There is no doubt that the defendant Joseph A. Moses Harris, Jr. was driving drunk when the police pulled him over. Police had received an anonymous tip, including a partial license plate as well as his name, but the arresting officer did not see Harris break any traffic laws. The Virginia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, overturned Harris’ conviction for drunk driving, requiring the officer to see suspicious activity in order to have probable cause to stop the motorist. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 7-2 vote, denied certiorari to the state of Virginia seeking to appeal the Virginia Supreme Court ruling. By doing so, the Supreme Court let the Virginia ruling stand. (more…)

Gjurovich v. U.S., Slip Copy, 2009 WL 3232139 (N.D.N.Y. 2009) involved a petitioner who pled guilty to a two count indictment charging him with transporting child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(1) and possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(5)(B). In October 2001, petitioner was sentenced by this Court to seventy (70) months incarceration on Count One and (60) months incarceration on Count Two to run concurrently followed by three (3) years of supervised release. Petitioner did not appeal his conviction or sentence. The United States Probation Office filed a petition for modification of the conditions or terms of his supervised release to require him to submit to computerized voice stress analysis (“CVSA”), in addition to regular polygraph examinations, as a further special condition of his release in the community.  (more…)

In Caiozzo v. Koreman, 581 F.3d 63 (C.A.2 (N.Y.)), the plaintiff’s decedent died while in custody as a pretrial detainee at Albany County Correctional Facility (“ACCF”). The cause of death was ascribed to seizure due to acute and chronic alcoholism. It was alleged that the defendants failed to provide him with alcohol withdrawal treatment that they knew or should have known he needed, resulting in his fatal seizure. The timing of a detainee’s last drink is important in assessing the need for and timing of alcohol withdrawal treatment. The error of the defendant nurse who examined the plaintiff’s decedent was in believing that his last drink was the evening on the date that she examined him, when in fact it was the evening before. (more…)

In a recent blog, we wondered why a television advertisement for the stop-smoking drug Chantix contained an exhaustive list of side-effects yet did not disclose that the drug was subject to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) “black box” warning. By virtue of this omission, a viewer might easily underestimate the seriousness of the televised side-effects. We honestly thought that Pfizer, the drug’s manufacturer, would so tenaciously fight against mentioning the existence of a “black box” warning that its inclusion in an ad was not a realistic possibility. But shortly after this blog (maybe we are a bit behind), we viewed a television ad for the most popular birth control medication in the U.S., Yaz, that began, “You may see some Yaz commercials that were not clear. The F.D.A. wants us to correct a few points in those ads.” (more…)

Well there’s a mouthful. The quote, from Senator Rockefeller in the context of the health care reform debate, was said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. He is not only critical of the insurance industry, but he intends to do something about it. Specifically, Rockefeller said he would introduce an amendment requiring insurers to spend 85 percent of their revenue on health care for consumers. Rockefeller also said he would back a plan, in separate legislation, to repeal the insurance industries’ antitrust exemption. Rockefeller was critical of Senate Finance Committee because it failed to include the public option, although he did vote for it. (more…)

The Suffolk Legislature voted on October 13, 2009, to ban the sale of drop-side cribs, potentially virtual death traps to infants.  Drop-side cribs have caused many deaths and injuries, and prompted massive recalls. It is the first such restriction in the nation. The problem with drop-side cribs is that they have more moving parts than cribs with four fixed sides, making them more likely to develop gaps where a child can become trapped and be asphyxiated. The safer style are drop-gate cribs with four immobile sides – including those that have a small six-inch section at the top of one side that can fold down for greater access without endangering the infant. County Executive Steve Levy reportedly favors the measure but must hold a public hearing before it can become law. (more…)

For the first time since 1980, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has revised the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads compliant with the FTC Act. The revisions of the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising addresses endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. They affect testimonial advertisements, bloggers, and celebrity endorsements. At least one of the revisions may affect lawyer advertising, whether it be print, online, radio or television advertising. (more…)

On March 12, 2008, the basement foundation wall of a two-story wood-frame residential building located at 795 Glenmore Avenue in Brooklyn collapsed into the construction site on the adjoining parcel at 793 and 791 Glenmore Avenue, causing the death of a construction worker who was working in the excavation site at the time of the collapse. The laborers were digging out the soil for the foundations and underpinnings when the wall collapsed. The owner of both the building and the construction site, William Lattarulo, stands charged with manslaughter in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the second degree. The defendant’s Dunaway /Huntley/Mapp motions to suppress statements, five oral and one audiotaped, that he made before his arrest and the physical evidence recovered in his garage and home was denied after an evidentiary hearing was held at the Supreme Court, Kings County, before Hon. Albert Tomei. People v. Lattarulo, — N.Y.S.2d —-, 2009 WL 3199208. (more…)

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (“TLC”) has a policy of suspending a taxi driver upon notification of the driver’s arrest, without providing either a pre-deprivation hearing or a post-deprivation hearing that does more than confirm the fact of the driver’s arrest – that is no attempt is made to verify the propriety of the arrest or the guilt of the driver. Four (4) individual taxi drivers whose taxicab or for-hire vehicle licenses were suspended following an arrest on charges that were later dropped, and by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (“NYTWA”), a not-for-profit corporation that seeks to improve the working conditions of taxi drivers, safeguard their rights, and promote reform of the industry, unsuccessfully challenged the TLC’s policy in Nnebe v. Daus, Slip Copy, 2009 WL 3151809 (S.D.N.Y. 2009), decided by Southern District Judge Richard Sullivan. (more…)

The Manhattan District Attorney on October 1, 2009 announced the indictment and arrest of 29 people and four corporations for enterprise corruption, bribery, bribe receiving, extortion, narcotics and firearms trafficking, and illegal gambling.  Among the individual defendants are members and associates of the Cosa Nostra Lucchese Organized Crime Family (“Lucchese Crime Family”), including three inspectors formerly employed by the New York City Department of Buildings and two members of the Family ruling panel; three other former building inspectors; and individuals and companies in the construction and real estate industry.  The District Attorney accused the mob of seeking to place associates in a government agency and influence the routine functions of that agency. (more…)