The trauma of war can stay with a person long after he or she has left the battlefield. Veterans returning from various conflicts sometimes experience post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the National Center for PTSD, the number of veterans suffering from PTSD depends on the particular co...
A seventeen-year-old boy sent an unsolicited photo of his genitals to a woman. Upon receiving the picture, the woman contacted police and the defendant was charged in juvenile court with “one count of second degree dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct under RCW 9....
According to the Seattle Times, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently conducted an investigation into illegal hunting activities that were occurring in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Eight individuals have been charged with 191 criminal counts, 80 of which are for the unla...
The Washington Supreme Court handed down its opinion in the case of State v. Houston-Sconiers in March of 2017. According to the Seattle Times, in that case, the court “gave trial judges unfettered discretion to depart from standard sentences and mandatory enhancements in place for adult defendan...
There are a number of prison systems in recent years that have implemented an innovative program –tablets for the inmates. Fox News reported that the Indiana Department of Corrections proposed an initiative at the beginning of this year that would give every inmate in the states prison system a...
After a defendant has been arrested in some cases a court may order the defendant to abstain from particular activities during the pre-trial period or may order the defendant to do certain things in order to avoid having to await trial in jail. In October 2017, the Washington Supreme Court handed...
The Supreme Court recently started its newest term, hearing arguments on various cases covering various matters. In the first week of argument, the court heard the case of Class v. United States which dealt with what claims are waived when a defendant pleads guilty to charge. The case originated...
There are many inventions that revolutionize the way that the world works. One of the most recent devices that has changed that way that people do most everything is this internet. The internet, as we know it today, was first introduced in 1991. According to the History Channel, “[t]hat year, a c...
The Supreme Court starts its latest term at the beginning of October. According to the courts website, “[t]he October 2017 Term marks the 100th anniversary of the Court opening on the First Monday in October.” The Court is hearing a number of important cases this term including the highly contro...
When a crime is committed by an individual who is under the age of 18, there may be a question of whether the individual should be tried in juvenile court or in the adult court. In the case of Cooper Van Huizen, the issue is now going before the Utah Supreme Court. Van Huizen was charged with tw...
It was recently announced that the second young perpetrator in the “Slender Man” case, Morgan Geyser, is going to accept a plea deal rather than go to trial. This announcement comes just a month after the other perpetrator, Annissa Weier, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Both defendants and the...
Most everyone is aware of Miranda warnings from TV and movies. Since the 1966 case of Miranda v. Arizona, these warnings have been used by law enforcement agencies to inform a person who is in custody of his or her Fifth Amendment rights. According to the Seattle Times, the conventional warning g...
Cell phone technology is developing at a rapid pace with new devices and operating systems being created and released every year. One of the brands that has a highly anticipated product announcement each year is Apple. In September of every year, Apple reveals a number of new products including a...
Can a person commit motor vehicle theft without moving the vehicle? That is what the Minnesota Supreme Court had to determine in the case of State v. Thonesavanh. Sometimes legal questions can quite literally depend on the meaning of one word, which was the case here. The word in question – “take...
The Seattle Times reported that about a man employed at a marijuana shop in Spokane County who was kidnapped at gunpoint while he was working in the store. The abduction occurred on a Sunday afternoon earlier this month from Lucid Marijuana, which is located in Cheney. According to witnesses, pri...
The FBI compiles statistics on the crimes that occur in the United States for each year and releases a report that lets the public know what happened in that year. Just recently, the 2016 Crime Report was released and according to the Seattle Times, “[v]iolent crime, including homicides rose for ...
After being convicted of a crime it can be difficult to find your footing again. There are employers that may choose not to hire someone with a criminal record and housing options that can be closed to those with convictions. In some circumstances, having options limited can cause someone to choo...
Every year numerous opinions are handed down by the appellate courts. These opinions cover a number of topics and deal with a wide range of legal issues. Last year, in June 2016, the United States Supreme Court heard a case about whether or not a chemical test, like a breath or blood test, could ...
It is important for defendants to remember that what they have been charged with is not always what they will end up being convicted of. Charges are dismissed at various stages of a criminal case for a variety of different reasons. Even when a defendant goes to trial, charges can still be dropped...
Crimes can go unsolved for many years and people come up with all kinds of theories about who was really behind it. Sometimes the culprit is revealed, sometimes not. When the crime is solved, the person who committed it may be someone that was on the polices radar all along, but sometimes its s...
Last February, a 19-year old pledge at Pennsylvania State University died after a night of partying at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Eighteen members of the fraternity were later charged in connection with sophomore Tim Piazzas death. However, the more serious charges were dismissed this past Fr...
In an en banc decision this past May, the 9th Circuit determined that the Southern District of Californias uniform policy of shackling pretrial defendants who were in-custody during non-jury courtroom proceedings was not constitutional. The decision was 6-5, with Judge Alex Kosinski writing for ...
DNA evidence may be the key to proving a death row inmate didnt commit the crimes he was convicted of sixteen years ago. Marcellus Williams was found guilty of “first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in 2001” and was scheduled to be executed on Tuesday for the offenses. However, Williams ...
One of the defendants in an unusual case in Wisconsin recently accepted a plea bargain according to Courthouse News Service (CNS). In May of 2014, two teenage girls attempted to kill their friend in an effort to “appease Slenderman, a fictional horror character.” The victim survived her wounds an...
In the United States, a cornerstone of our criminal justice system is that each defendant is entitled to a fair trial. This is so important that a man who has been convicted of mass murder in Southern California will avoid the death penalty because the judge in his case determined that the defend...
