Rhode Island Criminal & DUI Defense News
7/18/08 Online Evidence Can Be Used Against
You in Criminal Court
Via
slashdot, a Rhode Island man was sentenced
to 2 years in prison based partially on
pictures on his Facebook page.
In his Rhode Island DUI case, the court obtained
evidence of him acting inappropriately at a
party 2 weeks after he seriously injured someone
and was arrested for DUI.
The court determined that this was evidence
after the fact that the Bryant University
student showed no remorse for his actions, and
the judge factored this into his sentencing.
Documents from facebook, myspace and other
social networking internet sites are generally
publicly available information. It is smart to
be cautious about how any such information can
be used against you in the future. Certainly
this is an extreme and unusual case, but it is
something to be aware of.
6/24/08 Good News on Criminal Records
The RI legislature appears set to enact a law to
automatically "quash and destroy" many criminal
records after 5 years. This would apply in cases
of deferred sentencing, such as "nolo
contentre" (no contest) pleas, as well as
records where a person was charged and not
convicted of the crime. Currently, such A key
Senate committee has agreed to the bill
after the
House passed it previously.
Modern online record keeping has made any minor
criminal offense a severe hardship to anyone
looking to have any future career opportunities.
The availability of internet background check
for anyone to see has changed the nature of
public criminal records. While they have always
been public information, now that anyone, for
any reason can effortlessly and instantly do a
criminal background check, the impact of very
minor offenses, often long in the past is
magnified beyond all reasonable thinking.
A criminal record affects a person's ability to
function in society, get a job (In RI we require
clean criminal history for licensing of auto
mechanics, social workers, nurses, and many
other positions), get an apartment, and be a
productive member of the community.
This is very good news if the Governor signs the
bill. It may make
expungements obsolete.
5/13/08 - Rhode Island MADD and
misguided efforts.
In a perfectly noble attempt to stop future
drunk driving fatalities by young people during
prom season, the Zero Fatalities Project
brings students into contact with inmates at the
Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute who
have been convicted of DUI where another person
was killed.
Unfortunately, these projects, as reported in
the
Warwick Beacon, have never been shown to
reduce drunk driving incidents and
fatalities. Projects like the classic scared
straight experiments of the 70s, where young
people feared to be headed for a life of crime
were brought into prison to meet hardened
criminals to see what their life could be like.
The spin on this attempt is the prisoners are
also young people not much different than the
students. They theory is that it would be easier
for them to imagine themselves in that
situation.
However, the students haven't done anything
specific to indicate they are likely to drink
and drive.
And secondly, there is little to explain why
this program will have any better results than
the failures of all previous programs, and
similar efforts to change future behavior of
youn people that includes D.A.R.E., abstinence
pledges, and other programs that place wishful
thinking about objective analysis.
It is simply a difficult problem to get past a
young person's sense of invulnerability - the "This
will never happen to me" syndrome.
Drunk driving is a serious issue for young
people in Rhode Island, but sadly, programs like
this are more likely to make the organizers feel
good than achieve any results.
5/12/08 - Some News on the ongoing legal
challenges to increased penalties for
Breathalyzer refusals in Rhode Island. The
challenge is largely about the rules and
procedures for passing amendments to laws than
it is about the facts of the intent of the
legislature when it passed a law to double
license suspension penalties for refusing to
take a breath test.
2/18/08 - The Rhode Island Supreme
Court is set to rule on the legality and application of
some of the tougher Rhode Island DUI laws passed two
years ago. If overturned, it could change how police
gather evidence in DUI stops. more
here.
Rhode Island Criminal Defense
Attorney James Powderly represents honest
citizens accused
of Drunk Driving (DUI / OUI) and other criminal
charges such as possession of drugs, assault,
criminal traffic offenses, and other charges in
courts across Rhode Island everyday. Call today
for a free, no-obligation, criminal defense
consultation on any RI arrest or charge. (401) 709-8987
James P. Powderly, Esq., A Rhode Island Criminal
Defense Attorney
Powderly Defense Firm
37 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840 |
