December 31, 2011
‘Andrea’s Law’
12-31-2011 Illinois:
One of the new measures is “Andrea’s Law,” named after Andrea Will of Batavia, who was killed by her former boyfriend at Eastern Illinois University.
Andrea’s Law requires that people convicted of first-degree murder must be added to a new first-degree murder database, similar to the sex offender registry, when they are released from prison or any other facility. The public database would include names, addresses, employment places, schools attended and photos for offenders for up to 10 years after their release from prison.
Andrea Will was a freshman at Eastern Illinois University in 1998 when she was murdered by her former boyfriend, Justin Boulay of St. Charles.
Andrea’s mother, Patty Rosenberg, began her campaign for Andrea’s Law after learning Boulay was being released from prison in November 2010, after serving only half of a 24-year sentence for first-degree murder. The law quickly made its way through the legislature and was signed by Gov. Pat Quinn last summer.
Patty Rosenberg also hopes to work with other states which might consider a similar registry, including Hawaii, where Boulay is now living with the woman he married while in prison. ..Source.. by Sun Times
University of Oklahoma professor resigns amid sex abuse charges
12-31-2011 Oklahoma:
A University of Oklahoma professor accused of sex crimes involving teenage girls has resigned from the university, school officials say.
Dwain Pellebon resigned Tuesday, OU spokeswoman Catherine Bishop said.
The social work professor had been on administrative leave without pay since Friday.
Pellebon was arrested Dec. 9 after a McClain County child welfare worker reported that a teenage girl had seen the professor molest a 13-year-old girl.
The state Department of Human Services worker also reported that Pellebon had raped a mentally disabled 15-year-old girl at least twice, court records show.
Pellebon, 54, has denied any inappropriate behavior with the girls. Attempts to reach the professor for comment have not been successful.
Bishop said she couldn't release the suspect's letter of resignation because it's a personnel matter, but did say that OU officials had requested that Pellebon formally quit his job.
‘Red flags were there,' student says
Social work graduate student Mary Beth Henschel, who first met Dwain Pellebon two years ago as an undergraduate, said the professor did a number of things over the past 24 months “that should've been bright red flags, at least looking back,” including a shirtless photo of him holding a sword, wearing a snake bracelet and standing in front of a leopard-print sheet.
She also said he had a collage in his office covered with scantily clad little girls.
An ‘affectionate, sensual man'
Pellebon has described himself to investigators as an “affectionate, sensual man who liked to hug, kiss, cuddle and stroke young girls that he felt close to,” according to court documents.
The professor, free on $75,000 bail, told police during an interview at his house that he'd viewed child pornography “one time” but that he'd never downloaded any.
In 2001, Pellebon was investigated by DHS for allegations involving a young girl but the alleged victim — the daughter of a former Norman police officer — failed to give investigators a statement and no charges were filed, documents show. ..Source.. by ANDREW KNITTLE
Man Killed by Train is Sued: Flying Body Parts Injured Woman
12-31-2011 National:
An Illinois woman is suing the estate of a man killed by a train, claiming the man's flying body parts hit her and caused injuries.
A state appeals court cleared the way for Gayane Zokhrabov's flying body parts lawsuit to proceed -- though it also called the case "tragically bizarre," the Chicago Tribune reports.
The case stems from a horrific accident in 2008, when a train traveling more than 70 mph struck and killed an 18-year-old man who was running across the tracks. The victim did not know the approaching train was a high-speed train, his mother maintains.
The impact flung the man's body about 100 feet, and flying body parts knocked Zokhrabov, then 58, to the ground. She hurt her shoulder, and broke her leg and wrist.
Zokhrabov sued the estate of the deceased victim, Hiroyuki Joho. A lower court dismissed the suit, finding Joho could not have anticipated the woman's injuries, according to the Tribune.
But an Illinois appeals court disagreed, and said "it was reasonably foreseeable" that a train accident could send Joho's flying body parts into crowds of waiting passengers.
Whether an injury is "reasonably foreseeable" is a major factor in cases alleging negligence. A victim's injury must also have been caused by another party's breach of duty to the victim, through action or inaction. And the victim must have been in a "zone of danger."
In this case, Zokhrabov must show that Joho breached his duty -- perhaps by running across the train tracks. She will also have to show that Joho's breach caused her injuries. That's where her "flying body parts" theory comes into play.
Zokhrabov's lawyer laid out her legal strategy to the Tribune: "If you do something as stupid as this guy did, you have to be responsible for what comes from it," she said.
This may not be the last appeal for Zokhrabov's flying body parts lawsuit. An attorney for Joho's mother says he plans to take the case to the Illinois Supreme Court. ..Source.. by Andrew Chow
Michigan man may have intentionally infected hundreds with HIV
12-31-2011 Michigan:
Updated at 4:50 p.m. ET: David Dean Smith's attorney, Richard E. Zambon of Grand Rapids, tells msnbc.com that he plans on "exploring all options" in defending Smith, saying specifically that "I am concerned about his mental health."
Zambon said he hadn't yet seen all of the police and medical records in the case and couldn't talk about specifics, but he said the law under which Smith was charged is a "relatively new statute with not many cases having interpreted" it, meaning few court precedents have been established.
Original post: A Michigan man has been charged with felony sex offenses after he told police he was HIV-positive and had set out to intentionally infect as many people as he could, police said. Health officials have issued an alert warning that "possibly hundreds of people have been exposed to HIV."
The man, identified as David Dean Smith, 51, of Comstock Park, north of Grand Rapids, was arraigned Wednesday on a second count of "AIDS-sexual penetration with an uninformed partner" after police said they had identified a second possible victim.
Smith was initially charged with one count after he went to Grand Rapids police last week and said he had intentionally had unprotected sex with as many people as he could over the last three years, according to police.
According to documents on file with Grand Rapids 61st District Court, Smith claimed to have had sex with "thousands" of partners, intending to kill them by infecting them with HIV. Some of those people are from outside the Grand Rapids area, including people Smith met over the Internet, he told police, according to documents.
Smith faces separate preliminary hearings on the two charges on Jan. 4 and Jan. 9. He remains in the Kent County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. Smith's attorney did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The Kent County Health Department issued an alert Tuesday warning that "hundreds of people may have been exposed to HIV," urging potential victims to come forward and encouraging everyone who may have concerns to be tested for HIV.
Vitals: AIDS discovery could put virus on the run, bioethicist says
One of the two possible victims police say they have found so far said in an interview with NBC station WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids that she was diagnosed with HIV in October 2008.
The woman, whom authorities and NBC News are not identifying, said she knew immediately that it was Smith — whom she said she met through an ad on the Yahoo! Personals website — who had infected her. She called him "a predator" and "a sociopath."
The woman said Smith sent her a text message letting her know that he was going to surrender to police. The message read: "Turning myself into the law, my life is over. Take care. Always love you."
"It's something he should have done years ago," she said. "He shouldn't get a pat on the head for what he did."
Smith said at his arraignment Wednesday that he has been undergoing counseling. Court documents show that Smith was admitted to Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services recently because he was "suicidal" and had tried to kill himself at least once.
The records say the hospital determined that Smith is "sexually aroused by causing pain to females."
A Facebook page with Smith's name, address and pictures says he graduated from Harry Hill High School in Lansing in 1978 and studied at the University of Phoenix, a for-profit online institution. It shows that he has worked in telecommunications for several companies.
Posts to the account stopped on Nov. 30. Before then, the account owner posted some messages that could possibly be interpreted as alluding to his situation.
"Someone special to me asked me a question about scandulous people, this was my thought," he wrote on Nov. 5. "Let me know what ya think. When you are young you believe people will love you like you want and keep an eye out for those scandulous people...as you get older you realize most everyone is scandulous so you dont trust anyone but keep an eye out for the special ones that truley care."
A day earlier, this message appeared:
"I pray for blessings to all I know, for forgiveness for my shortcommings to them and that they may no peace. And last, that I love them all as much as I can."
For the remainder of this story: by M. Alex Johnson
Politicians Weigh In on Possible Aliahna's Law
12-31-2011 Indiana:
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - Could an Aliahna's Law be the silver lining in an otherwise devastating tragedy?
The details of any new, proposed legislation stemming from Aliahna's death could only be formulated following the release of further information regarding the 9-year-old's death. However, both federal and state officials say they are keeping a close eye on how the case unfolds.
Laws could be proposed at the local, state, or even federal level. Indiana State Senator Carlin Yoder [R] says the government's responsibilities include protecting children whenever possible, and he would certainly consider an Aliahna's Law if gaps in current legislation become apparent.
"It is our job to provide as much safety as we can for our children," says Yoder.
"So, if there is anything we can do from a legislative standpoint to prevent these things from happening in the future, I think we need to look at them and I am confident we will. I'm not saying there is anything we can do necessarily, but why not look at it?"
U.S. Representative Marlin Stutzman agrees. He points out that Michael Plumadore, the man who confessed to Aliahna's murder, has a criminal history in more than one state, including Indiana.
"We're definitely going to be following what happened here, and if there is a way for us to communicate better between states with criminals, that is possible. We can't always stop every horrible situation like this, but we need to do everything that we can to avoid them," says Stutzman.
If information is revealed that indicates sexual assault was involved in Aliahna's death, a completely different component could be added to possible legislation in the future. However, Michael Plumadore has not been previously convicted as a sex offender, and it is not yet clear if sexual assault was involved in Aliahna's death. ..Source.. by Megan Trent
December 30, 2011
Facebook Censors Anonymous Commentors: Time picks "Anonymous Protestors" for Person of the Year
Time magazine's Protester cover reminds us of the value of Big Media12-30-2011 Global:
I'm sure by now folks know that Facebook has a Comments Social Plugin for use by any site, which only allows folks with a Facebook account (or if plugin option is turned on AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo addresses) to post comments on any site using the Facebook Social Plugin. Facebook's intent was to eliminate anonymous comments because they consider them harmful, spam and basically useless to any discussion.
From the Facebook Developers Blog comes this which also gives us an idea of what Facebook is focusing on:
More Social Relevance:The upgraded Comments Box (i.e., Facebook's Social Plugin) uses social signals to surface the highest quality comments for each user. Comments are ordered to show users the most relevant comments from friends, friends of friends, and the most liked or active discussion threads, while comments marked as spam are hidden from view.It is clear that Facebook is censoring the Internet and only allowing what their "Social Signals" (Undefined) chose. Effectively Facebook is selectively choosing who they consider acceptable to post comments even through other sites which use the Facebook social Plugin. These other sites are opting to use the plugin because of one feature of it, Facebook supposedly only allows accounts from verifiable persons. So these other sites are in effect being slyly tricked into censoring the Internet as well.
The following very questionable comments (updated as we find more) are allowed by Facebook, with no sanction for violating any terms of agreement, and fit the kind of comment Facebook considers acceptable:
DSS employee who was fired for Facebook comments withdraws petition
Police officers sacked over offensive Facebook comments
Facebook comments cause an office ruckus
Teachers resign after Facebook row
Three more jailed for Facebook comments on UK summer riots
Occupy posting leads to demotion
Sturgis residents angry about councilman's Facebook comments
Public servants' pay docked over Facebook comments
Purdue Strikes Down On Negative Facebook Comments
Lowe's deletes 'hateful' comments on Facebook page
Lowe's pulls anti-Muslim Facebook comments after 'American Muslim' ad ban
Dominican Woman Killed Over Negative Comments On Facebook
Dad Jailed for Facebook Duct Tape Pic of Daughter
Police: Large fight began because of Facebook comments
Facebook fight erupts between DJs
Assemblyman Steve Katz's wife blasts Sen. Greg Ball in video over Facebook unfriending
Three more jailed for Facebook comments on UK summer riots
Troy Mayor Janice Daniels' gay slur exposes a bigger issue part 1 of 2
Teen suspended over Facebook comments
Fla. deputy suspended over Facebook comments
Sacked Apple employee loses appeal over negative Facebook comments
Latest Vile Facebook Comments Made by ... NYPD
SHERIFF: Broward deputy's Facebook comments cross the line
Police Computers Searched in Probe of Facebook Comments on West Indian Day Parade
Thailand Warns Facebook Activity Might Slur Monarchy
Facebook comments lead to fight in yard
N.Y.C. Police Maligned Paradegoers on Facebook
Area advocates behind new FBI definition of rape
12-30-2011 Washington DC:
This month, the FBI changed the definition of rape used in crime reports for the first time since 1927.
For nearly a century, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program defined rape as "carnal knowledge of a female, forcible and against her will."
"It's narrow, outmoded and steeped in gender-based stereotypes," said Carol Tracy, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Women's Law Project. "It understates the true incidence of sex crime."
Tracy's organization has been pushing for 10 years to update the definition. It now includes victims who were drugged into submission, as well as sodomy and rape by object. Tracy said this will give a truer picture of the incidence of sex crimes.
"Ultimately, accurate data is a foundational and fundamental starting point to improving police response to sex crimes," Tracy said.
The new definition will not change how rape is prosecuted, but it could significantly increase the number of rapes reported in the FBI's annual "Crime in the United States" report.
Chuck Wexler, director of the nonprofit Police Executive Research Forum, said those statistics influence how Congress allocates federal funding and local police departments assign staff.
"The Uniform Crime Reporting system is the centerpiece of how we measure crime every year," Wexler said. "So this is very important in terms of allocating resources."
The Women's Law Project spearheaded the push for the change. It first asked the FBI to update the definition after reports a decade ago that some sex crimes in Philadelphia were not being investigated.
Tracy and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey testified on the topic before Congress last year. ..Source.. by Carolyn Beeler
December 29, 2011
ACTION ALERT: California Sex Offender Registry Law: New change affecting former sex offenders REMOVED from the registry
UPDATE: This change DOES NOT apply to folks who no longer have a requirement to register. All Calif. laws are found HERE11-2-2011 and 12-29-2011 California:
UPDATE 12-28-2011: We have been notified that some California NON REGISTRANTS have received letters which state, they will be put back on the registry. Accordingly, it is imperative that they know of the following, which MAY keep them off the registry:
Over the years California has excluded some folks from the public registry, by a procedure, court orders or operation of law. However, since Prop-83 California has made several subtle changes to its laws which have not been well publicized.
Today we need to notify ANY former California sex offender who HAS ALREADY BEEN REMOVED from the public registry, that effective 1-1-2012 those folks will be automatically RESTORED to the public registry unless they file for EXCLUSION following a new procedure that has been added to California registry law.
There is no doubt that this will come as a surprise to these folks, and likely they are not watching laws as changes are made, and they will be blind-sighted by this change. I can see they may even be harmed in some way, like lose a job or housing. This is why we need every Advocate to announce this to their memberships and get folks talking about this so those folks can do what is necessary to remain off the public registry.
Here is the change that lawmakers have tucked into registry law:Penal Code 290.46(e)(4) Effective January 1, 2012, no person shall be excluded pursuant to this subdivision unless the offender has submitted to the department documentation sufficient for the department to determine that he or she has a SARATSO risk level of low or moderate-low.A reasonable reading of that change tells us that, even after following the procedure, unless the former offender's SARATSO risk level low or moderate-low, they will be restored to the public registry. Yes, some will result in a higher risk level and they will again be harmed by the public registry.
The form to use is HERE and more about the SARATSO system is HERE.
Now, because it appears that information is required that would require offenders to reveal facts about their past crime, I STRONGLY SUGGEST you seek a lawyer to help you file what is necessary. A lawyer can tell you what should or shouldn't be revealed or how to say what is necessary. PROTECT you rights at all costs.
PLEASE pass this along to anyone in California so they can find these folks and tell them what they need to do. Get folks talking about this, to find these folks and protect their rights.
Thanks, have a great day & a better tomorrow.
eAdvocate
Vt. defense lawyers challenging expansion of DNA collection law
12-29-2011 Vermont:
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Some Vermont defense attorneys are challenging the expansion of state law that allows DNA samples to be taken from more criminal suspects and the issue is likely to end up before the state Supreme Court.
Defense attorneys across the state are claiming that requiring more people to submit DNA samples, even when they haven't been convicted of crimes, raises privacy issues.
But prosecutors contend that providing DNA samples is no more intrusive than providing fingerprints or having one's picture taken.
"Requiring a DNA sample from all adults charged with a felony offense after arraignment violates an individual's right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Chapter I, Article 11 of the Vermont Constitution," said a memorandum of law written by attorney Rory Malone, who works out of the public defender's office in St. Albans.
Variations on Malone's arguments are being used by attorneys across the state.
Assistant Attorney General John Treadwell said he expected the Supreme Court to settle the issue. He says the law "is a valid statute, enacted by the Legislature, and entirely constitutional."
Vermont's original DNA law was expanded in 2005 to require that anyone convicted of a felony submit a DNA sample. In 2009 it was expanded again to include anyone arraigned on a felony, a misdemeanor count of domestic violence, or a misdemeanor sex offense requiring sex offender registration.
The Combined DNA Index System at the Vermont Forensic Lab in Waterbury has about 14,000 samples taken from known individuals and 400-500 samples taken from the scenes of unsolved crimes, Director Peg Schwartz told the Burlington Free Press (http://bfpne.ws/uiSFfd).
Each sample contains a digital profile that is "essentially a string of numbers," Schwartz said.
The samples are routinely run against each other. When an individual's profile matches a sample taken from a crime scene lab officials call police. The law requires that the lab destroy DNA samples and delete genetic profiles taken in certain court cases, such as those that end in acquittals or dismissals.
The system was set up in the 1990s with the help of the parents of Patricia Scoville, the Stowe woman who was murdered in 1991 at age 28. The case was solved after a DNA test linked Scoville to Howard Godfrey, now 65 and serving a sentence of life in prison without parole. ..Source.. by The Republic
Man charged with felony for reading wife's e-mail ready to take case to Michigan Supreme Court
12-29-2011 Michigan:
A Rochester Hills man charged with a five-year felony for reading his wife's e-mail pledged Wednesday to take the matter to the state's highest court after a lower court refused to dismiss the charge.
In a written opinion released Wednesday, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that Leon Walker should proceed to trial on charges that he gained unlawful access to then-wife Clara Walker's Gmail account in summer 2009.
His arrest in 2010 prompted widespread outrage and a national debate about computer privacy in the marital home.
In Wednesday's decision, the three-member appellate panel said Michigan's computer hacking law has "no spousal exception," and the law as written applies to Leon Walker's case. The judges also noted that discussions are under way in Michigan's Legislature to amend the law to exclude spouses.
"However, unless and until such legislation occurs, this court is left with the statute as written," the court said in its decision.
Walker, 34 -- a computer technician for Oakland County who is currently on leave during the criminal case -- said he and his attorney will keep fighting the charges. He has 41 days to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.
"What this court did was in effect take the prosecutor's argument and put their names on it," he said. "We're very disappointed."
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said the Court of Appeals decision is in keeping with the law.
"This was never a domestic case, a husband and wife thing," she said. "This was a computer hacking case. The guy is a hacker."
The appellate court also let stand a charge that Walker attempted to access a law enforcement data bank.
The story first made headlines after Walker, Clara Walker's third husband, read his wife's e-mail because he believed she was having an affair with her second husband -- a man who had been arrested for beating her in front of a child she had with her first husband. The e-mails proved the affair.
Leon Walker remains free on bond. ..Source.. by L.L. Brasier
Bill may let some sex offenders off registry 5 years early
12-29-2011 Utah:
SALT LAKE CITY — About 10 years ago, a 19-year-old man had sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend was convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. The couple has since married and has four children. And he has otherwise been a law abiding citizen.
But, he is still required to be listed on the Utah Sex Offender and Kidnap Offender Registry, and banned from going to a public park with his children. His family may not live in certain areas, and his employment has been also been affected.
The man, whose name has been kept confidential, contacted his Utah state legislator about the problem. HB13, sponsored by Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan, is the result. If passed during the 2012 legislative session, the change would allow people convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old, or unlawful sexual activity with a minor, or misdemeanor voyeurism to petition a judge to be removed from the registry after five years.
"They are the three least egregious offenses," that require registration, Draxler said. "We're trying to bring some sense to it. We need a registry, but we need the people on it who are truly threats, not those that are no longer a threat to society."
Offenders who've committed the three crimes listed are currently required to be on the registry for 10 years after conviction. Other offenses require a lifelong listing.
As well, the bill requires the offender to have no convictions for other crimes, other than certain traffic offenses, and gives the court the discretion to decide each case.
"They have to really show that they've changed their lives," Draxler said.
The married father of four is only one example of several constituents Draxler said he has heard from who face similar circumstances — and he's heard other lawmakers tell similar stories from people in their districts.
"Frankly, I've been surprised at the lack of opposition (to the bill) and overwhelmed by the support it's gotten," he said. More than 100 people — offenders and their family members — have emailed him to thank him, he said.
The bill passed the Legislature's Interim Judiciary Committee unanimously in September, so it now goes directly to the House floor after the general session convenes Jan. 23.
As of July 15, the sex offender registry listed 47 offenders who've been convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old, and 218 convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a minor (ages 14 or 15). For all offenses, around 2,900 offenders were registered in July, according to Department of Corrections statistics.
Not all would qualify under Draxler's proposal. Eligible offenders must have completed any treatment the court may have ordered and must have no subsequent convictions, except for traffic offenses.
To be eligible, offenders also must have complied with all registration requirements. And the bill provides that the victim or victim's parents, as well as the prosecutor in the case, must receive a copy of the petition, so that they may object to the court considering the petition. The judge must find that the offender is no longer a threat to society.
The offender also would have to pay an application fee and a $125 court fee, the bill states, and the state Bureau of Criminal Identification must certify the petitioner's eligibility.
"It has lots of safeguards," Draxler said.
The lawmaker who sponsored legislation creating the original sex offender registry supports the bill, as well as the Utah court system, he added.
According to Utah law, a person commits "unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old" if they are not more than 10 years older than the victim, and the offense does not constitute rape, forcible sexual abuse, aggravated sexual assault or similar crimes.
"Unlawful sexual activity with a minor" refers to similar activity, but when the victim is 14 or 15 years old. ..Source.. by Ladd Brubaker, Deseret News
December 28, 2011
'Speeding train' interrogations can fuel false confessions
12-28-2011 Montana:
HELENA, Mont. (USA TODAY) — On Dec. 7, a Montana judge released confessed murderer Barry Beach after ruling that new evidence in his case was "credible" and that he deserved a new trial.
Beach, 49, served 28 years of a 100-year prison sentence for the 1979 murder of high school classmate Kim Nees, a crime he confessed to but has since maintained he didn't commit.
Two days after Beach was freed, authorities in Illinois and New York dealt with two cases of confessions that defendants later said were coerced.
The question at the heart of each of these cases — and dozens like them across the country — is: "Why would someone confess to a crime they didn't commit?"
Until recently, the idea that someone would falsely admit to a murder or a rape that they didn't commit was considered preposterous, says former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Jim Trainum.
"I always ask people, 'Why would somebody ever confess to a crime they didn't do?' " Trainum says. "What is it we do in that interrogation room that convinces you that it is in your best interest to admit to something that could lead you to the death chamber?"
Trainum was a police officer for 27 years, 17 of them as a homicide detective. Now retired, Trainum serves as a consultant on cold cases and wrongful convictions where he specializes in false confessions.
He says he obtained his first false confession from a suspect just one year into his tenure as a homicide detective.
Trainum says he and his fellow investigators repeatedly ignored evidence that pointed away from the suspect who confessed.
"It's like you're on this speeding train going down the track and it's extremely difficult to get that train to stop," Trainum says. "While you're on that train, you might be getting other leads coming in, other clues about the killer, but because we're so fixated on the suspect, often times those clues go undocumented."
Steven Drizin, a clinical law professor at Northwestern University School of Law and the legal director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, studied more than 250 cases of proven false confessions. Nearly all false confessions start with the "misclassification error," Drizin says.
"When the police officer enters the interrogation room, they've already presumed that the suspect is guilty based on evidence that has been gathered in the course of the investigation. Often times, it's based on little more than a hunch," Drizin says.
The next error investigators often make is what Drizin calls the "coercion error." It starts when an interrogator begins accusing the suspect of committing the crime.
"Where these interrogations often go awry is when police begin to make implied or direct threats," Drizin says. "They might tell the suspect that a confession will bring leniency or less time in prison. Sometimes they tell a suspect that a conviction is going to bring an extremely harsh consequence, such as the death penalty, or long sentences. Sometimes suspects are told they're going to get raped in prison."
Trainum says police investigators are trained to convince a suspect that the short-term benefit of a confession outweighs the long-term consequences that it might bring.
The third error interrogators often commit, Drizin says, is when interrogators knowingly or unknowingly provide the suspect with key details of the crime.
University of Virginia law professor Brandon Garrett, author of the 2011 book Convicting the Innocent, reviewed 250 cases of people who were exonerated by DNA evidence.
Garrett found that suspects confessed in detail to crimes they didn't commit in 40 of those cases.
None of the interrogations in those cases was recorded in its entirety, Garrett says.
"In cases where the entire interrogation is recorded, it is a lot easier to find out" if interrogators have provided suspects with key details of the crime, Garrett says.
According to Garrett's study, all but two of the 40 false confessions involved such disclosures.
While police and prosecutors told courts and juries that the suspects provided details that only the actual criminal would know, Garrett found that the police investigators divulged those details during the interrogation process.
All three experts agree that false confessions start with improper training. It is not a police or prosecutorial misconduct problem, they say.
"That's what makes these cases so terrifying," Garrett says. "These people are innocent, and yet the cases against them appear to be very strong because what happened in the interrogation room was not documented."
Drizin, Garrett and Trainum say that complete video recordings of police interrogations would help reduce or eliminate wrongful convictions based on false confessions.
"The last thing most law enforcement officers want to do is put an innocent person behind bars," Drizin said. ...Source... by John S. Adams
December 26, 2011
Former juvenile sex offender gets a shot at a new life
See Illinois Law on this page for specifics that must be met, and whatever the judge comes up with.12-26-2011 Illinois:
Tim, subject of a 2009 Tribune profile, is no longer on Illinois' sex offender registry
After years of anxiety, Tim has finally gained the security of an anonymous future. The young man from Antioch committed a sex crime at age 14 and was put on a registry open only to police, but he worried that a federal law might cause his identity to be made public.
That threat has passed. With the help of Northwestern University law students and a raft of good recommendations, Tim persuaded a judge in early November to remove him from the registry. He no longer needs to tell police when he moves to a new home, and a world of career options is now available to him.
"It's opened so many doors," said Tim, 21. "It's the biggest weight off my back ever."
For others, though, the apprehension remains. The federal law remains in effect, and while Illinois officials say juvenile identities will remain protected for the foreseeable future, some advocates are concerned that that could change, harming young people they say are at very low risk of committing more sex offenses.
"Children do not go out and hide in the bushes and attack strangers," said Nicole Pittman of Human Rights Watch, who is tracking the effects of the federal law. "It's usually inappropriate behavior, and longitudinal studies that tracked children from the time of their offense to well into their 30s found that less than 2 percent committed another sex crime."
People who know Tim, who was profiled in a 2009 Tribune story, say he is a good example of why juvenile sex offenders should have the chance to regain their privacy.
He endured a terrible childhood of neglect and all manner of abuse as he shuttled between foster homes on the West Side of Chicago. He got involved with a gang and was twice locked up for minor crimes.
When he was 14, he had sexual contact with an 8-year-old girl who lived in one of his former foster homes. He quickly confessed to what he had done and, contrary to his lawyer's advice, didn't fight the case in Cook County Juvenile Court, where he was found to have committed felony criminal sexual abuse.
He spent time in a Department of Corrections facility that treats young sex offenders, then went to Alternative Behavior Treatment Centers in Mundelein. Founder Robin McGinnis said Tim responded well to his therapy there and continued on the right path after he left.
"I'm very proud of him," McGinnis said. "He's pulled it together. It's really very impressive."
Tim's offense required him to be put on the state's juvenile sex offender registry. He had to tell the local police when he moved into their town, and they informed nearby schools and day care centers. Otherwise, his identity and crime remained private.
But under the provisions of a federal law passed in 2006, many juvenile sex offenders' names, photos and addresses can be revealed online.
At least 32 states have listed some juvenile sex offenders online, according to Pittman. She said that can have a profoundly harmful effect on people who pose little risk for re-offending, costing them jobs and educational opportunities.
Other states, including Illinois, have not done that. Illinois State Police officials said federal authorities backed off that mandate earlier in 2011, giving states the discretion to keep young people off the website. There is disagreement, though, about whether that has ended the matter for good.
Whatever happens, Tim won't be affected. He took advantage of an Illinois law that allows people to get off the juvenile registry if they complete their treatment, stay out of trouble for five years and pass a screening showing that they pose a low risk for committing another sex crime.
Assisted by Northwestern law students John Doyle and Alberta Yan, he went before a Juvenile Court judge Nov. 3 to ask to be removed. Alison Flaum of Northwestern's Children and Family Justice Center said it was an emotionally powerful moment.
"I couldn't help but remember that the last time he was in that courtroom, he was filled with shame and fear," she said. "I was just so happy for him to hear people say nice things about him in the very same room."
The judge granted Tim's request and, with that, set his life on a new course. He said he wants to enlist in the military, something his place on the registry had prevented. After that, he said, his plans are simple.
"My long-term goals are working a career, owning a house," he said. "Just trying to live the American dream, I guess." ..Source.. by John Keilman, Chicago Tribune reporter
December 24, 2011
Kent turns down expanding rules for sex offenders: Instead, City Council creates task force to probe community education about the issue
12-24-2011 Ohio:
Kent City Council established a task force to examine community education about sexual predators Wednesday after rejecting an ordinance to impose living restrictions on sex offenders.
The task force, proposed by Councilman Garrett Ferrara, will create dialogue between the Kent’s Board of Education, Safety Department and city administration to explore the effectiveness of current public education about sex offenders and if more can be done.
“I expect to hear positive results on what is being done already, but you have to send a message to people that it’s a concern and it’s a sensitive issue,” Ferrara said, adding that it will help raise awareness of the issue even current education of predators is found to be effective.
The proposed ordinance council considered, modeled after similar municipal ordinances across the country and offered by Kent Planning Commission member Anthony Catalano, suggested expanding on the state’s restrictions on where sex offenders can live.
Ohio law restricts sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare center. Catalano suggested increasing that to 2,500 feet and expanding it to include parks, playgrounds and other areas where children gather under council’s discretion.
Kent Police Chief Michelle Lee and Law Director Jim Silver said the ordinance could create more problems than solutions.
Silver said expanding living restrictions up to 2,500 would not leave offenders many, if any, options, and could be considered unconstitutional housing discrimination.
“This type of ordinance could be subject to challenge in a lawsuit and have been challenged across the state and in other state,” he said.
Lee said her research found that similar ordinances can create “a false sense of security” and “studies don’t look good as far as its effectiveness.”
“I’m all for the protection of children and doing what we can do, I just don’t know if this is going to be what it takes,” she said, adding that enforcement would be difficult.
Lee also said that in most cases child sex offenders are known to the victims, with very few instances involving strangers.
Ferrara said the issue doesn’t seem like one that can simply be cured with legislation.
“It appears that education and awareness of the issue is the best defense,” he said. ..Source.. by Kyle McDonald
Exoneree's Ex-Wife Takes Him to Court For a Piece of the Millions He Got From the State
12-24-2011 Texas:
teven Phillips spent 25 years in prison as an innocent man for a string of rapes he didn't commit. He was exonerated in 2008 based on DNA evidence. He has always said life is much more complicated outside prison walls. Better, sure, but complicated. Add around $4 million dollars in tax-free compensation from the state for his wrongful imprisonment, and he wound up a free man with a fresh start -- and a couple of heretofore unknown and completely novel legal troubles.
Seems like no sooner had he he settled with his former attorney after a prolonged and acrimonious fight over legal bills than he was due back in court again. This week, ex-wife Traci Tucker will ask a jury for a portion of Phillips's millions. It's what legal experts call a "case of first impression." There is exactly zero case law regarding what, if anything, a former spouse is owed if an innocent man gets convicted and the state compensates him handsomely for his troubles. The two were married for 10 years, almost all of it during his imprisonment. Phillips says he didn't see much of his wife after the first three years on the inside. They divorced in 1991. "She's been with a guy for 20, 25 years," Phillips tells Unfair Park. "They're married and have a child now. She didn't do that time. She didn't visit me down in prison or take care of me."
Tucker, on the other hand, said in an affidavit that Phillips became "bitter," confessed "bizarre and disgusting things" about his troubled sexual history as a Peeping Tom and serial genital exposer, and finally pushed her away completely. It was Phillips, she says, who asked for the divorce.
The couple has a child together -- a son, born the year after Phillips went to jail. Tucker has since been compensated under the Tim Cole Act for the unpaid child support.
An email from a spokesperson for Houston attorney Jerry Patchen, who is representing Tucker, says Phillips's compensation amounts, in part, to lost wages, which Tucker would have been entitled to under a divorce settlement as "community property."
Phillips's attorney, Tom McKenzie, says there is no language in the Tim Cole Act indicating that the compensation is for lost wages -- it's more like "winning the lottery 20 years after a divorce." Besides, he points out, Phillips was a roofer before he went to prison and the compensation provides $160,000 a year for each year of wrongful imprisonment, split into a lump sum and an annuity.
"The overall issue," McKenzie says, "is when people come into money, everybody comes out of the walls." ..Source.. by Brantley Hargrove
Iowa needs to fix its child abuse registry
Just a note, this is NOT the sex offender registry, this registry is separate and is known as the State's Central Registry.12-24-2011 Iowa:
Lawmakers need to respond to these horror stories
More than two years ago the Des Moines Register Opinion pages told the story of an Iowa social worker whose life was turned upside down by the state. He was accused of abusing a client. The Iowa Department of Human Services investigated and placed him on Iowa’s child abuse registry. That resulted in him losing his job. It prevented him from getting another one in his field. Finally, he had to declare bankruptcy.
More than a year after he was placed on the registry, an administrative law judge determined the state had been wrong and ruled that the man’s name should be removed. But the damage had been done.
After publication, several Iowans who had similar horror stories contacted us. They included a teacher who remained on the registry years after getting into an altercation with her teenager. An Iowa grandmother said she didn’t even know she was on the list until she applied for a job. Others complained about being wrongly found “guilty” by a human services worker or waiting up to two years for an appeal to be settled.
Then the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the state had wrongly placed an Iowa City mother on the registry. Last year the director of the Department of Human Services, Chuck Palmer, told us about Iowans he’d met who couldn’t finish academic degrees because being on the registry prevented them from participating in internships. The state ombudsman’s office received 25 complaints on this issue over the past few years.
There is clearly a serious problem in this state.
Iowa has more than 50,000 names on our registry, the equivalent of the population of Ames. Social workers and their supervisors, not judges or juries, place people on the list.
Almost all of the “abusers” were investigated for allegations related to their own children and were never charged with a crime. After being placed on the registry, they have a short window of time to appeal. Miss it and remain on the list for 10 years — while you suffer consequences in job searches or custody disputes.
This newspaper has written numerous editorials about this mess and pushed lawmakers to address the problems. Earlier this year lawmakers ordered a work group to make recommendations about what to do.
Last week the group released those in an 8-page letter to lawmakers. It suggested changes, including some that have already been made, that will make it easier for people to get their names removed and expedite the appeals process.
In addition to implementing the recommendations, lawmakers should also adopt those made in a “minority report” at the end of the letter. Those were “supported by some members of the group, but not the majority.”
They include: Amending the Iowa Code to ensure the length of time someone is placed on the registry is based on the severity of abuse and the likelihood that person will re-abuse rather than simply putting everyone on for 10 years; setting clear timeframes for hearings and decisions so the accused aren’t waiting a year or more for appeals to be decided; and changing the law so Iowans whose jobs may be in jeopardy are not placed on the registry until the appeals process is completed unless they are considered “high risk.”
Of course, all these recommendations amount to tinkering with a registry that is of questionable value and fundamentally troubling.
Social workers could instead maintain confidential records to assist in detecting patterns of child abuse in any future investigations. That was the registry’s original purpose before employers were allowed to access it. Employers could instead check the backgrounds of potential employees through public criminal databases, where the person’s guilt had been proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In the United States of America, government should not be allowed to punish people in a way that can deprive them of employment without a fair trial and clear due process rights. In other states, courts have found such registries unconstitutional.
After watching what is going on in Iowa, those rulings are no surprise. ..Source.. by The Register’s Editorial
Utah children's hospital screening visitors for history of sex offenses
12-24-2011 Utah:
SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City children's hospital is screening visitors to see whether registered sex offenders are entering the building.
Primary Children's Medical Center first implemented the computerized visitor check-in program in mid-June, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
The Easy Lobby visitor check-in program screens the driver licenses of all visitors over the age 16. Visitors' names are checked against sex offender registries in all 50 states.
Since June, 60,000 people have been screened. Nine were flagged as offenders.
"We're living in a vulnerable society these days," said Mike Creason, assistant administrator over facility management at Primary Children's. "This gives us that layer of security."
Creason said no specific incident prompted the hospital to implement the screening program. Other major children's hospitals in the region are using similar systems, he said:
Assistant administrator Mike Creason says some 60,000 people have been screened and nine were flagged as offenders.
The hospital allows parents or guardians tapped as offenders to visit their children, but require the visits to occur either in the child's room or public areas. Nursing supervisors also are notified of the visitor's status.
Some visitors have been asked to leave, Creason said.
The Massachusetts-based Easy Lobby also sells the system to corporations, governments and schools, company spokesman John Murzycki said. More than 100 other hospitals are using the system nationwide, he said.
Primary Children's does not screen visitors to outpatient clinics.
Christine Evans, who sits on the hospital's family advisory council, said she's glad to see the screening program in use, even if it increases the time it takes for visitors to check in. Her own family benefits from the increased security as her 12-year-old daughter suffers from hydrocephalus and is a regular patient, Evans said.
"It did concern me not knowing who was walking around the hospital," Evans said. "There were times when I couldn't be right by her bedside and I just like to know she's 100 percent safe." ..Source.. by The Republic
December 23, 2011
Oklahoma Legal Aid expects $700,000 cut
12-23-2011 Oklahoma:
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s statewide nonprofit law firm providing free civil legal services to elderly and low-income persons who are about to lose their children, housing, health care or income or who are victims of domestic violence, is preparing for a federal funding cut of approximately $700,000 for the coming fiscal year.
President Obama signed the appropriations bill on Nov. 18 that set funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) – the largest single funding source for civil legal aid to the poor – after Congress voted to cut funding to LSC by $56 million, or 14.8%.
LSC was established by the Congress to provide equal access to justice and to ensure the delivery of high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. LSC currently provides funding to 136 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma (LASO) is Oklahoma’s only statewide provider of civil legal assistance to low-income and elderly persons, and LSC is LASO’s main funder source.
The $700,000 cut will equal nearly 10 percent of LASO’s budget.
Other funding sources are the State of Oklahoma; the Oklahoma Bar Foundation; 15 United Way or United Fund organizations; and generous attorneys law firms, foundations, businesses and individuals throughout the state contributing to the Campaign for Justice.
No decisions have been made by LASO’s Board of Directors regarding implementation of LSC’s funding cut.
Through a network of 22 offices, LASO attorneys and private attorneys provide legal assistance to low-income persons in all 77 counties.
Nearly 700,000 Oklahomans are eligible for Legal Aid’s services. This is due to the fact that they have incomes at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty line and qualify for civil legal assistance.
Income limits for individuals and families of four are $13,613 and $27,938.
In an average year, LASO provides assistance to between 15,000 and 20,000 eligible persons with civil legal problems affecting 40,000-50,000 immediate family members. ..Source.. by Express Star
LC City Council amends sex offender ordinance
These people are insane with these fees!12-23-2011 Louisiana:
LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - Despite being passed in January a Lake Charles ordinance that would enforce some of the toughest restrictions on sex offenders has yet to be enforced. The ordinance restricting where sex offenders can live and increasing their registration fee from $60 to $600 with another $200 annually has been tied up in the courts for the better part of the year.
"I'm just asking that the council really considers what they are trying to pass," said Clinton Fruge, registered sex offender.
Fruge, 35, was convicted at 16 years old for forcible rape. He served his time and feels the added costs and restrictions are more punishment for a crime he's already done time for. He's challenging the ordinance and filed a lawsuit against the city earlier this year.
"I understand it is your job to protect the community and disadvantaged, but if you continue to take money out of the pockets of the mouths of not just the registered sex offenders, but my wife and my son and other people's families. You all are creating circumstances that we cannot breathe," said Fruge.
The City argues the extra money is to offset taxpayer dollars for enforcement of compliance. After discussion the City Council amended the fees from the initial $600 to $400 and $100 annually. Changes were also made to certain notification provisions that might invade privacy of victims and the distance a sex offender can live from a school was changed back to 1000 feet rather than the original 1200 feet.
"I understand your family situation I really do. But if a person does not want to be in this type of dilemma then they need to make the right decisions on acts of that nature before it happens. Ignorance of the law does not excuse you of the penalty," said Rodney Geyen, Lake Charles City Councilman.
"What I did 20 years ago is not a factor in my life today. I was 16, I'm now 35. I will work with the council and I will work with the attorneys. I will help you all create this ordinance," said Fruge.
With pending litigation the State Attorney General's Office has declined to rule on the case.
"Mr. Fruge based on these amendments made tonight is going to dismiss his suit without prejudice. We are not going to enforce that ordinance for 180 days and once that dismissal happens we can submit the amended ordinance to the Attorney General's Office for an opinion of the constitutionality."
Based on the decision of the Attorney General's Office Fruge could refile his lawsuit in the future. ..Source.. by Lee Peck
December 22, 2011
Many Sex Offenders Not Paying New Fee
"Increase the Penalty" is that what the fee really is?12-22-2011 Illinois:
MARION -- Illinois started implementing a new fee this year on registered sex offenders. It went from $10 a year to $100. But not many sex offenders are paying up. The change to the state's Sex Offender Registration Act was meant to help offset the cost of paperwork every time an offender has to register. But many local law enforcers will tell you even if the state raises the fee to a $1,000, it still wouldn't make a difference.
It's a list not too many people think about, but almost every town has a few registered sex offenders. As of January first this year, a change in Illinois law was supposed to increase the penalties of sexual crimes by raising the mandatory annual registration fee from $10 to $100.
"There's a lot of paperwork, there's a lot of administration costs associated with sex offenders. Those fees, those costs should be paid by the sex offenders, as opposed to honest, to decent taxpayers," says representative John Bradley.
But not all law enforcement agencies are actually administrating the new fee. The Williamson County Sheriff's Office is still considering it. The Mt. Vernon police department will start in January, a year late. Departments that do charge more, like Marion and Carbondale, say they end up waiving it for many offenders anyway.
"The majority of sex offenders are either low income, or on disability, unemployed or living paycheck to paycheck like everybody else. With the fee increasing, it's been a hardship on everybody," explains Christina Burns, Marion police department's records coordinator.
Burns says only about five to ten percent of the city's sex offenders can afford to pay the $100 annual fee. She admits it's difficult for them to hold down a job due to their situation.
"If they can't maintain their job, they're certainly not going to maintain or have accessible money to pay a fee that went from something that could be construed as quite miniscule to 100 dollars a year."
And Burns says there doesn't seem to be an easy fix for the problem.
If a sex offenders can't afford to pay, police still have to place him or her on the registry and cannot place them back in jail for financial hardship. Those deemed sexual predators have to register for life. Low level sex offenders only have to register for 10 years. ..Source.. by Fanna Haile-Selassie and Jared Roberts
Registered sex offenders to pay fee
Talk about rape, what are these fees doing to registrants and their families? Outrageous..12-22-2011 Illinois:
Offenders must pay $100 annual registration fee beginning Jan. 1, 2012
MT. VERNON — Beginning Jan. 1, registered sex offenders in the city will be required to pay a $100 annual registration fee.
“Jan. 1, 2011, the state passed a new law that amended the Sex Offender Registration Act that allowed law enforcement agencies to charge the fee,” explained Mt. Vernon Police Department Detective Eric Breeze, who administers the sex offender registry for the city. “I took over doing the registry in July this year, and took some training on the Act and the law that passed. I took that to the chief, and got it worked out. It will start the first of the year.”
Funds collected go to several agencies as defined in the Act.
“The $100 is broken down between four agencies,” Breeze said. “Thirty dollars is kept by the Mt. Vernon Police Department; $10 is sent to the Sex Offender Management Board Fund, which is part of the state treasurer’s office; $30 goes to the Illinois State Police Sex Offender Registration Fund, since the State Police oversee all registration in the state; and $30 goes to the Illinois Attorney General Sex Offender Awareness Training and Education Fund.”
Breeze said discussions on how to use the local funds collected have included using the fee for costs associated with compliance checks, materials used in the office to maintain the registry, and possibly a donation to The Amy Schulz Child Advocacy Center, “which deals with forensic interviews with child victims of these types of crimes.”
The new fee directly affects the 44 adult registered sex offenders in the city limits and the six juvenile offenders. Breeze said there are five more registered sex offenders in the city, but are considered “inactive” since they are in jail at this time.
Under terms of the Act, convicted sex offenders who are required to register by law will be required to pay the $100 fee.
“Depending on what the conviction is for, some sex offenders have to register once per year, others with more serious charges must register every 90 days, and ... those who become homeless must check in with us once a week,” Breeze said. “If they can’t pay the $100 all at once, they are required to pay throughout the year with quarterly registration.”
Breeze said in addition to enforcing the registration fee, he is also working on locating non-licensed daycares in the city limits.
“We need anybody who has a non-licensed day care facility in their home to call and speak with us so we can have your address,” Breeze said. “We only have a list of licensed daycares to use to calculate the 500 foot radius from the property lines to make sure no offenders live within the area. We have no way to find out about unlicensed daycares unless they tell us.”
Breeze said all daycares do not require licensure, and under terms of the Sex Offender Registry Act, what makes an unlicensed daycare is outlined.
“If they regularly take care of three or more children and only two of the children are their own, that’s an unlicensed daycare,” Breeze explained. “If anyone has a question about whether they are considered a daycare, they can call me for the definitions and types of daycares covered under the statute.”
The city’s sex offender registry is online at www.mvpd.org under the sex offender tab. Photos and addresses of all registered sex offenders in the city limits are posted. Anyone who would like additional information about the registry, the new fee or the definitions of a daycare may contact Breeze at 242-0215. ..Source.. by TESA CULLI
Ohio may not want sex offender returned; fate uncertain for woman who pretended to be a boy
Another cost tied to a "Failure to Register" charge: transportation. This is a money making industry soaking taxpayers' pockets.12-22-2011 California:
An Ohio sex offender may be spending some additional time in the Humboldt County jail, as authorities in her home state seem to have backed away from extraditing her.
Patricia Dye -- a 32-year-old Ohio woman infamous for her conviction of posing as a teenage boy to pursue a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl -- was due to be extradited to Butler County, Ohio, in the coming weeks to answer to charges of failing to register as a sex offender, but her status is now uncertain.
Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Allan Dollison said he was informed Tuesday -- almost a week after Dye appeared in court and waived her right to an extradition hearing -- that Ohio prosecutors had canceled their request to have Dye shipped back to her home state.
”I was informed that Ohio does not want her back,” Dollison said, adding that his office is now considering failure-to-register charges against Dye, who had been living in Orick since Oct. 1. She was arrested Dec. 8 at an Orick motel.
Humboldt County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Knight said Dye was still in custody Wednesday, held as a fugitive of justice -- a designation only a judge can dismiss. Knight said the jail received both a teletype and a fax from Ohio authorities on Tuesday asking it to release the hold they had placed on Dye just days earlier.
”The words they used was their 'pickup radius has changed,'” Knight said, referring to the radius within which authorities will pay to have criminals returned to their jurisdiction.
Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser told the Dayton Daily News on Wednesday that his office wrestled with whether to have Dye shipped to Dayton County to answer to the felony failure-to-register charge -- an extradition that comes with a $2,400 price tag -- and ultimately decided to do so after securing a $2,000 grant from the Attorney General's Office.
”We will bring her back,” Gmoser said. “The sex registry is important.”
Neither Dollison nor Knight had received word on Wednesday that Dayton County is once again looking to have Dye extradited.
Dye became an infamous figure in Warren County, Ohio, after her arrest in June 2010 which came on the heels of police finding a 16-year-old runaway girl, malnourished and with sores on her feet, wandering the streets of Franklin, Ohio. The girl had been with a 14-year-old boy named Matthew Abrams who authorities later determined was a then-31-year-old Dye.
Prosecutors alleged Dye pretended to be Abrams in order to develop an ongoing dating relationship with the girl, even getting to know her family and friends. Dye was indicted by a criminal grand jury and ultimately convicted of misdemeanor charges of sexual imposition, attempted sexual imposition and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child, all stemming from the single victim.
Dye was released from the Dayton County jail last December, having served a six-month sentence, and was required to register as a Tier 1 sex offender. She allegedly fell out of compliance when she moved and failed to report her change of address, prompting the issuance of an arrest warrant in August.
The U.S. Marshals Office developed information that Dye was in Humboldt County, and U.S. Marshal Brad Gil ultimately tracked her down in Orick.
While the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office initially said it considered charging Dye with failing to register as a sex offender in California, it decided not to pursue the charges as Dye was being extradited to Ohio. In the wake of Tuesday's news that Ohio authorities might not want Dye returned there, Dollison said his office would reconsider filing local charges.
Dye has a court date set for Jan. 9 but will likely be calendared for a hearing before then, given recent developments. ..Source.. by Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
December 21, 2011
Fewer Inmates Returning to Prison After Release
California's recidivism rates in the report cited, INCLUDE technical violations of parole (which are not crimes) and other parole violations (some of which may be crimes). Accordingly, one must realize the recidivism rates are OVERSTATED!12-21-2011 California:
Fewer inmates in California are returning to prison after they've been released, state officials said Tuesday.
The reincarceration rate fell to 65 percent this year, according to the 2011 Adult Institutions Outcome Evaluation Report from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
CDCR said the 2.4 percent drop from 2010 means 2,766 fewer inmates are returning to prison, saving California taxpayers around $30 million.
The report also found:
---The reincarceration rate for women was 11.2 percentage points lower than the rate for men after three years.
---Reincarcerated registered sex offenders are most often returned to prison for a new non-sex crime than for a new sex crime.
---99 percent of convicted murderers who were on parole since 1995 did not return to prison.
..Source.. by KPSP Local 2 News
December 19, 2011
Tom Pauli a HOMELESS Former Michigan Sex Offender FROZE to Death because of Residency Laws
On January 26, 2009 Thomas Pauli froze to death in a junk yard in Grand Rapids, Michigan. That day the temperature had dropped to -3 degrees. Mr. Pauli had sought access to the shelters in Grand Rapids but was turned away because of his status as a registered sex offender. The Shelter's claimed they were to close to places that the Michigan "Residency Law" prohibited registered sex offenders to live.
Nationally, shelters prohibit registered sex offenders access even in sub-zero temperatures. Lawmakers have failed to resolve this issue.. We urge folks to contact local lawmakers and shelters, and ask them to resolve this issue before another, freezes to death.
eAdvocate
For Michigan's homeless students, a storage room of backpacks shows community support
12-19-2011 Michigan:
Michigan's homeless students: Part 2 of 4 | Part 1
The small cluttered motel room is filled with all their worldly possessions -- bags of clothes from a free clothes locker, a fistful of utensils standing up in a Mason jar, a deep fryer, a toaster oven, a Crock-Pot, a box of food donated from a nearby church, and a backpack that links thousands of homeless children across Michigan.
The backpack was given to 11-year-old Amber Phillips by the Macomb Intermediate School District because she is a homeless student. She has been living in this motel for two months.
Amber rides the bus to school, just like any other student. The bus stops in front of the motel, although the district changed the bus route to protect her dignity, making her the first student picked up and the last student dropped off, trying to stop the other children from teasing her.
Unlike some homeless students who skip school because they are embarrassed about having dirty clothes, Amber always wears clean clothes.
Her mother, Donna Grant, does Amber's laundry in the bathtub, crouching on her knees and scrubbing with her hands. Then she hangs the wet clothing around the room to dry because the motel owner charges $5 a load.
On any given day, dozens of homeless families in metro Detroit find themselves crammed into small motel rooms.
They're wary of going to shelters for fear the family might have to split up. Or they simply don't know where to find a shelter. Or they want to maintain some semblance of the privacy they once had in their homes.
Some of these families might pay up to $800 a month for their motel room -- but moving to an apartment isn't an option because they don't have the money for a security deposit or the ability to pay a month's rent on the first day of every month. At a motel, they can negotiate payments week to week, sometimes day to day.
Amber shares the room with her mother and, occasionally, her mother's friend. She sleeps on the floor on top of a sleeping bag, which she uses as a mattress. She likes it on the floor. At least, it's her own space -- her one small slice of the world.
Amber gets free breakfast and lunch at the school, but Grant tries to cook supper every night in the room, although it took some experimenting to learn to cook mostaccioli in a wok.
Amber does her homework on a small circular table and practices her clarinet in the bathroom when it is raining or late at night. On warm sunny days, she walks across the parking lot and practices on a picnic table.
To get some privacy, she walks onto the second-floor walkway to talk to her friends on her cell phone, but she has never invited any of them over to visit.
Every morning, she walks down the wood steps and stands in the parking lot, waiting for the bus.
Grant, who lost her job cleaning a different motel, watches from a window, to make sure her daughter is safe. Cars and vans and buses hum down Groesbeck Highway, but she's lived here for several months and Amber doesn't hear the traffic anymore. The only source of light comes from the glow of the Roseville Motel sign and the advertisement: "3 Free Adult Channels."
But Amber's mother makes those inaccessible.
The bus stops. The door swings open. And Amber gets on an empty school bus, with that backpack slung over her shoulder.
Supplies not enough
Kathy Kropf, who is in charge of helping the homeless students in the Macomb Intermediate School District, opens a storage room and walks past shelves that hold almost 200 backpacks, some for boys, some for girls. All of the backpacks are new, with the tags still attached.
In the next few months, Kropf will give these backpacks to the next wave of homeless students, which she is certain is coming.
"They go out as quickly as they come in," Kropf said of the backpacks.
If there is one place that reveals the magnitude of the growing homeless student population in Michigan and how the schools are trying to help these students, it is here. In this storage room.
Because each one of those backpacks represents a child.
And each one of those backpacks shows how the community is trying to help.
"We are so blessed by community support," Kropf said. "Henry Ford Hospital in Macomb donated 300 or 400 backpacks."
The storage room looks like a small store. The shelves are stacked with children's reading books because Kropf found out it is hard for homeless students to move from location to location while toting around books.
There is a cabinet filled with socks and underwear. There are shelves stacked with paper and note cards and pencils and pens and calculators.
There are hats and mittens and folders and colored pencils and scissors and glue sticks.
There was a time when Kropf simply gave each homeless child a backpack filled with school supplies.
But she learned that wasn't enough.
"Then, schools started calling and said, 'It's February and Mary Sue is out here on the playground and she is wearing tennis shoes with socks with holes in them.'
"So we said, 'OK, we will start collecting socks and winter hats and gloves.' That's easy to throw into the backpacks. And we know how desperately they need clothes, not just at Christmas when everybody wants to help."
The number of homeless students continues to climb in Macomb County, growing from 385 in the 2006-07 school year to 877 last school year. "I've been doing this for 18 years, and the changes over the last few years has been the most dramatic," Kropf said.
She helped 413 homeless students by the end of November 2010. This year, the number soared to more than 600.
Most of the students she is helping are not habitual homeless students. During the last three years, 75%-80% of the homeless students have been new to the system. They come from middle-class families who have suddenly lost their homes. And these families don't know how to be homeless.
"It's the people who have had jobs for years," Kropf said. "Or both parents had jobs and one lost their job. We have parents working two and three jobs just trying to keep their rental."
Working, but homeless
Shannon Lopez, 38, has a job, making $10 an hour as a nursing aide working the night shift at an assisted living facility in St. Clair Shores, but ended up living at the Motorama Motel in Ferndale with her boyfriend, Tony Pascoe, 42, and her three children -- Sydney, 17, Ethan, 12, and Taylor, 7.
Sydney dropped out of school and is trying to get a GED.
The two boys sleep on the floor. Taylor's "territory," as he calls it, is on the right. Ethan's territory is on the left.
"They have their own spots," Lopez said. "They are warm and cozy on the floor."
The family is crammed into one room, with one bed. They sleep in shifts on the king-size bed.
"I sleep in the middle," Lopez said. "Tony sleeps over here. He sleeps while I'm at work and he's up with the boys during the day. We all have different positions on the bed."
At the start of the school year, Lopez was paying $700 a month to rent a three-bedroom house in south Warren. The boys walked to school, about a half a block, but she lost the house after squabbling with the owner about the lack of repairs.
When she tried to rent a four-bedroom house a few blocks away, she put down an $800 deposit, which she called a "fortune to me." Pascoe did some work on the new house to get it ready, helping to paint it, but they started haggling with the owner over how much the work was worth. They couldn't agree and ended up losing their deposit.
"I talked to the police, and they said I could take him to small-claims court, but that doesn't help me now," Lopez said.
They had been living on the edge, with no money saved up, no safety net. Pascoe, who worked in radio as a producer, is unemployed. They had no more money for a down payment, and suddenly, on Sept.1, they were homeless.
After staying for a week at a more-expensive motel in Roseville, they moved into the Motorama. It cost $175 weekly, $675 if paid by the month.
When somebody has a job but doesn't earn enough money to pull together a down payment to rent a house or apartment, families often end up living in motels because the payment can be more flexible, even though the motel can be more expensive than an apartment.
Boost in business
Phil Patel has been the manager at the Motorama Motel in Ferndale for eight years. He works with families who struggle to pay their bills. Some families pay day to day; others pay by the month; and sometimes, he lets a family stay, even if they fall behind a few weeks.
"Sometimes, they pay a month later," he said. "But no more than four weeks behind."
The increase in clientele has helped some motels.
"It's good for business right now," said Mark Gabrial, manager of the Knights Inn in Sterling Heights. "The families come and go. Some for a day, some for extended periods of time."
Some motels will take dogs but no children.
Some motels will take children but no dogs.
And Patel said that he will refuse to rent to large families, if they try to cram too many people into one room.
"Some people will have four or five kids and there is only one bed and there is not enough room for them," Patel said.
For more than a month, Pascoe drove the boys to school in a 1998 Chrysler Concorde. "It only took me eight minutes," Pascoe said.
But then the boys missed more than a week of school after the car broke down. Lopez was desperate and went to the Ferndale schools administration building. She admitted to being homeless and learned that her children were eligible to receive backpacks filled with school supplies, gift cards to Subway and Meijer, and hats, gloves and socks.
The boys also had the right, under federal law, to stay at the school they first attended, before they became homeless.
She could have enrolled her sons in Ferndale schools, but she chose to send them back to Macomb County because she felt it would give them stability.
"They have friends there," she said. "At least school is still the same."
Lopez works at night and sleep during the day. After coming home from school, the boys play at a park about a block away. Every day, they walk a mile to a library and play on the computers for free.
"It's not that far," Ethan said. "I walk at least 2 miles a day. To the library and back. I like everything. It's got books."
Where do you live?
Some kids at school ask Amber where she lives, and she has learned to divert the conversation. "I'm not telling you," she says. "You might stalk me."
She is at an awkward stage -- growing into the body of an adult, but still a kid. To escape the motel room, she slips out the door and goes down the stairs, walks across the parking lot and sits at a table, near the road, and sends text messages to her friends or listens to music, usually Rihanna or Eminem.
She stands on a piece of wood, walks across it like a gymnast, walks across the parking lot, flailing her arms like a goofball, smiling, listening on her phone, waiting for somebody to call.
"As long as I've got food, I'm OK with it," she said. "I'm happy."
But Grant is stressed out. She is out of cash and late with her bills. She is unemployed and can't pay the $180 weekly motel bill.
She doesn't want her daughter to know their situation, how close they are to going to a shelter or landing on the streets.
Amber is getting A's and B's, mixed in with some non-completes. "She is doing really well," Grant said, proudly.
Her daughter loves to read books. She's reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."
Someday, she wants to become an artist. A painter. Somebody who changes the world.
But more than anything, she wants a place to live.
"I'm just sick of this place," Amber said, making two fists and bringing them to her chest and squeezing her eyes tight. "It's like, 'Arrrrghhhh!' "
Bike is rent payment
In November, Grant had to leave the motel. She was $120 behind in rent and the motel owner kept Amber's Huffy bike as payment, Grant said.
"Amber is hurt," Grant said, "but I had to leave the bike."
Grant and her daughter are now doubled up with a friend in a studio apartment in Harrison Township, sleeping on the floor.
"I called the school and they didn't want her to switch schools," Grant said. "So she switched buses."
Even though Amber is now living in the L'Anse Creuse district, she still attends a Roseville school. A Roseville bus picks her up every morning and brings her home.
Amber turned 12 on Dec. 3.
"I did something tiny," Grant said. "I gave her some lip gloss, some dollar perfume from the dollar store. And I got a cake from the food pantry."
It was a yellow sheet cake. With no name.
Donna tried to put Amber's name on it, but it didn't really work.
They have no Christmas tree. But Amber decorated some pieces of paper and hung them in the window. ..Source.. by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
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