http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current Newsen-us2013-05-19T06:17:56.145-05:00http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22575/17/2013 12:00:00 AMSan Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis released a new online podcast today featuring information on the DA’s Gangs Division as part of a continuing series of short podcast recordings highlighting public safety topics. In the most recent podcast, Deputy District Attorney Dana Greisen joins DA Dumanis to discuss the uptick in gang-related homicides, how gangs are increasingly using pimping as a source of income, and an update on the number of documented gang members in San Diego County.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22565/17/2013 12:00:00 AMAlthough the recent killings of two prosecutors in Texas are at the forefront, State Senator Ted O'Brien says this legislation was on his agenda well before those murders.  O'Brien was joined by Assemblyman Joe Morelle, a co-sponsor of the bill, and Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley in announcing the proposed legislation.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22585/17/2013 12:00:00 AMDays after the second sex crime scandal in the last month hit the military, a bi-partisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would take prosecution of sexual assaults in the military out of the chain of command, preventing military commanders from handling the cases of subordinates.  “The issue of sexual violence is not new.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22555/15/2013 12:00:00 AMPhiladelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell agreed today to serve two life sentences and waive his right to an appeal in order to avoid the possibility of being condemned to death.  Gosnell was convicted of first degree murder on Monday in the deaths of three babies who were born live and then killed by severing their spinal chords with scissors.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22545/15/2013 12:00:00 AMA state House panel Tuesday endorsed the creation of special courts to divert nonviolent offenders with mental health problems into treatment programs instead of prisons.  The Administration of Criminal Justice Committee, without objection, approved Senate Bill 71 sponsored by state Sen.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22535/15/2013 12:00:00 AMSAN BERNARDINO -- If she had ducked a second later, San Bernardino County sheriff's Deputy Maria Gascon might have been killed by the bullets a suspect fired at her patrol car.  Gascon was on her way to a priority call in Victorville when a vehicle made a sudden stop in the roadway and several radical turns causing her to believe something was wrong.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22515/14/2013 12:00:00 AMTRENTON – Working with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Sen. Christopher J.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22505/14/2013 12:00:00 AMProsecutors in the Puget Sound are cracking down on repeat gun felons.  "If you decide to pack a gun after you've already been convicted of a violent felony, watch out.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22525/14/2013 12:00:00 AMWashington (CNN) -- A decade-old benchmark for determining when a driver is legally intoxicated -- the 0.08 blood-alcohol content rate -- should be lowered to 0.05, reducing the amount a motorist can imbibe before being presumed to be drunk, federal safety officials said Tuesday.  At a meeting in Washington, the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all 50 states lower the threshold to reduce the nation's drunk driving death toll, which has plateaued at about 10,000 deaths a year.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22485/13/2013 12:00:00 AMMINEOLA, N.Y. — It probably happens to most drivers.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22495/13/2013 12:00:00 AMClinton Bamberger lost the most important case of his career, but most legal experts consider that 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision a crucial victory for criminal justice.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22475/13/2013 12:00:00 AMKane County prosecutors want to make sure first-time offenders get the information they need for a possible second chance.  The state's attorney's office recently consolidated all the information about the county's five pretrial diversion programs on its website.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22465/10/2013 12:00:00 AMMany of the people wanted by Dallas County’s justice system hide in plain sight — often with the help of family and friends. That’s why knocking on doors, searching computer databases and making phone calls won’t always yield results — even if law enforcement is on the right path.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22455/10/2013 12:00:00 AMThe Morris County Prosecutor's Office has been awarded State Accreditation status from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, and National Recognition from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Acting Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp said in a statement.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22415/9/2013 12:00:00 AMCHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- Local law enforcement wants to keep repeat offenders in jail, but they're having a hard time.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22425/9/2013 12:00:00 AMProsecutors and criminal defense lawyers negotiated an agreement on how to streamline post-conviction appeals allowing a Louisiana House panel to advance the legislation with little discussion Wednesday.  After a trial conviction has been affirmed by the appellate courts, convicted criminals are allowed two years to file a “post conviction” application raising claims that their constitutional rights were infringed or that there were problems with the trial that led to an improper result.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22435/9/2013 12:00:00 AMThere are few experiences more unsettling for a child than watching a mother being taken away to prison for months or years. For years, women’s advocates have worked to establish alternatives for mothers convicted of crimes, saying the lives of their children become so upended they often end up in jail themselves.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22405/8/2013 12:00:00 AMCOLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri prosecutors advising police on undercover investigations now have greater legal protection that their conduct won't violate ethical rules.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22395/7/2013 12:00:00 AMMONTGOMERY, Alabama – The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is seeking help from the Montgomery County Commission to secure federal grant money to hire an additional prosecutor to handle truancy cases, which have dramatically increased under a joint effort with the county’s public school system to curb unexcused absences among students.  “We all have a vested interest in making sure our kids are in school and in school every day,” Deputy District Attorney Tim Tyler said.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22385/7/2013 12:00:00 AMGov. Chris Christie signed legislation today that tightens New Jersey's human trafficking laws ahead of the 2014 Super Bowl.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22375/7/2013 12:00:00 AMWASHINGTON—Congress plans this week to create a new, bipartisan task force to pare the federal criminal code, a body of law under attack from both parties recently for its bloat.  The panel, which will be known as the House Committee on the Judiciary Over-Criminalization Task Force of 2013, will comprise five Republicans and five Democrats.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22345/6/2013 12:00:00 AMThe Missouri House of Representatives advanced legislation Thursday, May 2, by a vote of 150-7 to reorganize Missouri’s criminal code making it more transparent to the public. The measure, House Bill 210, is the result of four years of cooperative work of The Missouri Bar Criminal Code Revision Subcommittee comprised of experienced prosecutors and defense attorneys, as well as representatives from the judiciary and the legislature.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22355/6/2013 12:00:00 AMOn Saturday morning, the House showed just how far the criminal justice debate in Texas has come.  The House passed SB 213, the sunset bill for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22365/6/2013 12:00:00 AM“That’s a half an ounce of cocaine,” Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said as he dropped a bag of white powder on his desk. “That’s a second-degree crime.”  Then Coronato dropped three packages of heroin, each the size and shape of a long LEGO block, no bigger than the cocaine.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22335/3/2013 12:00:00 AMCHARLOTTE, N.C. -- From murder to rape and robbery, the District Attorney’s office handles it all and yet they say are severely underpaid and short on resources.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22325/3/2013 12:00:00 AMJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Legislature has sent Gov.http://apainc.org/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=Current News&newsletterid=22315/3/2013 12:00:00 AMTALLAHASSEE - Police officers need a warrant if they want to search through photos on a cellphone in possession of a defendant at the time of arrest, the Florida Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.  The ruling, which overturns an opinion from the 1st District Court of Appeal, also is related to an issue before the Legislature, which this session has considered putting the warrant requirement in statute.