house. Using tracking, police were able to trace the emails to the man and his house. Once police confronted the man, he admitted to sending the email to the Representative. He was upset over the legislation because it may affect some of his family members.

The Representative used to be a law enforcement agent before he became involved in politics, so he knew to report the threat right away. It was unclear to sources if the email was sent in correlation to the shooting in Arizona or if it happened to be a coincidence at the timing. The man who made the threats is still being held in jail on $450,000 bail. His charges include corruption by threat and threatening to do bodily harm. The charges are all felonies and could land him a lengthy jail sentence if convicted next month.

Published on: December 5, 2011

Judge orders Feds to find representation for two immigrants with mental disabilities

by Stephen Bilkis

The ACLU is celebrating a small, yet exciting victory today after a judged reached the decision that two mentally challenged immigrants, both of whom are up for deportation and unable to function at a level competent enough to represent themselves, will be given legal representation so that they may have a chance to have their case heard, stated a spokesperson.

Immigration courts are not the same as criminal courts, reports the source. In a criminal court, the federal government will provide a defense attorney to someone who does not have one, but the law, at this time, does not hold true for immigration courts to be required to do so. But in the case of two mentally disabled immigrants, a judge has ruled that they must be given representation by the federal government pending their trial.

Both men are suffering from serious mental illness and there is no way that they would receive any kind of fair trial in immigrations court if they do not have some kind of legal representative to speak for them, said the expert. One of the men functions at the level of a small child, unable to do simple tasks or communicate effectively. The other man is schizophrenic and not competent enough to make statements on his own behalf. The ACLU maintains that detained immigrants with mental disabilities are routinely denied their basic constitutional rights in situations like these where they cannot speak for themselves.

Published on: December 5, 2011

Ex-Qwest CEO Says That He Will Not Pay for His Lawyer’s Underwear

by Stephen Bilkis

On Wednesday, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Qwest Communications, filed a lawsuit that alleges the lawyers who represented him during his insider-trading case overbilled him, a newspaper has learned. The legal malpractice lawsuit was filed in state Superior Court in Newark, NJ, seeks punitive and compensatory damages totaling $25 million plus attorney’s fees.

The former CEO is currently located at a federal prison in Pennsylvania, serving a 70-month sentence for using insider information as a basis for selling $52 million in stock in his former employer, the source was told. An appeals court also ordered him to pay a $19 million fine and to forfeit close to $45 million. His conviction was in 2007.

The former CEO’s current attorney has also informed the source that thanks to the law firm named in the suits failure to follow even the most “basic litigation procedures,” his client received not only strict fines, but also a lengthier prison sentence than what was necessary. The attorney also stated that due to these failures, the trial judge barred the defense’s sole expert witness. He also added that the case is sad, since his client not only received inadequate representation during his trial, but he was also overbilled in the process.

Published on: December 1, 2011

Immigration Detention System Shows Ugly Flaws in North Carolina

by Stephen Bilkis

A 30-year-old immigrant, married to an American woman, with a very young son, was arrested on September 28, 2009, taken from his family home in Durham, North Carolina, a New York Criminal Lawyer reported.

“I was scared, but in the back of my mind, I just felt that everything would eventually be OK because I was a citizen and he was married to me,” said the immigrant’s wife. She is a mental health therapist, born and raised in the United States.

It’s been more than a year and a half and every request for release on bond has been denied, thanks to two misdemeanor drug possession charges from 1998. The authorities feel these charges make him a flight risk, which means he stays in prison until they make a final decision, according to a Bronx Criminal Lawyer.