Formerly on television's Melrose Place, actress Amy Locane has worked along side Johnny Depp and Adam Sandler in film. She now has more in common with many fellow actors, as she was indicted by a Somerset County Grand Jury on counts of third-degree assault by auto and first-degree aggravated manslaughter. Now a New Jersey resident, Locane reportedly crashed her black Chevy Tahoe into another car that was pulling into a driveway on a Sunday evening in June of this year. The passenger died at the hospital soon after the crash, and the driver sustained numerous broken ribs and other serious injuries. Further, police state that she was involved in a hit-and-run accident earlier that day in Princeton, New Jersey. The actress had admitted to consuming wine prior to driving following the crash.

"Aggravated Manslaughter" means, in lay terms, an unintentional killing resulted from one's actions. Naturally, a purposeful killing would be murder, but manslaughter covers all killings that occur as unintended consequences. In this instance, Locane is indicted crashing her car while drunk driving, which resulted in the death of one person and the serious injury to another. In this case, the State of New Jersey needs to prove that "the actor recklessly causes death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life;" See N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4(a)(1).

The fact that Locane had consumed alcoholic beverages does not automatically prove the State's case. The State will also have to prove that the events are connected, or that Locane's consumption of alcoholic beverages led to her being impaired, which led to the fatal accident. Therefore, one can anticipate Locane's defense team will claim that her impairment is not what lead to the fatal accident, but that some other circumstance caused the collision that took the passenger's life. These burdens of proof and potential defenses are the issues that a New Jersey criminal defense attorney will vigorously analyze, as they apply to the specific facts of the case. You should ensure you have an experienced and devoted attorney to protect your rights should you, a friend or family member find yourself involved in a car accident, or automobile collision, where injuries are sustained or death results. These tragic cases are often not as simple as they appear.

A 2007 Beacon Theater hip-hop concert arrest sends another rapper to prison. In this case, Ja Rule will head to prison for two years. Lest anyone believe him to be a "wanna-be," Ja Rule pleaded guilty, just as Lil Wayne did in response to his arrest at the same event, to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. It is stated on the record for the Police, that he was found with a .40-caliber loaded semiautomatic gun in his pricey, speeding Maybach.

The New York City gun laws are the toughest in the nation and Ja Rule became the latest celebrity to learn a difficult lesson. New York City imposes a mandatory minimum prison term on the gun related offense, in this case a violent felony. The Court takes any offense involving a firearm as extremely serious. In New Jersey, the possession of a gun triggers mandatory jail time, as governed by the Graves Act N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.

Furthermore, the Graves Act requires time periods of parole ineligibility in addition to mandatory prison terms for certain gun offenses, as well as for related offenses committed while in possession of a firearm. These include offenses such as homicide, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnapping, sexual assault, aggravated sexual contact, robbery, and burglary.
If two years seems like a long time, take a moment to consider that he might have gotten 15 years if he had been convicted of the initial weapons charges. He has some time to relax, if that is possible, because he is free at least until his next Court date in February, when a date will first be set for sentencing. His attorney is earning the counsel fees for sure, and demonstrated how crucial a skilled attorney is, whether or not you are a rapper.

The law is gender-blind for sure, at least, because rappers who have done jail time include Foxy Brown, Lil Kim and T.I. Plaxico Burress, the former New York Giants football player was charged with the same crime and received the same sentence last year. In his case, though, he shot himself. Ja Rule's wife and children living in New Jersey, will write and visit, no doubt, and help his time fly. They can be sure, his criminal defense attorney did as well as any could have given the facts of his case. Be sure to contact the best possible defense attorney, should you find yourself charged with any kind of weapons related or other crime.

Unfortunately, an arrest of a student-athlete is infrequent but not uncommon. When the school's mascot gets arrested, while serving in his official capacity at the stadium, it is at least noteworthy. Apparently, the University of Cincinnati Bearcat mascot was arrested during a Saturday football game against the University of Pittsburgh. During the game that day, the weather was harsh as snow blanketed the stadium. While sitting amidst the falling snow, many fans were tossing snowballs for additional entertainment. Generally, both football fans and players are a hearty bunch, but due to safety concerns, it seems that the fans were warned to stop throwing snowballs. Hard snow and ice can easily injure someone who is not prepared to catch it or doesn't see it coming, in a crowd packed tight in stadium seats. A ball of ice could be used as a weapon. However, the Bearcat mascot did not heed that warning, and threw snowballs into the stands from his perch on a 6-foot high wall behind the end zone that was covered with ice and snow. In addition to hurting crowd members by pelting them with ice and snow, he could have fallen, injured himself and whomever he may fall upon.

When confronted by police, the Bearcat allegedly shoved the officer, both men ended upon the ground, at which point he was arrested for disorderly conduct. In New Jersey, this would give the student-mascot a criminal record. Further, he would be subject to fines and even a potential loss of driving privileges. The best thing the Bearcat can hope for is that he would be able to pay a fine to a municipal ordinance violation, and that he will be allowed to escape being saddled with a criminal record, or receive terms for expungement. While the visual of a mascot being led away in handcuffs may be humorous, it will be no laughing matter for this Cincinnati student when he appears in Court. It should also be noted that even the mascot is replaceable as Cincinnati had a "backup" mascot fill in the original mascot for the second half of the Bearcats defeat.

This sort of scenario, a row among fans or mascots at a stadium in any weather, provides a range of legal issues, personal injury or negligence claims as well as criminal charges. It is crucial for a skilled attorney to navigate this sort of legal minefield, so if you or someone close to you ever finds yourself in a situation like this, the very first thing to do, once your physical safety has been ensured, is to contact and retain an attorney immediately.

Think of a child shooting a machine gun and your mind is flooded with potential legal issues, not to mention the initial gut impression that there is just something wrong with that. The worst possible scenario imaginable happened in Massachusetts in 2008, when an 8 year-old boy held a machine gun, fired it and accidentally killed himself. This tragic loss is of course followed by civil and criminal charges. The gun club where the gun fair was hosted, the two men who supplied the Uzi and the local ex-police chief-owner of the sponsoring company of the show were all charged with manslaughter. The former police chief had hired those two men to run the shooting range portion of the gun show. The boy's father and 11 year-old brother watched as the little, lightweight "mini" machine gun backfired and shot him in the head. In case anyone doubts the sequence of events, his father recorded the entire event on video.

With the charges including involuntary manslaughter, and multiple counts of supplying a minor with an automatic weapon, the defendants could face 10 to 20 years in prison, depending upon whether or not it can be proven that they should have reasonably anticipated that there was an appreciable risk of death to the child. The father relied on the "expert" guidance of the staff at the show, and considered that other children had fired weapons then as well. How a jury resolves the legal questions associated with the criminal charges may hinge upon whether or not they are permitted to see the horrible imagery in the video recording of the event. Rules of evidence provide that the video must be relevant, authentic and not overly prejudicial.

In order to subject the jury to the sight of the boy shooting the weapon, shooting himself, going down, and the responsive screams of horror, the judge must determine whether the video will reveal facts that demonstrate criminal negligence and wrongdoing on behalf of those charged. The graphic nature of the video might urge the jurors/viewers to punish someone for the tragedy, and consciously or subconsciously, disregard other relevant facts, for example, that other children have fired automatic weapons without accident. It may show that the safety instructor failed to take a precaution he should have, or that while all required safety steps were taken, a reasonable person would have determined that death could likely result. Of course, the defense attorney surely wants the video kept out of the trial.

With technology making photographic and video recordings so prevalent, navigating such tricky evidentiary questions will be more and more crucial to a legal strategy than ever before. Whether or not the court, or jury, sees a photo or video could determine years in prison, or millions of dollars in civil liability. Further, assuming the picture or video is authenticated, meaning the source and integrity of the recording can be verified, such evidence could be used in small legal matters involving lesser charges. You may not even know that a picture or video recording of an incident exists following an accident or incident, which one more reason highly skilled attorneys are critical to protecting your legal rights and your welfare.