Prosecutors Support U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Effort to Provide Mental Health Records to National Instant Criminal Background Check System
6/19/13The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) proposed a change to federal privacy rules last week that would allow state mental health agencies to report mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
As legislative efforts to expand the existing NICS system recently failed in the United States Senate, the DHS rule change is part of a series of executive orders issued by President Obama in January to expand and provide additional resources to the background check system.
“Prosecutors respect the right to privacy of health records, but in the wake of the recent mass shootings by perpetrators with previous warning signs of severe mental illness, the right balance should be struck in order to keep guns and ammunition out of dangerous hands,” said David LaBahn, President of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.
| June’s Final Friday’s webinar: The Connection between Bestiality and Human Sex Offending
6/12/13Please join us for June’s Final Friday’s webinar, The Connection between Bestiality and Human Sex Offending, to be held on Friday, June 28th from 3:00-4:00pm (EDT). While the link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence is well documented, less research has been done regarding sexual offenders. This webinar will cover the investigation, prosecution and psychology related to the crime of bestiality and the link with other sex offenses. Detective Jeremy Hoffman from Fairfax County Police Department, Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch form the Virginia Attorney General’s Office and Dr. Mary Lou Randour, Ph.D. from the Animal Welfare Institute will provide an overview of this emerging subject as well as advice for the investigation, prosecution and supervision of this group of sex offenders. This training is open to all prosecutors, law enforcement, court personnel and other allied criminal justice partners. 1 substantive CLE credit has been applied for from the Virginia State Bar. If you would like to download a flyer click here. **Please click HERE to register**
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Feds charge 3 in Ohio slavery case
6/18/13A mentally disabled woman and her child were held in an Ohio apartment for two years, forced to perform manual labor and threatened with dogs and snakes to keep them compliant, federal authorities said Tuesday. The people accused of holding the woman and child captive in the Ashland, Ohio, apartment collected the woman's government benefits and beat her in order to get painkillers for themselves, federal prosecutors announced. All three have been charged with forced labor, with one of them facing an additional count of tampering with a witness.
| District Attorney Launches Campaign Against Animal Cruelty
6/14/13LAS VEGAS -- The Clark County District Attorney's animal cruelty campaign launched Thursday has a strong message: Hurt your pets and pay the price. The campaign was launched a day after a Berkeley law student pleaded guilty to a felony charge for beheading a bird at the Flamingo resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The campaign focuses on caring for pets during the summer when temperatures reach the triple digits. The extreme heat can be a killer for pets, but the district attorney's campaign says, the defenseless animals don't have to get hurt by the heat. District Attorney Steve Wolfson is making sure the public pays attention through a public service announcement that started running Thursday. "As temperatures outside climb into triple digits, remember leaving an animal in a parked car or without shelter and water is neglect and it is a crime," Wolfson says in the public service announcement video. "Every year, officers respond to over 5,000 animal cruelty calls in southern Nevada."
8 News Now
| District Attorney touts high conviction rate in annual report
6/14/13New City – The recently-released report for the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office’s 2012 year revealed the office oversaw significantly higher conviction rates over the course of last year, among other figures. The conviction rate was announced to be 95.5 percent, with 574 convictions in Rockland County Court creating a slight 0.87 percent increase in conviction numbers overall. The District Attorney achieved 24 verdicts in criminal trials and placed as the highest in percentage of jury verdicts and lowest in dismissal rate among all counties in the Lower Hudson Valley. In addition, 601 felony cases were filed, representing a drop of 5.7 percent over the course of 2011. The report also announced the most recent figures in other specialized areas of the DA’s office. The two-year old Special Victims Center in Suffern reported serving 82 child victims and 73 adult victims, with 13 videotaped recordings of childrens’ testimony produced for Grand Jury and the total number of sex offenders increasing to 24. Cases referred to the facility jumped 20 percent since 2011. In addition, the Special Investigations Unit netted significant sums as a result of various prosecutions and initiatives. Restitution from crooked home improvement contractors totaled $50,000, benefit overpayment recoveries totaled $322,793 and recoveries from individuals involved with wage crimes, tax fraud, and asset forfeiture for New York State’s Crimes Against Revenue Program (CARP) totaled $1,557,991.55.
Rockland County Times
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