Harrowing stories of neglect are becoming commonplace–last year, a 7-year-old Ohio girl was repeatedly raped on her special needs bus, and the news has recently been full of stories about the criminal charges associated with the death of Danieal Kelly, a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy whose  mother left her to starve and dehydrate to death in her bed.  But even with stories like these popping up in the news on a regular basis, it’s almost impossible to believe the story of Ed Rivera and Linda Hockaday.

Rivera is a 22-year-old mentally and physically disabled man who attends a special  needs program in New York City.  Hockaday is the 51-year-old matron charged with transporting Rivera and others like him.

While most of us were celebrating the new year on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, Rivera–who has cerebral palsy–was sitting strapped into a seat in a locked bus.  Rivera sat in that seat for 19 hours in bitter cold.

Lest you think that perhaps Hockaday simply made a terrible mistake, think again:  Rivera is 6′2″ tall and was strapped into the seat directly behind the driver’s seat.  And, Hockaday has reportedly admitted that she knew Rivera was there.  Her explanation, according to CBS news, was that she didn’t want to be late for church.

Hockaday is now facing criminal charges and Rivera is in the hospital.  It appears that Hockaday isn’t alone in her responsibility for this near-tragic event, either.  News reports suggest that when police first went to the Outstanding Transport facility to search for Rivera, employees there didn’t bother to tell officers that there was a second bus lot.  It was in that second lot that Rivera was finally located, when police returned to the facility hours later with Rivera’s entire family to continue the search.

We’ve long known that people convicted of drug and alcohol related crimes and blue collar economic crimes such as theft were more likely to commit new crimes if they didn’t have access to things like a place to live, clean clothing, a telephone number to use on job applications, and all of the basics that make running a productive everyday life possible.

We have to believe, though, that legislators sincerely thought they were reducing the risk that sex offenders would repeat their crimes when an increasining number of jurisdictions enacted laws regulating where a convicted sex offender might live.  For instance, there are restrictions on how near to a school a sex offender may live-and in some states, those restrictions extend to parks, bus stops, and a number of other locales presumed to be frequented by potential victims.

While that makes a lot  of sense in theory, California officials are reporting that it’s not working out exactly as planned.  The restrictions are making it difficult–sometimes impossible–for convicted sex offenders to find housing.  And it turns out that just like other classes of criminal, sex offenders are more likely to commit new crimes when they lack a stable environment and a known location.  The California Sex Offender Management Board says that forcing sex offenders into a transient lifestyle actually increases the threat.

Michigan this week became the thirteenth state to legalize medical marijuana, though the law won’t be fully effective until April.  Until that time, medical marijuana users find themselves in an odd gray zone, in which they haven’t yet been issued the cards that will allow them to use the drug legally, but may raise medical use as a defense should they be charged.

But the more controversial development came earlier this week, from the U.S.  Supreme Court.  Three years ago, an Orange County Superior Court ordered law enforcement officials to return seized marijuana to Felix Kha after a doctor confirmed that he was using marijuana on medical advice and charges against him were dropped.  But prosecutors balked.  The Court of Appeals sided with Kha and the Superior Court, citing a federally protected property right.  Prosecutors appealed to the California Supreme Court, arguing that no such federally protected right could exist, since federal law makes marijuana possession illegal.

The California Supreme Court declined to hear the case, leaving prosecutors with only two options–honor the lower court ruling or take the matter one step further.  They chose to continue the fight, and asked the United States Supreme Court to decide the issue.

When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to address the issue, the 3+ year battle came to an end.  However, because the ruling is only binding in one appellate district in California, the question remains open in other jurisdictions and the issue is likely to arise again, eventually forcing state supreme courts and/or the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the issue as jurisdictions split and the law varies from place to place.

President-elect Barack Obama’s advisers are creating a proposal to ship dozens (maybe hundreds) of Guantanamo-Bay prisoners to the United States to face criminal trials.

Obama has opposed the imprisonment of the terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay, calling it a “sad chapter in American history”. He made a campaign promise to close the prison and said that the United States is generally equipped to handle the legal proceedings; however, he has offered few details on what he planned to do.

Under the proposed plans, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted through the U.S. criminal court system.

The detainees who have cases that are entangled in classified information may see their cases before a new court designed to handle sensitive cases involving national security.

These plans were disclosed to the Associated Press in anonymity because the plans aren’t final. Stay tuned to Total Lawyers for information as it develops.

Related Article: The Election and the Supreme Court

Yesterday, disbarred Florida lawyer Graham Kligerman was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a fake mortgage foreclosure rescue scheme.

The 34-year-old lawyer is accused of being the closing agent on 57 fraudulent real estate transactions. Banks were deceived into making millions in loans. Worse, homeowners facing foreclosure, who turned to Kligerman to save their homes, actually lost their homes.

Kligerman, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank, wire and mail fraud, was also ordered to pay $6.5 million in restitution payments to all the loan processors, homeowners, banks and homebuyers who were cheated by his con.

His defense lawyers argued that his deceptive behavior stemmed from mental illness and the desperation of a failing law practice—not greed. The said that Kligerman only kept $150,000 of the diverted equity and gave the rest to his law clients.

“This court is seeing too many of these types of cases,” the presiding judge said. “There are victims out here who have lost their homes. You should be down on your knees begging for these people to forgive you and do something tangible to make up for what has happened to them. They’re hurting and you’re living comfortably—What’s wrong with that picture?”

Kligerman was disbarred in 2005 after he fabricated court documents, faked a judge’s signature and diverted money to a client from one of his personal trust accounts while pretending it was a payment from defendants.

“I live with regret every day,” Kligerman told a reporter. “To anybody who was hurt, and I know there were many of them, I apologize.”

Mortgage foreclosures are at an all-time high. If you are nearing or facing mortgage foreclosure, be careful who you turn to for help. Like Kligerman, there are many predatory people out there looking to cheat homeowners who are desperate to save their homes.

Consider talking with a bankruptcy lawyer. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan has helped thousands of Americans save their homes from foreclosure and get set up on a realistic repayment plan to better manage their debt.

With the economy in such turmoil, times are tough for everybody—even lawyers. Layoffs at law offices are rare but becoming somewhat of a trend as income dwindles.

A Chicago law firm laid off 24 defense lawyers out of its 680 staff and another firm let go of 21 defense attorneys out of their stock of 650, according to a Chicago Tribune story.

But don’t worry—if you’re looking for a lawyer, we have an extensive network and nobody’s going anywhere!

Total Lawyers can help you if you’re looking for a:

• Bankruptcy Lawyer
• Criminal Defense Lawyer
• Personal Injury Lawyer
• DUI Lawyer
• Divorce Lawyer
• Family Law Lawyer
• Estate Layer
• Lemon Law Lawyer

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) just busted a world-wide spam network responsible for burdening mailboxes with billions of illegal messages encouraging people to purchase unsafe male-enhancement and weight-loss pills.

The FTC froze the assets of two men, one from New Zealand and the other from Texas. Those assets may may go back to consumers who were sold the bogus weight-loss and male-enhancement drugs. [OK, time to insert bad, obvious joke: “I guess everything isn’t always bigger in Texas.”]

The FTC said it received more than 3 million complaints about the related spam. Preliminary estimates are that the spammers made millions of dollars off the bunk drugs.

The spam network used servers in China to host its Web sites and also used a “botnet” (a network of computers that are hijacked to send spam). In addition, it worked in Cyprus and Georgia to process the credit card information. Through this global system, more than 10 billion spam messages were sent each day.

The FTC is working with the FBI on possible criminal charges against the men.

Check out the related Total Lawyer’s article, Virginia Supreme Court Votes in Favor of Spam.

Baltimore defendants and criminal defense lawyers are opting for their day in court—even in minor cases, according to a recent Baltimore Sun article.

As a result of swamped courts, prosecutors are often left to offer more lenient plea deals or dismiss the case altogether.

Criminal defense lawyers are also requesting jury trials because they know that the idea of repeated court appearances sometimes deter witnesses from showing up and, as a result, their defendant’s case gets dismissed.

For a related article, check out Old Law Prevents Rapists from Prosecution.

A notorious 81-year-old lawyer who went to jail for blinding his lover with lye has found himself in hot water again—and he took another fellow criminal defense lawyer down with him.

The lawyer, who was disbarred after the felony conviction, has been using a Queens, NY criminal defense lawyer as a “front man” so he could continue to practice law.

The criminal defense attorney was subsequently disbarred for his actions, as the state appeals court ruled that “[The aiding defense lawyer] afforded so little regard to his law license as to allow a disbarred felon to use his name freely on court papers and to advertise himself as his paralegal.”

Related Total Lawyers articles:
• The 6th Amendment, a Miami Lawyer & A Columbian Drug Lord
• Judge Allows Police Raid Of Defense Attorney’s Office

As the week comes to an end, check out the latest articles from Total Lawyers:

Appeals Panel Saves American Girl From Deportation:

This article highlights the case of a father who, despite allegedly sexually abusing his daughter, was trying to get the American-born child deported to his current country of residence.

GPS Tracking Law Raises Constitutional Questions:

In Illinois, judges are allowed to order any person considered to be high risk for domestic violence to wear a GPS system. Total Lawyers examines the constitutionality of this new law.

Non-Sex Offender Constricted By Child Predator Law:

How can a man who’s never committed a sex crime be forced to register as a sexual predator? Read this article and learn more about the people who are unfairly labeled sex offenders.

Old Law Prevents Rapists from Prosecution:

DNA evidence has helped close thousands of criminal cases; however, what happens when the statute of limitations expires? Read on…