Juvenile

Supreme Court: Illegal for police to search your phone without a warrant

Published on: May 27, 2014 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

Charlotte DWI and Criminal Defense Attorney J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can the police search my car without a warrant?”

Of course police want everything off your phone. They want to take it, analyze it, and try to use it to prove you committed a crime.

In their eyes, your phone is like anything else. Anything you say and do – text, email, connect with old friends on social networking sites – can and will be used against you.

Until yesterday.

In a June 25, 2014 unanimous decision (and I don’t mean your menu choice for lunch from Moe’s Southwest Grill), the nine justices of the United Supreme Court ruled that police have to get a warrant before they can troll through the contents of your phone.

The case – Riley v. California – began when an officer pulled David Riley over for driving in a car with an expired tag. Things went downhill fast for Riley when the officer learned his license had been suspended and he found two handguns in Riley’s car.

The officer took Riley’s smartphone and searched through the portion of his contacts titled “Crip Killers.” Photos and videos on the phone showed Riley was a member of the Bloods gang and had participated in a shooting weeks before his arrest, officers alleged.

After a trial, Riley was convicted and sentenced to 15-years-to-life in prison.

He appealed, arguing that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution required officers to get a warrant before searching the contents of his smartphone. Some powerful sources lined up against Riley, including the Obama administration, which argued that police have always had free reign to search people’s “letters, diaries, briefcases and purses,” so they should be able to troll through people’s cell phones.

Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to laugh off that assertion in the Court’s opinion, writing that the comparison was “like saying a ride on horseback is materially indistinguishable from a flight to the Moon.”

North Carolina Says Giving Diet Advice Online Could Lead To Criminal Charges

Published on: May 22, 2014 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “What are the long term effects of being convicted of a crime?”

You might think that in the hierarchy of criminal acts, giving diet and nutritional advice online wouldn’t seem to rank very high. Though dieting and recipe tips may not seem especially insidious, that hasn’t stopped one North Carolina man from running into legal trouble.

The issue, which was recently uncovered by the conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, began when Steven Cooksey began offering his personal views concerning diet and eating habits online. Cooksey started a blog several years ago about his struggle to manage his diabetes. On the blog, Cooksey told his readers how a new diet had helped him not only survive, but also thrive and felt like he owed it to others to spread the good news.

Though Cooksey felt confident about his dietary advice, he did make clear that he was neither a doctor nor a nutritionist, telling readers that he was simply a man interested in sharing his personal experience. Though the warning might seem to be sufficient to inform those who happened upon his site that any advice should be taken with a grain of salt, North Carolina authorities did not feel the warning went far enough.

Almost three years after the blog was first launched, the North Carolina Board of Dietetics and Nutrition warned Cooksey that he had no right to offer advice on dieting, regardless of whether he was being paid for that advice or not. To offer any such dieting tips and tricks amounted to the unlicensed practice of dietetics, something that is a misdemeanor under state law.

Digging In The Woods Leads To Jail Time For Two North Carolina Men

Published on: May 20, 2014 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “Can I be arrested without evidence against me?”

Chalk this story up to a bizarre crime that many people would be shocked to learn is actually criminal. Authorities in western North Carolina recently announced that two men who were arrested last October for poaching wild ginseng have now been sentenced for their actions. Not only were the two charged with a very real crime, they will now spend time behind bars for their decision to dig up the root.

The whole mess began last October during the government shutdown. Twenty-six-year-old Daniel Mizell and 33-year-old Derek Vann Whitson were both found in a closed portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The two were caught red-handed digging up wild ginseng. In the end, the two had managed to unearth a combined three pounds of ginseng.

Though digging up a root in the woods may not seem like a dastardly crime, the two men were handcuffed by officers and taken to jail for booking. Now, months later, they have been sentenced for their actions that day.

Three North Carolina Teens Arrested For Cyber-Bullying

Published on: May 15, 2014 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “If I simply intend to plead guilty, why do I need a lawyer?”

Everyone knows that young people can be cruel. Anyone who suffered through middle or high school has likely felt the sting of hurtful comments or the isolation caused by bullying. However, teenagers today have resources at their disposal that previous generations of bullies never did: computers, the Internet and social media.

By taking some of the unpleasantness of growing up online, it means that in some cases children are unable to ever get a break from the painful taunting of classmates. To help solve the increasingly serious problem of cyber-bullying, North Carolina legislators have passed laws that allow police to arrest those who engage in the vicious behavior. North Carolina is currently one of 19 states to have implemented cyber-bullying laws in response to a rise in victims suffering serious emotional trauma from the sometimes-vicious online behavior of their peers.

Earlier this month three teens from Cornelius, North Carolina discovered that cyber-bullying was something to be taken quite seriously as they were arrested and charged with a crime. Their teenage misbehavior had escalated to involve lawyers, judges and possible misdemeanor criminal charges.

North Carolina Legislators Pass Juvenile Offender Bill :: Charlotte DWI Attorney

Published on: May 13, 2014 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “What are the long term effects of being convicted of a crime?”

The North Carolina House passed a new bill that would help move the state in the right direction in terms of classifying 16 and 17-year-olds as juvenile offenders when facing misdemeanor criminal charges. The juvenile offender bill means that North Carolina now joins the ranks of 48 other states that ensure minors are subjected to the juvenile justice system after being accused of committing crimes.

The bill, known as the Young Offenders Rehabilitation Act, passed the House 77-39. Though the bill officially classifies 16 and 17-year-olds as juvenile offenders for misdemeanor cases, it leaves open the question of what to do about those teens facing felony charges. The bill exempts gang members and gang crimes from this classification, meaning 16 and 17-year-olds could lose their juvenile status if charged with such crimes.

The language of the law says that a new advisory committee would be created to handle the civil citation process for those teens that are charged with misdemeanors in North Carolina. The law was proposed because many felt that existing laws which allowed offenders as young as 16 to face adult punishment for crimes were unfair and counterproductive.

Advocates of change argued that such serious penalties for young offenders would negatively alter the trajectory of their lives and make it that much harder for young offenders to eventually become productive members of society. Under the new bill, young offenders would be given counseling and forced to go through special programs designed to reintroduce young offenders into their communities as productive citizens.