Alcohol and vehicular troubles are nothing new to collegiate athletes, unfortunately. So this story can be added to the others covered here. Notre Dame's Wide Receiver Michael Floyd was reportedly sentenced to a year of probation and cannot drive for 90 days following his guilty plea to a misdemeanor drunk driving charge. Once Floyd's license is reinstated he will have a device in his car for 180 days that will monitor Floyd's blood-alcohol level and will prevent the car from starting if his blood-alcohol level is too high. Floyd was arrested for driving while intoxicated in March in South Bend, Indiana. At the time of his arrest, his blood-alcohol level was 0.19%, which is more then double the legal limit. Any attorney in this position would likely be patting himself on the back. He seems to have some trouble maintaining the separation of driving and drinking, so perhaps his sentence is fitting and will help him focus on his talents.
In Indiana drunk driving is considered a misdemeanor crime. Had Floyd been arrested in New Jersey he would have instead committed a Title 39 motor vehicle violation rather than a crime. The minimum penalty in New Jersey for a DUI is 7 months loss of drivers license. Since his blood-alcohol level was as high as a 0.19% (New Jersey considers over a 0.08% blood alcohol level to be driving under the influence) he would be required to have a mandatory interlock device. This device of course would prevent the car from starting if his blood-alcohol level is too high. He would be stuck with the interlock device for six months after his license was restored.
There are many permutations of penalties and sentences you may receive depending upon the number of infractions you have on your record. It helps to have an experienced attorney on your side. If you have been charged with a DUI you should seek help from a licensed attorney immediately.

Assault with a deadly weapon and attempted premeditated murder of an ex-girlfriend could be considered the antithesis of what one associates with a hilarious blockbuster comedy. An actor who appeared in "The 40 Year Old Virgin," however, has reportedly been charged and convicted of these violent crimes and been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in twelve years. There is nothing funny about that. While Shelley Malil's defense attorney described his ex as a violent drama queen, it was the defendant that stabbed her multiple times with a kitchen knife in a jealous rage upon finding her sharing a drink with a male friend in her own home.

A jury has convicted the actor and sentenced him to life in prison for attempted premeditated murder and assault with a deadly weapon. The assault was of course that he stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife. The premeditated murder charge may be analagous to an attempted murder charge in New Jersey. The issue for the jury was to decide if the Defendant had the intent to kill the victim when he began stabbing her. In this instance, they found that he intended to kill her when he began to stab her and he was convicted of that crime. He was also charged with burglary but acquitted on that lesser charge. He can be charged with burglary because he meets the elements of the crime: he entered her home as an uninvited guest and committed a crime in the dwelling. However, it also had to be shown that he had the intent to commit that crime when entered her home. In this situation, the defendant showed that he did not have the intent to assault and murder her. This would be because he did not know the victim was with another man until after he entered the dwelling. He actually only went to her house uninvited to tell her that he had taken her pot and sent some explicit sex photos of the two of them to her co-workers. There is nothing funny about that either.

The mild upside for the Defendant is that he eventually can be eligible for parole and thus most likely will not be confined to prison for the rest of his life. While domestic violence is common, it is not likely that the average person would have this nuanced legal knowledge or even if they did, be capable of drawing upon it in the midst of a conflict. If an individual describe themselves as having a emotionally volatile temperament and intense relationships, or as being involved with this type of personality, he or she would be well served by identifying an experienced attorney to call immediately should he or she be involved in any domestic altercation in order to best protect his or her legal rights.

A man has been arrested for stealing over half a million dollars worth of jewelry from properties along the Navesink, among them, Jon Bon Jovi's wife's jewelry! Police have reported that the Beachwood man, only 21 years old, robbed a large handful of mansions and estates on Navesink River Road, and ultimately was caught by tripping an alarm in one of them. Also among the burglary victims is former head of American Eagle Outfitters, George Kolber, and a Middletown ophthalmologist.

The Defendant, Nicholas Tracy, is charged with three counts of second-degree theft and four counts of third-degree burglary. He is in jail with a hefty bail set at $100,000.00, and he was not given the option to post 10% as an alternative. This young man is in very deep, hot water and some would say gutsy, in foolish, wrongheaded, stupid sort of way for a 21 year old. It is unknown as to whether or not he was aware of the fact that he was stealing from the home of one of New Jersey's all time most beloved celebrities. The details of the reports don't seem to suggest that this inconvenient coincidence contributed to his getting caught.

Celebrity status of a victim aside, the Defendant stole a significant amount of worth of valuables in this case. Burglary, in its simplest definition, means breaking into the dwelling of another with the intent to commit a crime. Here, breaking into another's home to "steal" items fits the definition. One factor weighing in the Defendant's favor would be if he did not yet unload or sell the jewelry. If he still had the stolen property in his possession, then making restitution to the victims would be easier. Restitution is basically where the defendant makes a payment or returns stolen items to the victims or true owners. Many times, restitution is the key to resolving the case in a more favorable manner for the defendant. If a defendant is able to return an expensive item, such as jewelry, he is more likely to receive a lesser sentence. If he has already pawned the times, usually for less than they are worth, if the items were pawned for cash, and if he spent the cash with no way to repay it, the legal penalty will tend to be more severe.

His defense attorney should do whatever he can to sway the Court, and the victims, that he is a young man who has lost his way, and that with some support, he can alter his path, (hopefully) repay the members of the wealthy community he targeted, learn his lesson without posing any further threat to society. The details would have to support this position in some way, but any attorney would consider using his relative youth as a legal strategy. Of course, he is not a minor, and this young adult would have to be extremely remorseful for his crime.

Real husband of Real New Jersey Housewife, Teresa Guidice, Joe Giudice can't seem to keep to the straight and narrow. It appears that he allegedly attempted to use identification belonging to his brother to obtain a fake driver's license.

Why would anyone other than a teenager who seeks to bar hop before they are legally entitled to do so want a fake i.d.? Perhaps someone whose driver's license has been suspended for driving under the influence, DUI, might be so frustrated and indignant at being denied the privilege and convenience of driving that he might attempt something so foolish. Last year, Giudice got his car entangled with a utility pole and directly thereafter failed a breathalyzer test. He then spent some time in jail for driving regardless of having had his license suspended. It seems he is determined to drive, regardless of what the law permits.

Here the Realty star's husband is in hot water due to attempting to obtain a fake i.d. A generation ago, a fake I.D. a tool used by those who were under age 21 to get into bars or purchase alcohol. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, however, the government made the process of getting identification a more rigorous and stringent one. Furthermore, the laws prohibiting falsifying identification carry far stiffer criminal penalties for those that are trying to circumvent the law now than there were then. Here, Giudice used his brother's information and official identifying documentation to attempt to get a license for himself from the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles. He used identification fraudulently, in that he is not who he said and tried to show that he was. He also attempted to have false identification forged with the unknowing participation of the DMV. These charges carry a potential jail sentence of 10 years! Two of his friends posted $50,000.00 in bond to free him at least temporarily, because his wife, Teresa was supposedly out of town on a publicity appearance.

It is possible that his defense attorney will be able to plea bargain somehow to allow him to avoid jail. He will not, however, be able to avoid a possible criminal conviction on his permanent record. The Giudices keep the legal community busy. Listing $8 million in debt and only approximately $2 million in assets, they declared bankruptcy and lost significant property as a result, and one must presume that their lavish lifestyle has been curtailed, despite their new status as high profile reality t.v. celebrities. One place not to scrimp is a criminal defense attorney, should you find yourself facing charges of any sort.

In a case that will likely appear on a Law and Order episode, a jeweler, whose clients have included Donald Trump and Yoko Ono, has reportedly been sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing his wife, despite the fact that her remains have not been conclusively identified. During his trial, it was determined that he knocked his wife unconscious with a piece of wood and incinerated her body in an oil drum. The theory that he used his scientific knowledge of acids to destroy forensic evidence such as bones and teeth that could be used to identify her has been accepted by the Court. It should be noted that she was in the process of divorcing him, and he stood to lose more than $1.5 million.

The Defendant, representing himself, made the argument that his confessions were inadmissible, but the Court doesn't accept it. For a confession to be considered by the Court to have been involuntary, the defense must show that the police overbore the defendant's will and he was forced to confess. In this case, that doesn't seem to have been shown. First, the Defendant claimed he confessed due to pressure from a friend, even though he didn't seem to indicate how that pressure occurred. He told the friend that his wife "doesn't exist anymore" and that "they can't find her" while that friend was wearing a wire. There appears to be little other evidence offered by Defendant to show how law enforcement did anything improper so as to coerce a confession.

The prosecution leveraged testimony from five witnesses, including the victim and defendant's teenage son, the victim's cousin and sister. His accusations that the judge is prejudiced and the prosecutor incompetent, and that his wife's family and friends formed a lynch mob, did little to strengthen his legal strategy. His statement that "it is impossible to burn a human body and leave no evidence" seems to highlight his terrible and horrific accomplishment. What ever an expert, experienced criminal defense attorney may have done for him in Court will never be known. What is known, however, is that an attorney would have been a better choice.

Three days is all it took for a released sex offender to victimize another person, a teenager, no less, and it gets worse: a disabled teenager, in a bathroom, of all places. Police reportedly found the fourteen year-old victim in Newark's Penn Station appearing as if something was amiss. She told them that she had been assaulted in a library restroom. The forty-five year-old accused had been released from state prison and was wearing an ankle monitor. As of the date of the report, it was unclear if he had retained a defense attorney.

Criminally, this person has definitely dug himself into a grave. He is a "recidivating" or re-offending sex offender, meaning that a subsequent offense will land him an automatic mandatory minimum of five years in prison with no possibility of parole, who can be sent to an additional five years in prison if he faces a new sexual assault charge with aggravating factors. Those aggravating factors include if the rape was forcible, if the victim was a minor, and if he or she is disabled.

Assessments of this sort of behavior lead many to believe that these urges are not easily suppressed or quelled. According to Dr. Gregory J. Coram, Forensic and Medical Psychologist and Director of the Masters program in Criminal Justice at Monmouth University, the acts in which these urges manifest are often unpredictable, repetitive, and non-stop. Rehabilitative treatments, are not often, if ever, likely to be effective when it comes to sex offenders.

"Due to the nature of these sexual disorders," says Dr. Coram, "it is very difficult to make any reasonable prediction on whether or not these individuals will re-offend. Sexual behavior is an integral part of the individual, and any distortions or pathology in that area will permeate their personality. Therefore, I am not a strong believer in true rehabilitation for these types of offenders. They have their signature and their methods, and the capability of rehabilitative treatment to break that pattern of behavior is something I believe to be unrealistic with current treatments."

This type of attack is very serious, and even if the sexual activity itself was not initiated by means of an attack, that is, if it was "consensual", the act would still be considered statutory rape, considering the victim was underage, and in no determinable position to give consent. In terms of legality of sexual activity, any act that is coerced is illegal. Physical force and/or threats need not be used to qualify as criminal.

You might ask, why do I need to know the law? It's not like I would ever commit such an atrocity.

Naturally, it's not expected that any reasonable person would perpetrate a crime like this. However, the laws about statutory rape are not always as crystal clear to everyone as they should be. Plainly, an attorney is in the best position to sort through the details of a questionable scenario as it may be construed by the law. The New Jersey Criminal Code states that sexual activity between an adult (18+) and a child between the ages of 13 and 16 is illegal unless the participants are within four years of age of one another. For example, it is legal for a 20-year old and a 17-year old to engage in sexual activity, but illegal for a 20-year old and a 15 year old to do so. Additionally, any sexual activity involving a child under the age of 13 is strictly illegal. It is worth noting that the gender of the victim or the assailant is not specified.

When it comes to a question of statutory rape, remember: it does not matter if both participants are willing, or even if the underage participant initiates the act itself. The law views a person under the age of 16 as lacking the emotional maturity to give consent to sexual activity, except in the circumstances provided above. And always remember: any act of forcible sex, that is, against the will of either participant, is considered aggravated sexual assault.

The courts do not accept a defense of mistaken age, e.g., "She looked like she was of age to me." The presumption is that if the participant looks underage, it should be assumed that he or she is underage. Real life often presents complications and complexities even where the facts seem clear. As such, anyone involved in an attack, or a relationship or circumstance where these laws may be considered, should contact an attorney who is an expert in this area of practice.

One pound of most things is not a lot. A person can lose a pound in a day fairly easily, and gain one as well. But 585 grams, just over ½ of a kilogram or approximately one pound, when it comes to a controlled substance, is all it takes to get yourself in very, very hot water. Two nineteen year old men are certainly in some trouble for allegedly being found with an open container of alcohol, underage drinking, and interestingly, exactly 585 grams of marijuana while in their car in Brick, New Jersey.

Let's be clear: when it comes to pot, there are really only two options. The first is possession of under 50 grams, in which the charge is a disorderly persons offense (non-indictable, although you will be arrested, booked, and arraigned). The second is possession of over 50 grams. This one, considered intent to distribute, is, according to N.J.S.A 2C:35-10, a crime of the fourth degree, and can carry with it a fine of up to $25,000.00. It gets even better: possess drugs within 1,000 feet of a school zone, and if you're not imprisoned (as defined by the penal code), you'll have a mandatory 100 hours of community service you'll have to complete.

When it comes to determining whether or not there was intent to distribute, the factor most largely examined by the court is the amount of the drug that was seized by police. Someone caught with 30 grams of pot is more likely to convince a judge that it was for personal use than say, someone caught with 585 grams (about one pound). Some even try to argue that their 200+ grams of marijuana in the freezer bag in their desk drawer is for personal use, and that they just prefer to "stock up". Your personal preference of keeping a full stash is simply not persuasive or relevant for legal purposes.

In a Court of law, even with an attorney, that approach will not work. In fact, the New Jersey law allows an individual to possess a relatively large amount of marijuana, 50 grams. It's extremely unlikely that someone who possesses over two ounces of pot would have it and keep it to avoid the inconvenience of seeing their distributor or dealer once a week.

The bottom line? Possession of pot in excess of 50 grams will get someone in a whole lot more trouble than an amount under 50. So if police find you in possession of any pot/marijuana or any controlled substance, call a lawyer, obtain legal counsel, retain an attorney immediately. A good attorney will examine the details of your case, including method of arrest, search, seizure, and measured amount of controlled substance, among other aspects that might affect your welfare and determine the most appropriate legal strategy for your defense.

So it would seem that Qumere McClendon, 24, of Long Branch got lucky on his acquittal of murder. Sadly for him, he was convicted on the counts of manslaughter and felony murder, in addition to numerous others to do with the case. This is a tough case for any attorney.

Any kind of murder is a felony. However, this is a specific name for a certain circumstance of murder. Felony murder states that if a murder occurs during the commission of another felony, say robbery, perhaps, then the party who committed the robbery is also responsible for the murder. This also applies to other crimes such as rape, arson, and kidnapping. Now here's where it gets interesting: if there are multiple people involved in the initial felony, each one of them is responsible for the subsequent murder... even if they did not have a hand in killing the victim!

For example, if two people rob a bank, and a bank teller is murdered in the process, the one who drove the car is just as indictable, for that murder as the one who actually shot the teller. The driver is as serious a criminal, in the eyes of the law, as the person who fired a gun or wielded a weapon in the robbery. Additionally, the penalties for a felony murder conviction are just as severe as those for actual murder in the state of New Jersey.

Murder and manslaughter are two different things. Murder, as it is defined, denotes certain malice involved with carrying out the act. While manslaughter is by no means an "innocent" act, the intent behind it is perceived to be one less malicious, less cold, and less absolute than that of murder. One could say that with murder, "he knew exactly what he was doing", and with manslaughter, "maybe he didn't know exactly, but had a pretty good idea." These legal distinctions, as you can see, can have a huge impact on the sentence imposed upon the Defendant. Further, a Defendant might not realize how serious some of his or her actions relating to another's crime can be in a legal sense. What is clear: The services of a criminal defense attorney are crucial in order to protect your rights if charged with a crime.

If you are driving in New Jersey and a police officer pulls you over on suspicion of DUI/DWI, when asked to do a breathalyzer test, and you refuse, you have just broken a law. By possessing a driver's license, you have given consent to being administered these tests, through a concept known as "implied consent." For the privilege of being legally entitled to drive, you have legally committed to perform that act upon request. As such, breaking that promise or a refusal to submit to the test is illegal. Even if you are not convicted of DWI from that arrest, you are still guilty of that crime and your license is suspended for up to 10 years (20 years if the arrest occurs in a school zone and it is your third DWI!).

You may be convicted of "refusal" in particular, but until just this past week, such a refusal conviction would constitute a prior DWI conviction if you were subsequently pulled over for another DWI! The difference between a first offense and a second offense in refusals and DWIs is tremendous: 1 year 7 months to 1 year of suspended driving privileges and thousands of dollars.
The first point would be, obviously, don't drink and drive. The second would be to remember that submitting to the test, as you have promised to do by possessing a driver's license, does not necessarily mean you will be convicted of a DWI, but refusing to take the test will get you convicted of that crime, which carries its own fines and penalties.

The third, though probably most important if you dismiss the first, is that you should contact an attorney immediately so that you don't get caught in a web of complicated laws. DWI/DUI and refusal convictions come with fines, community service, jail time, car ignition interlock devices, IDRC (Intoxicated Driver Resource Center) classes, severe inconvenience, and have a way of following you for the rest of your life. Get yourself a skilled, experienced attorney immediately.

Side note #1: People with commercial driver's licenses have an entirely separate set of penalties that affect their license, even if they were stopped or charged while driving their personal car! For example, they lose their commercial drivers license for a minimum of one year.
Side note #2: If you have a DWI conviction, you cannot travel to Canada without permission from the Canadian Embassy! Canada considers a DWI a crime, and they will turn you away at the border without that express permission.

A Monmouth County man will reportedly be sentenced in Freehold to five years in prison in connection with the death of Wall Township man. Walter Poland was intoxicated when he hit the victim with his truck. Mr. Poland pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended license, driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. His 54 year-old victim used a walker, had fallen and was lying on the ground in the shoulder on Route 35 in Wall Township. Police found Mr. Poland with help from a witness who reported the incident, which occurred back on October 4, 2010. These are three separate offenses, 1. driving with a suspended license, 2. driving while intoxicated, 3. leaving the scene of a fatal accident, but all deal with his fatally irresponsible operation of an ice cream truck.

A DWI offense means he admitted to being intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle, Driving While Intoxicated. The suspended license offense means his license was suspended at some point prior to this accident for a motor vehicle violation, and that he has no legal right to be on New Jersey's roads. If that previous offense was a DUI conviction, Driving Under the Influence, then the current convictions carry mandatory jail time. In this case, the number of offenses charged is a factor that will be considered in his sentence.

Finally, the leaving the scene of a fatal accident is an extremely serious offense. In any motor vehicle accident, whether a fender bump or a full on crash, if someone involved in the accident leaves the scene of that accident, that person can lose his or her license. If injuries occur, the penalty becomes more significant. Obviously, in this case where there was a fatality, leaving the scene is a regarded as a fairly shocking wrongdoing. The public is supposed to be protected from anyone driving who has not earned the privilege of a valid drivers license from the state. So we can be certain that Mr. Poland will be off New Jersey roads for a long time.

Even one conviction of DUI on your record could have a big negative impact on your future. It is vital that an attorney assist in handling any DUI or motor vehicle charges. Contact an experienced attorney immediately if you have any DUI or motor vehicle charges brought against you.

Texting and driving is a danger with any moving vehicle, as a Boston subway driver proved by crashing his trolley into another trolley. Many of the 60 injured passengers were also likely texting at the time, going by the technology's popularity, but they were not in the drivers seat. The driver plead guilty to criminal gross negligence by a person in control of a common carrier, meaning he was providing a service transporting a group of individuals. His girlfriend must feel a creepy kind of special to have cause the Defendant to run through yellow and red warning lights, endangering his passengers and shirking his crucial job responsibility.

His lawyer certainly did his job with this case. Prosecutors argued that because he felt like reaching out to his girlfriend, the defendant caused 65 people injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones, risking their lives, and incurred $10 million in damage. In defense, Mr. Quinn's attorney argued that this was a one-time thing, that he is ordinarily cautious, and that he has suffered already by losing his job, and becoming extremely unpopular locally and in the media. Tax dollars should not be spent to protect the public from this remorseful, good person he argued.

Mr. Quinn is an extremely fortunate individual. Due to his attorney's efforts, he will avoid time in jail despite carrying with him in the future a criminal record. This case illustrates how someone can be found guilty of a crime and have the State (or Commonwealth in this case) seek jail time, yet still avoid prison. It is because the sentencing judge has the ultimate discretion. Here, the Judge sentenced Mr. Quinn to probation, which means he will have to comply with Probation's requirements, but he will not serve any prison time. In New Jersey, a fourth or third degree criminal offense usually carries with it the presumption that guilty party be given probation rather jail time.

The procedural technicalities, as well as the importance of oral argument, in this case demonstrate how crucial it is to have the best defense attorney possible, no matter how serious or trivial the criminal charges. The right defense attorney can make a huge impact on your life.

Police have reportedly just made the second largest drug bust in upstate New York, finding a young co-ed with a LOT of heroin. Keri Blakinger, a 26 year old senior at Cornell University, was arrested holding over 6 ounces of heroin, in a Collegetown hotel-motel. It is suggested that she was holding 500 uncut doses or $150,000.00 worth of the drug. Her former boyfriend has a history of drug charges in the area. Columbia, Brown and the other Ivy League universities all have drugs on or around their campuses, but this large amount is thankfully not common. It is unfortunate that the opportunities afforded to someone who earns an Ivy League degree will be lost on this student, and a tragic waste. Instead, she will be tested by the legal and, likely, penal system instead of the educational system.

Though the college student is described as holding $150,000.00 worth of heroin, the New Jersey laws regarding drugs or narcotics use weight in ounces rather than "street value" to measure the severity of the crime committed. If Keri had been in a New Jersey jurisdiction, she would be subject to various drug offenses. If the amount a defendant is charged with holding is greater than 5 ounces, the crime constitutes a first-degree crime, and carries with a possible 10-20 years in prison. The crime "intent to distribute" does not actually mean that the state would be required by the Court to prove that the person was a real "drug dealer" by trade or day-to-day profession. The way the law is written, it assumes that if someone has so much of a drug, he or she must be planning on selling it. It isn't something that people typically stockpile for use alone.

If you are, or anyone close to you is accused of possessing any amount of illegal drug, an experienced attorney should be retained in order to determine the best possible strategy to protect your rights. A skilled defense attorney can examine the facts and identify where the state's case might be fall short in terms of sufficient evidence and of burdens of proof, as required by law.

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.

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.

Whether it is New Jersey or California, a Municipal Court judge may order a person to serve jail time. In New Jersey, the longest a person can be sentenced to serve in jail is 180 days in Municipal Court. Naturally, jail time is not common for municipal offenses, outside of a mandatory sentence for a third DUI offense. The key word in all of this is "may," because the law does give a judge the authority to order jail time for things such as disorderly persons offenses. The statute puts a cap on the amount of time, but as anyone would imagine, most people do have an aversion to any prison time.

Lindsay Lohan makes the news by being sentenced to 90 days jail time because, despite her exquisite display of tears and remorse, she has blatantly disregarded the prior court orders. She has missed court dates and failed to comply with terms of her probation, and further, she has erred more than once. Lets hope the jail time is a wake up call to Ms. Lohan, even if she is released after serving a fraction of her jail sentence. If the wake-up call hits, perhaps her mandatory in-house substance abuse rehabilitation following jail might have a shot at being effective.