Criminal Offenses
There has been a recent change for defendants sentenced to jail in the Mesa Municipal court. Defendants may now serve their jail sentences again in the Mesa City Jail or the Maricopa County ITR Jail (Intake, Transfer, Release Facility). Defendants who are serving a straight day jail sentence (without work release) may serve the…
Jaywalking While Black African Americans are disproportionately stopped for Jaywalking throughout the United States according to a July 3, 2017 Op-Ed article in the New York Times, Jaywalking While Black, by Ms. Jane Coaston. As examples Ms. Colson said that in a Sacramento, California neighborhood where 15% of the residents are African-American, 50% of those…
Police Videos have Limitations As Evidence Many police departments in Arizona and around the country now use body cameras or in some cases dash camera videos, to record the officer’s actions. While all parties in the criminal justice system would agree that videos are valuable evidence it would be a mistake to assume that videos…
Understanding A Reckless Driving Charge You have had the worst day of your life. Maybe you lost your job or your spouse decided to leave you high and dry. You are upset and should not behind the wheel of a car, but you decide that you have things to do that can’t wait.…
In the wake of the 1/25/17 Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements Executive Order, and a subsequent 2/20/17 memorandum issued by the Department of Homeland Security dealing with the implementation of that order, there is an increased need for legal representation for illegal immigrants, and even for legal immigrants, who are charged with a…
The Phoenix Police Department will conduct a pilot program called Virtual Block Watch, where private citizens and business owners can register their personal outdoor video cameras with the Police Department. The system would virtually map the registered cameras, and notify police where potential video footage can be found if a crime is committed…
An Executive Order signed by Donald Trump on January 25, 2017 entitled Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements has raised many concerns over the scope and potential impacts of the order. The order calls for the immediate construction of a physical wall (“a contiguous…impassable physical barrier”) along the southern border between the United…
Oral arguments were heard Tuesday in the New York Court of Appeals, the State’s highest court, in Facebook’s ongoing battle with the New York County District Attorney’s Office over bulk search warrants for account/user data. The case stems from the 2013 issuance of search warrants for 381 Facebook users’ data , including data from…
Arizona House of Representatives Bill 2305, which would make it a criminal offense in Arizona for a passenger in a motor vehicle to fail to provide ID to police in certain circumstances, was approved in panel yesterday. Although Deputy Pima County Attorney Kathleen Mayer, who testified in favor of this bill before the Arizona…
Phoenix Police Department union representatives have described the current state of staffing within the Department as a crisis, citing reduced staffing leading to overtime costs and overwork for its officers. Hiring has essentially been frozen in the wake of the economic crisis of 2008, leading to a 10% reduction in the number of officers…