Month: October 2009

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 … Read the rest

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 … Read the rest

In Caiozzo v. Koreman, 581 F.3d 63 (C.A.2 (N.Y.)), the plaintiffs 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 plaintiffs decedent was … Read the rest

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 drugs 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), … Read the rest

The Suffolk Legislature voted on October 13, 2009, to ban the sale of drop-side cribs, potentiallyvirtual 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 … Read the rest

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 FTCs 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. Disciplinary Rule 2 101 (DR … Read the rest