What should Iowans do after receiving a DUI in Florida while on vacation?

Parking Lot Pedestrian Taken Out By Hot-Head Driver

Criminal Law Drunk Driving - What you need to know about our services.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision Brings Reality Back to Police Work

Rothstein Expected to be Charged and Arrested Today

Accurate Reporting, Identity Theft and Brotherly Love

Do you think identity theft occurs only by random people sifting through your trash looking for personal information they can steal? Many people wonder how far to go in protecting their personal information. Should you trust your friends and relatives?

Here is a news report with a twist to using someone else's identity. On September 28^th 2009 Bernard Marrero returned home from his honeymoon only to be arrested for a DUI; his brother Samuel Marrero was the re-gifter of this late wedding gift. Police are staying that his brother, Samuel Marrero gave them his name, social security number and birthday when Sam was pulled over. The question remains as to how he was able to get away with it and what if any action can be taken by Bernard to remedy the lost time and embarrassment caused by this incident. It makes me wonder, is it really so easy to fool the police and for the wrong man to be arrested? Did he have an ID? Do these brothers really look so much alike? Were the police in a rush? Are the facts in the story accurate? Was Sam taken to the police station, booked, fingerprinted and whatever was in his pockets taken and examined? Or was he allowed to walk away from the stop? What is the real story? What are the real facts?

From a lawyer's point of view I have to wonder if this would amount to identity theft. Identity theft is a crime under Iowa law; it also provides a basis for a civil cause of action against the person or company pilfering your identity. It sure seems like it would be identity theft. What do you think?

Glenrock’s Beat Cops Kicked Out of the Taser Parade

This one is coming out right, Wednesday’s Star Tribune reports the two officers who Tased the 76-year-old parade participant over where the parade should end, were given their walking papers and told to take a hike. We reported earlier on this mess out of Glenrock, Wyoming and suggested deeper budget cuts that included the police chief and the county prosecutor.

The Bush Legacy Paraded in Wyoming: An Intolerant Police State, a new low for America. September 7, 2009.

Now if they kick the prosecutor and police chief out of office we can all have a parade.

Town officials announced the firing this morning in a press release.

"After considering all aspects of the unfortunate event which occurred after the parade during Deer Creek Days this year, the decision has appropriately been made that the two Glenrock police officers involved are relieved of duty," the statement read.

The officers, Sgt. Paul Brown and officer Mike Kavenius, can appeal the decision.

Star Tribune, Wyoming

What’s the difference between legitimate and excessive force?

Follow the link and watch this video from South Bend, Indiana and ask yourself if the suspect is resisting arrest and is the force necessary.

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Does bad judgment or rude behavior by any citizen justify the use of force of an electric shock by the police in America?

Here we go again, another officer with poor or nonexistent communication skills using the Taser in a manner unacceptable in a free society. This new report comes from not New York City where you expect rude behavior to be the norm, but from the wild west of Glenrock, Wyoming.

Wasn’t it the Bush Administration that coined the phrase, “Freedom isn’t free.”? I’m left to wonder, free of what; free of excessive force from our own police force? Just going through the airport in America I’m made to feel like a criminal in ways you won’t feel going through airports in Europe. In Russia you get robbed over luggage charges but you expect it. In America we now get not just robbed by Wall Street, but there is a growing trend of being mugged by our own police forces.

Like many of the reports seen on YouTube and those that have made recent news, the police are using the Taser to effectuate an arrest but in a way to also punish citizens for what the officers perceive as some level of behavior that justifies force when the evidence would simply support either bad judgment or simply rude behavior. In this instance a 76-year-old man with a heart condition riding an antique tractor in a small town parade misunderstood where the parade route ended. Assuming tractors would do what they had done in years past at the end of the parade the elderly driver veered off towards the town park where in recent years a tractor pull had taken place. Apparently the office took offense and started a chase that culminated in a car accident. It seems the parade wasn’t going to end in the usual location. Instead of merely letting the old man on the tractor go, the officer chases the near octogenarian, another joins in with an SUV, there is an accident and while one officer removes the grandson from the tractor another points a Taser at the old-man and shoots him with it. The grandfather was unarmed and apparently in the officer’s eyes un-American. There isn’t any indication of resisting arrest, but then again there wasn’t an arrest so how could there be?

Why didn’t the guy who took the child off the tractor ask the old man to get off the tractor? Or if need be, he simply could have pulled him off the tractor. Why the use of the Taser? What were the facts about an old man that warranted the use of the Taser? But then again what are the standards for when law enforcement can use electric shock on citizens? Is saying it can be used to subdue citizens enough of a standard?

If there wasn’t any illegal behavior what justified the use of force? What fact justified an American police officer taking out a department issued weapon that can cause death and using it on an American citizen taking part in a parade? Once again we are back to traffic stops and the use of the Taser to punish the questioning of authority.

Has the 9/11-America redefined the Constitutional limits of excessive force?

Or is a declining America so scared of losing its place in the world that we are willing to punish anyone who questions our authority?

Are citizens so fearful of losing jobs to the developing world that emotionally we enjoy watching someone who questions American authority being shocked and made to go limp?

Are a few deaths acceptable to the many in order to quiet the demons in our heads that make us fear what the Chinese labor force is doing to our labor market?

Is speech free only when we speak it; but not for the other guy?

The wrong-way tractor driver is shocked and quickly the parade crowd gets ugly with the officers and no arrest is made. Really, no arrest is made? I wonder why that might be. Following the incident, the police join ranks, hunker down with the local county attorney who says there will be no apology and denies the police did anything wrong. After a post-parade circling of the law enforcement wagons they rationalize that no arrest was made because the situation was getting out of hand and nearly turned into a riot. Really, a riot? I wonder why that might be. Perhaps the county attorney and the Glenrock Police Chief should pick up a book about why the American Revolution took place.

9/11-America clearly is losing control of its government – we are quickly becoming a police state with a police-state mentality run by thugs. The only difference between the American police state and those like Venezuela is the level of education of those running this one. The county attorney and police chief can rationalize the situation all they want but the facts speak for themselves and so did the crowd that saw it in real time. The American way of life is becoming, or maybe it’s become an intolerant society post 9/11 being run by a police force with a thug mentality. Sort of like the thugs on Wall Street. The Wall Street thugs steal our retirement funds and the politicians and law enforcement thugs steal our constitutional rights to freedom, but especially free speech. Like the SEC rationalizing how they missed Madoff operating an investment fund that never traded stocks, this county attorney rationalizing the accident as a ramming is an over-intellectualization of the truth. Just like anyone with a brain knows the SEC turned a blind eye to an obvious Ponzi scheme, the county attorney not filing charges against the officers is just as lame.

As a lawyer I’m finding it difficult to understand what has happened to America since 9/11 and the advent of the Bush Doctrine. Under the Bush Administration one day of multiple terrorist attacks was and is used to justify the use of force against American citizens for any behavior that questions authority. The use of the Taser by law enforcement is a prime example of how the U.S. Constitution has been gutted. This technologically sophisticated cattle prod is being used so frequently and in so many situations that it’s clearly not justified nor understood by law enforcement and perhaps the American judiciary. What ever happened to just good old police work that required good communication skills, an even temperament and thick skin? Alternatives exist that professional law enforcement could use and would be better suited; but it seems that officers with low intelligence, poor communication skills and quick tempers too quickly use a jolt of electricity to justify what can only be understood in real time to be the meting out of punishment. It isn’t being used to enforce the law, instead it’s being used to punish for minor infractions, bad judgment or speech that simply questions authority.

I’m seeing commenter’s on this blog that have shamefully low communication skills and whose temperaments mirror the officers who are quick to pull out the Taser and use it on American citizens who deserve nothing more than a good tongue lashing. Conditioned by the sitcom we want instant gratification and the Taser seems to dish it out in a way that we get to see someone with a bad disposition shake, then go limp and fall helplessly to the ground. None of us want to look at the ones who run, shake, drop and die. Those are too messy. Like American reality show mentality we justify the officer’s bad behavior through rationalization to win. Like the Bachelor or the Bachelorette we fool ourselves into believing that valuable human qualities can be developed and discovered in just a few short weeks. Like Big Brother we give the officers and the county attorney the power of veto (POV) so their own bad behavior is exempted, then empowered and require no intelligent explanation. Just say anything and you'll get to the final four because lying, cheating and scheming is now acceptable behavior in post-9/11 America. And this is the true Bush legacy.

It seems post-9/11-America can justify anything; even criminal behavior by law enforcement.

Is Free Speech Illegal in Post-9/11 America?

Where did people get the idea that questioning law enforcement is illegal? What created the impression that talking is resistance and can justify an arrest? If the standard-less use of the Taser continues to be tolerated by politicians and misguided citizens then the courts must step in and do what the other two branches of government are unwilling to do: stand up to Taser International and its growing league of thugs and say enough is enough. How many people have to die before the Court’s do what the U.S. Constitution mandates?

If freedom is not free then free speech certainly is.

One reader questioned why I draw the analogy that we are looking more and more like a communist regime backed up not by the rule of law but by a police force that use force to control speech, citizen temperament and the mere questioning of authority.

The traffic-stop-Tasering situation in New York involving Mrs. Harmon and the one involving the man in Alabama remind me of the U.S. Supreme Court’s situation in Jacobellis vs. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184(1964) in which Justice Potter Stewart in talking about pornography stated, I may not be able to define pornography but I know it when I see it. When watching the following video clips in real time and thinking through what law enforcement does in each I can say this: I may not be able to completely define police brutality but I know it when I see it. Like the crowd in Wyoming, the prosecutor can take a single fact, spin it and justify the officer’s position, but in real time the rest of us aren’t fooled.

To the people of Glenrock, Wyoming, as law abiding citizens you still have a choice. You can honor the Constitutional rights of every townsperson by throwing the bums out of office. Remove the prosecutor and the police chief and fire the officers involved. You’re better off with the criminals not wearing badges and having the right to “legally” carry deadly weapons. Take back your government and take back our country.

The terrorists may have taken down the World Trade Center towers but they didn’t rob America of its soul. America is still free to choose who runs our government. Freedom may not be free in an esoteric sense, but you better damn well not forget that in America speech still is.

On her knees, Cincinnati Police tase Daughter of City Councilman

Cincinnati Police Department, Ohio – August 28, 2009 – Teenaged daughter of City Councilman Tased, Charges: She’s accused of obstructing official business and possessing an open container.

A videotape of the incident recorded from a camera in one of the police cruisers doesn’t show the tasing, but other officers on the scene have told the Chief that Thomas was on her knees with her hands up.

"What we’re trying to accomplish here is for a citizen to submit to arrest," the Chief said Friday. “If a person goes to their knees or puts their hands up, I’m here to tell you that with 38 years of experience, that person is submitting to arrest. They’re not being combative. They’re not being threatening. When you’re on your knees, hands up, that means ‘I give up.’"

Memphis, Tennessee - the City of Memphis has said no to the police carrying Tasers and there is a Petition circulating for congress to hold hearings on the number of deaths being caused during an arrest where this non-lethal weapon is used.

Los Angles, California – August 27, 2009 – Shocked three times with a ‘stun gun’ the man died.

Montgomery County, August 27, 2009 – After an argument over a bicycle a man was tased and charged with domestic assault.

Alabama - Never Pass the Sobriety Test – You Could Be Tasered – Fear is the Standard – Punishment the Norm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmByfTKKUV4

Newest Taser Weapon – August 2009 - Taser XREP – Slight problem develops with users ability to aim it.

New Scientist reports:

In test firings, [the Taser XREP] proved difficult to aim, as the aerodynamics of the projectile caused it to fall below the aiming point at a range of 20 metres. “Any lack of accuracy means a greater risk of hitting an unintended part of the body and therefore greater risk of injury,” says security researcher Neil Davison.

New Scientist – August 26, 2009 – Long-range Taswer reignites safety debate

Government-funded tests on initial versions of the new Extended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP) have revealed possible health risks to people on the receiving end, New Scientist has learned. The manufacturer, Taser International of Scottsdale, Arizona, says the issue has been addressed in redesigned devices, but these have yet to be independently tested.

Unlike the current Taser X26, which fires darts attached to short wires, the XREP is wire-free. Its projectile, the size of a shotgun cartridge, is designed to pierce the target's skin and contains battery-powered circuits that deliver a debilitating shock. It has a range of 20 metres or more, compared with 5 metres for previous Tasers.

Glenrock, Wyoming - A 76-year-old riding an antique tractor in a parade and the police Tased him because of an argument over where the parade should stop. No charges will be filed.

Arizona City, Arizona – A 37-year-old mand died of what is reported to be cardiac arrest after being Tased. The need to stop was a traffic violation.

The suspect resisted arrest and the deputy tasered the man.

Police say the taser was not successful on the suspect and he continued running until collapsing to the ground. Officers said the suspect had gone into respiratory and cardiac arrest.

Corpus Christi, Texas – August 24, 2009 – A 67-year-old woman was robbed by an unidentified woman using a stun gun.

The thief is described as a Hispanic female, 18 to 23-years-old, 5' 1", 110 to 125 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. 

Taser International Inc (TASR:NASDAQ) – Stock price closed at $4.44 on September 2, 2009.

Shares of TASER Int'l (TASR) Fall 2% After French Court Suspends Use of Stun Guns For Local Police

1:41 pm ET 09/02/2009- StreetInsider

Shares of Taser Int'l (Nasdaq: TASR) are down almost 2% today after reports that the French court has suspended the use of Taser stun guns for local police.

Dow Jones reports that the Taser stun guns were given to police without proper training and safeguards.

The State Council, which is the highest court of appeal in France, rejected a September 2008 government decree allowing France's 20,000 local police to carry Tasers.

Currently, 4,615 Tasers have been issued to French police.

... and that folks is the news.

Mother Tasered for Asking a Question files Suit

I’ve been covering the use of Tasers and what appears to be both an abuse of power by law enforcement along with embarrassment for the rest of the department. Take a look at the arrest of this mother, Audra Harmon, with children in the car, stopped for speeding and who asks to see the radar reading on the radar gun. Appearing to be caught off-guard and simply intolerant to being questioned this Onondaga County Deputy takes out his taser orders the woman back into her car; and when she complies he pulls her out of her car to taser her.

How is this not criminal conduct? How can anyone justify this use of force? Watch the video and see if you agree with the woman filing a lawsuit against the police department.

Now that you’ve seen the video did you see the officer pull the woman down and into the lane of traffic without first looking to make sure she wasn’t going to get run over?

A police video captured by a dashboard camera shows Deputy Sean Andrews yanking Audra Harmon out of her minivan by the arm and knocking her down with two Taser shots last January.

Harmon was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and going 50 mph in a 45 mph zone. Her lawyer says the district attorney's office dismissed the charges after watching the videotape.

See also, NY mom Tasered at traffic stop files notice to sue

OWI: Iowa Corn Indy 250 Fans

The Iowa Speedway has been an economic boom for the City of Newton, Iowa.  And here comes the Iowa Corn Indy 250 which will be the boom for the local law enforcement to fill their annual budget.  This means arrests for anyone seen in public who resembles a drinker of alcohol.  Fines will be levied and assessments made for "room and board" for jail sentences.  I expect the arrests will largely be for OWI, which is also known as DUI or drunk driving, interference with official acts, assault on a peace officer, and public intoxication.  Even if you haven't been drinking, officers' reports will indicate a strong smell of alcohol, bloodshot watery eyes and slurred speech- only the names will be changed.  In my experience with these types of events, local law enforcement will have virtually all hands on duty.  Most officers will not have the time or the temperament to properly handle each case, which means that some steps in proper protocol will be overlooked.  To a lawyer, this means that constitutional rights will be violated.
 
The City of Newton sits on an interstate, I-80.  There are other highways; such has State Highway 14 that leads to Newton.  There will be city police officers, county sheriff's deputies, and state troopers all over.  They won't be concerned about Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick or Dan Wheldon.  They will have their own competition of sorts on arrests.
 
Any guest visiting our state should know that if arrested you do have a right to call a lawyer or family member in order to secure a lawyer once you arrive at the jail in order to protect your rights.  Otherwise, be responsible and enjoy yourself.  Maybe you'll even get to have a Budweiser in the parking lot.

How do the police measure the level of alcohol in your body? ?

What are the different ways that blood alcohol concentration can be measured?  Most of the time the officer is going to request that you provide a breath sample, but they may also request blood or urine.  There are two different times that an officer may request a breath sample.  First, the officer has a hand-held device that can take a breath sample and provide an analysis of blood alcohol content.  The problem is that by law this device is not reliable so they will always request that you provide another breath sample at the police station on another machine which is considered to be more reliable than the hand-held device.  Don’t be fooled- this device also has problems.  Even if a person where to provide a sample each of their breath, blood and urine, all three would have a different alcohol level.  There are many factors to determining the level of blood alcohol concentration and the time of vehicle operation.  Some states do not allow alcohol measurement through urine because it is so unreliable.  In order to obtain more convictions regardless of the reliability of this test, Iowa still allows urine testing.  You always have the right to make a reasonable number of phone calls prior to making a decision on whether to provide a sample for testing.

Will the Iowa Courts determine multiple taserings to be constitutional?

Iowa’s North Liberty police department sued for multiple Tasering of arrestee.

The Courts define what force is legitimate police power and when the use of force becomes punishment. It is the court's that mete out punishment sanctioned by state law; whereas police enforce the laws. Police are not authorized by the Constitution to punish. It's all about the separation of powers under the United States Constitution.

Once under control would repeated Tasering be considered an abuse of police power?

This Iowa case may answer the question of whether it is justified police action or an unconstitutional abuse of police power to use multiple Tazing of a person under arrest. As you can imagine once a person is under control further Tasering is akin to torture. The police are supposed to enforce the laws, but are not authorized to act as judge and jury as far as punishment goes.

What this case may answer may also demonstrate the difficulty of proving damages in a civil case for the manner in which the Taser was used. If it’s legal to Taser a person at least once, then what pain and suffering does a second, third and fourth Taser event add? If at least one Tasering is legal then you won’t be allowed damages for that first event; only for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th events. But if the Taser makes your nerve pulses ineffective can a person continue to feel painful stimulus? If not how then can you suffer pain? Perhaps the experts will be able to tell us if the Tasered suspect can still feel pain but is simply unable to respond. This damage case will require medical experts on the issue of the Taser and a person’s ability to feel pain after undergoing a Taser event.

I have to wonder how, if the Taser is so effective, can anyone justify multiple Tasering events?

Canadian authorities have been analyzing the use of the Taser by it’s own police forces and seem more concerned than is American law enforcement.    

The ACLU of Florida petitioned the SCOTUS to review a case involving multiple Taser events on the same person during an arrest. You can download the 67 page Petition for Review by following the link.

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

1. Whether a deputy sheriff violated the Fourth Amendment by administering three separate five-second-long direct contact “drivestun” Taser shocks, over a two minute period, to a handcuffed, nonviolent misdemeanor traffic arrestee who had already collapsed to the ground sobbing, who never actively resisted arrest or attempted to flee, and who never posed any danger to himself, the officer or the public, when the sole purpose of the Taser shocks was to administer pain to prompt the arrestee to stand up.

2. Whether a reasonable police officer had fair notice in 2004 sufficient to deprive him of qualified immunity that it violated the Fourth Amendment to administer three separate  fivesecond-long direct contact “drive stun” taser shocks, over a two minute period, to a handcuffed nonviolent misdemeanor traffic arrestee who had already collapsed to the ground sobbing, who never actively resisted arrest or attempted to flee, and who never posed any danger to himself, the officer or the public, when the sole purpose of the Taser shocks was to administer pain to prompt the arrestee to stand up.

PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING

Petitioner is Jesse Daniel Buckley, plaintiff-appellee below.

Respondent is Jonathan Rackard, Deputy Sheriff of Washington County, Florida, in his individual capacity, defendant-appellant below.

Amnesty International USA covers the use of Tasers multiple shocks in a single arrest. See Canada: Inappropriate and excessive use of tasers.

2.1 Multiple or prolonged taser discharges
Amnesty International's research into deaths following taser use in the USA and Canada indicates that many of those who have died had been subjected to multiple or prolonged shocks. In Canada alone, all six of the deceased in 2005 and 2006 were shocked multiple times with a taser; in one case up to 12 times in three minutes.

Amnesty International believes that repeated shocks should be avoided unless absolutely necessary to avoid serious injury or death and prolonged shocks beyond the five-second discharge cycle should be prohibited.

The Canadian Police Research Centre noted in its 2005 Technical Report that "police officers need to be aware of the adverse effects of multiple, consecutive cycles of a CED on a subject" because "the issue related to multiple CED applications and its impact on respiration, pH levels and other associated physical effects, offers a plausible theory on the possible connection between deaths, CED use and people exhibiting symptoms of CED.(12)

In April 2005, the US Department of Defense released a report which concluded that while available data suggests that healthy adults would not be at significant risk from the taser, "if long periods of uninterrupted EMI [Electromuscular Incapacitation Device] activation did occur, the risk of unintended adverse effects such as cardiac arrhythmia, impairment of respiration or widespread metabolic muscle damage could be severe".(13)

Taser International is the main manufacturer of taser stun guns. In June 2005, in light of a number of lawsuits by relatives of those who died after being shocked by tasers, and the fact that the use of their product was being listed in autopsy reports, the company included a warning that there were potential health risks in the use of its product in a training bulletin.

Taser International on May 3, 2004 issued a Memorandum of Law concerning the Taser Conducted Energy Weapons.

The legal concerns usually raised regarding the TASER conducted energy weapon generally fall into two categories:

1. What are the legal restrictions on the use of a TASER conducted energy weapon; and

2. What is the impact of a TASER conducted energy weapon on legal liability in a use of force incident. The purpose of this Memorandum of Law is to address these issues in the context of U.S. Federal and State regulations and case law.

Watch this video and ask yourself whether these six officers were using force to effectuate an arrest or whether the force is in fact punishment. This is not the Iowa arrest that resulted in the lawsuit.

The Courts define what force is legitimate police power and when the use of force becomes punishment. It is the court's that mete out punishment sanctioned by state law; whereas police enforce the laws. Police are not authorized by the Constitution to punish. It's all about the separation of powers under the United States Constitution.

OWI: Who decides whether someone should be charged with OWI??

OWI, if you're stopped for suspicion of OWI don't be fooled by what the officer promises you.

OWI, The five things you should not do when arrested

Double Whopper War of Words lands BK-Ee in Junior Whopper Jail

Iowa can be a very surprising place to live; especially when the temperature dips to a cool minus 25 degrees.

A whopper of an argument escalated into a Triple Whopper undercut resulting in a double beef arrest for an 18-year-old Coralville man. As reported the two employees began to fight by throwing Whoppers at each other. Whopper Jr. must have hit BK Joe as the fight progressed causing the fight to supersize; resulting in the Coralville Police being called to stop this Triple Whopper argument. There was no indication whether Mr. Hilliard Jr. (the arrested employee now on BK’s hot grille) will end up in Dutch Apple Pie Prison or Junior Whopper Jail. It’s safe to assume that with the BK main office already immersed in a fryolator of hot oil with the Dickinson Burger King Burglar and the Burger King Tomato Wars out of Florida these two employees won’t be having it their way. Considering that young and impressionable Cheesy Tots may have been in the store a Supersized upper cut in the Onion Ring isn’t what BK Joe was looking to as a way to attract customers.

In-store surveillance tape caught the argument. Here at The Verdict  we have exclusive footage.

Will that be a take-out arrest officer? 

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