About Wills

No one wants to think of the possibility of death – that is, his/her own death. But it is important to make sure that your family and other loved ones are provided for if anything happens to you. If you don’t have a will then now is the time to give it serious thought. If you have made a will and you want to make amendments then do so now because it will be too late to make those changes if something should happen to you.

Always make sure that your wishes are properly documented because the court will look at your will as the final proof of your wishes regarding your assets on your death. Remember – if you don’t have a written will the courts will assess what is to happen to your assets and they will order the disposal of your assets in the way they believe is best. The problem is that this may not be according to your wishes; so make sure you look seriously at the making of a will at the earliest.

What is a Will?

A will is a document containing your instructions and wishes as to how your property and assets are to be distributed after your death. Any person, of any age, should seriously consider a will at the earliest. A will should not only be for people who have reached an age where death is not far away. People die at all ages and a will is needed especially if you have assets and property to be allocated to those you wish to benefit.

A will is the expression of the person’s wishes concerning how their property is to be distributed. It is a written statement, signed in compliance with the various formalities covered by legislation. It is a legal document containing the names of the people you want to benefit, as well as details of your possessions at the date of your death. The people you want to benefit are called beneficiaries.

Your property or possessions will include everything you own, such as your home, land, vehicles, bank accounts, benefits of insurance policies, furniture, boat, investments such as shares, personal jewellery, artwork, and so on. A will is the only way you can ensure your assets will be distributed according to your wishes after your death.

What is a Valid Will?

A valid will is a will that is accepted by the court and put into effect by the court granting what is known as probate. Probate is approval or acceptance by the court of how your assets are to be dealt with.

A valid will must have the following features:

It must be in writing – handwritten, typed or printed.

It must be signed with your signature at the end of the document.

It must be witnessed by at least two other people present at the time of signing. They need to acknowledge they were present and must sign the will as witnesses in your presence. They don’t have to be together at the same time of signing.

If your will is not made in this manner then the court may not accept it and it would be unenforceable (the courts will not enforce it). The court has discretion to grant probate (probate is confirmation that the will is valid and accepted) and your possessions could be disposed of as if you hadn’t made a will at all. When the court exercises this discretion, it has to be satisfied that the document sets out clearly how you wanted your assets to be allocated or distributed.

About Completing a Will

Most people know that they need to put together a will sometime before they die. Unfortunately, the majority of people don’t have a will. They don’t think about writing up a will until they are past the age of 50.

Writing a will doesn’t need to be expensive. Once it is done you can rest easy, knowing that your wishes will be followed after your death. Most wills can be composed quite simply. Others are more complex and involve more people, substantial assets, and cash. These wills should be discussed with lawyers who specialise in this area.

While a will is not critical if you do not possess much (e.g. property for distributions), you may have personal items such as jewellery, manuscripts, or trophies that you want to be left to specific people. Having a will clarifies this and saves any arguments later on.

If your estate, possession and property are valuable, you should ensure that a will sets out your wishes and instructions clearly. It might be inconvenient for you to set up a Will while you are alive, but it could save arguments and fighting amongst your beneficiaries.

Why Make a Will?

If a person dies without making a will then the rules according to law will apply. If you die without a will the term is; you have died “intestate”. If you die intestate then the court rules on how things are done, how your property is distributed, and who the beneficiaries would be. It may not be according to your wishes, so dying intestate is not a good position to be in as far as your beneficiaries are concerned.

Because most of us don’t know when we are going to die, we should approach the drafting of a will as if we haven’t many days left on this earth. This is important because it saves arguments amongst family members and beneficiaries after your death.

The following are a few examples of what could happen if you died in testate. You may not be particularly happy about some of them.

If you die without spouse or children, but are survived by your parents, then your parents will generally receive all the assets of your estate.
If you die and are survived by a spouse, then the whole of your estate will generally pass to your spouse.
If you die and are survived by a spouse and children, the estate will most likely be divided between your spouse and children, as determined by the courts. The split of your estate between your spouse and children can cause problems for your spouse, who may have to sell a family home in order to pay out the shares to the children.
If you die without spouse, children or parents, but are survived by brothers and sisters, then your estate will be divided equally amongst those brothers and sisters.

There are a number of reasons why you should make a will as soon as you can.

These are:

To protect your loved ones.

Making a will is one of the only ways to be certain that your lifetime’s work and assets, built up over the years, are passed on to the people you want. It provides security for your family and those you are responsible for. Most of your life would be spent building up your assets. These may consist of home, car, insurance policies and other investments, etc. You will want those assets to go to the people you choose, rather than to someone else.

Smooth transfer of assets.

Having a will enables your assets to be transferred smoothly on your death. You need to prepare a detailed list of your assets, as well as your personal goals before putting your plan in place. Your ultimate plan will involve investment advice and planning, so that there is a provision for the orderly transfer of your assets.

To secure your children’s future.

If you have children (under adult age), you may wish to nominate guardians and make arrangements for their upkeep and education.

For a second marriage.

If you are currently in your second marriage, you need a will to protect the members of your new family. A marriage generally invalidates any will made prior to the date of marriage, so unless you have a new will including reference to your new family, your new family may not get the protection you want.

De facto relationship.

If you die without a Will your partner could stand to lose assets and mementos that rightly belong to him/her. A de facto spouse does not have an automatic entitlement to your estate if you die without a will. Strangely enough, a divorced former spouse can still inherit your estate because a divorce does not automatically cancel a will.

Pedometers For Walking Toshiba Lcd

DUI tricks and tips can help reduce your risks of getting a DUI. Let’s face it. A DUI is serious business. You should never drive drunk. But even if you aren’t drunk and have had only a small amount to drink, you are still in danger of getting a DUI. There are some DUI tricks that you should know which can help reduce the chance of getting arrested and convicted of a DUI.

Search Your Car

We’ve all seen those cop shows on TV where the cops stop some guy and begin to question him. The guy clearly doesn’t know anything about his rights. He seems to be convinced that if he just helps the cops find evidence to convict him, then they will let him go. I know it makes no sense. The cops finally ask the guy if they can look in his car. The guy agrees. This is always the puzzling part, since the guy knows he has something in his car that he doesn’t want them to find. Sure enough, the open up the trunk and there’s a dead body in it. Imagine that.

Therefore one DUI trick is to search your car thoroughly, before you ever leave your house. After all, if you get into some trouble, that’s what the cops are going to do. You don’t want to get pulled over and have the cops find something in your car which incriminated you. For example, if they pull you over for a red light violation, you don’t want them to notice something in your backseat or the back of your truck which will get him starting an investigation for a DUI, for example. Start with obvious. Look at what’s in plain view. If a cop shine shines his flashlight in your car, what will he see?

You probably need to get rid of those empty beer cans in the back of your truck, leftover from that fishing trip. Or how about that stuff in your ash tray? What about that flask in your golf bag? Look in your glove box, all compartments, under your seats, under the floor mats, and in your trunk. Make sure that anything that could in anyway incriminate you is taken out of the vehicle. Sometimes DUI tricks can be the difference between going to jail, and going home to sleep in your own bed.

A businessman took some clients wine tasting, hoping to land a big account. While wine tasting, he didn’t swallow, but spit the wine out. He got pulled over. The cop smelled booze and asked the guy to take some tests. The guy’s balance wasn’t very good – overweight. So the cop failed the guy, arrested him, and handcuffed him in front of his clients. When they tested him at the police station, he blew.01 – almost stone sober. The guy lost the account and had to fight the DUI. This happens all of the time. If you don’t know how to play the game, you’re toast.

Mug Los Angeles Wrongful Death Lawyer

Sexual intercourse in which one partner is an adult and the other a minor is legally referred to as statutory rape. In the case of one Florida sexual offense law, an adult is defined as someone aged 24 or older. A minor is defined as anyone under the age of 18.

Florida Statute Title XLVI Crimes Chapter 794 Sexual Battery 794.05 – Unlawful sexual activity with certain minors. This law makes it a felony for anyone 24 years of age or older to have sex with a 16 or 17 year old. Ignorance of age cannot be raised as a defense for this crime.

QUESTION: Does this mean that anyone between the age of 18 and 24 can have sex with minors under the age of 18?

ANSWER: No, it does not.

Florida Statute Title XLVI Crimes Chapter 800 Lewdness; Indecent Exposure – 800.04 Lewd or Lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of persons less than 16 years of age: This law makes it a felony of the second degree for “A person” 18 or older, to engage in sexual activity with a person 12 years of age or older, but less than 16 years of age.

Florida Statute Title XLVI Crimes Chapter 827 Abuse of Children 827.04 Contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child; states that a person 21 years of age or older who impregnates a child under 16 years of age commits an act of child abuse which constitutes a felony of the third degree.

Statutory rape laws are meant to protect young people.

Knowing that jail time is a possible consequence deters many (but unfortunately not all) adults from becoming sexually involved with minors. When the act on a minor has already been committed, protection comes in the form of punishing the offender, usually with a felony offense.

Problem is, most minors that have sexual relations with adults rarely feel victimized and therefore don’t feel the need for protection. As a result, parents who suspect their underage children of being sexually active with older adults face a dilemma. If they report their suspicions to authorities, the report sets in motion a long and complex legal process which usually alienates them from their children.

If they don’t report their suspicions, they may feel they’ve failed in one of their primary responsibilities as a parent: Protecting their child from potential danger.

Do you suspect statutory rape?

If you’re a parent and suspect your minor child is sexually involved with an adult you have every right to decide how to handle the situation. Depending on your child’s maturity level, you might decide to speak frankly about the possible consequences and then allow some time for them to seek a resolution themselves.

Or you may feel it necessary to take legal action. If so, start gathering evidence of the relationship now. Read your child’s journals, dairies, text message logs and email and make copies of any relevant information, especially anything that is dated, before your child has a chance to destroy evidence. If you think there’s evidence on a computer, be sure to make a backup copy of the hard drive, too. If you don’t know how to do that, find someone who does.

Reporting statutory rape in Florida

The general procedure for reporting suspected cases of statutory rape in the state of Florida is as follows:

Start by reporting the suspected statutory rape violation to the Sheriff’s office or local police department. Based on the evidence provided, the law enforcement agency usually will either dismiss the case if insufficient evidence is provided; place the case on hold until resources can be devoted; or initiate an investigation right away.

An investigation entails gathering the names of and interviewing everyone involved including witnesses and following up on leads and any new information learned as a result of the interviewing process. A review of all evidence is also undertaken.

If this investigation is inconclusive, the case likely will be dropped at this stage. However, if the investigation determines that a violation of Florida statutory rape laws has taken place, the case is forwarded to the appropriate district office of the State Attorney for prosecution.

Once under the jurisdiction of the State Attorney’s Office, district attorneys take sworn testimony from all witnesses. From there they will make a determination as to whether charges should be filed. If warranted, the specific charges are determined next. The district attorney’s office then files a case with the Clerk of Courts, an action that signifies the start of the prosecution phase.

No one really wins in court

If all this sounds overwhelming, remember there is a better way. Keeping the lines of communication open may help prevent statutory rape from developing in the first place. So do the right thing and talk openly, honestly and regularly with your child.

Grind

Mortgage fraud is problem that has reached epidemic proportions in the United States (US) in general and in South Carolina (SC) in particular. The white collar practitioner should be aware that mortgage fraud is generally investigated by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), although other agencies routinely assist the FBI and/or take the lead in investigating a case. Some of the other federal agencies which investigate mortgage fraud crimes for criminal prosecution include, but are not limited to, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigative Division (IRS-CID), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), U.S. Secret Service (USSS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of the Inspector General (HUD-OIG), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of the Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), the Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of the Inspector General (DVA-OIG) and U.S. Bankruptcy Trustees.

The FBI works extensively with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). FinCEN is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, created in 1990, that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions in order to fight financial crimes, including mortgage fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. The FinCEN network is a means of bringing people and information together to combat complex criminal financial transactions such as mortgage fraud and money laundering by implementing information sharing among law enforcement agencies and its other partners in the regulatory and financial communities. South Carolina lawyers can keep abreast of mortgage fraud developments by visiting the respective websites of the FBI and FinCEN.

In South Carolina, mortgage fraud is generally prosecuted by federal prosecutors. The United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Fraud Section handle the criminal prosecutions of mortgage fraud cases. The USAO in South Carolina has about 50 prosecutors in the state, and has offices in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, and Greenville. In the investigation stage, a person with possible knowledge or involvement in a mortgage fraud may be considered a witness, subject or target of the investigation. A subject is generally a person the prosecutor believes may have committed a mortgage fraud crime, whereas a target is a person the prosecutor believes has committed a crime such as mortgage fraud and the prosecutor has substantial evidence to support a criminal prosecution. Criminal prosecutions of mortgage fraud felony cases are usually initiated through the federal grand jury process. A federal grand jury consists of between 16 and 23 grand jurors who are presented evidence of alleged criminal activity by the federal prosecutors with the aid of law enforcement agents, usually FBI special agents. At least 12 members of the grand jury must vote in favor of an indictment charging mortgage fraud. South Carolina criminal defense lawyers are not allowed entry into the grand jury at any time, and prosecutors rarely fail to obtain an indictment after presentment of their case to the grand jury.

Often targets of a mortgage fraud prosecution are invited by the prosecution to avail themselves of the grand jury process and to testify in front of the grand jury. Generally, a South Carolina criminal defense attorney should not allow a named target of a federal criminal mortgage fraud investigation to testify before the grand jury. Subjects and witnesses in a mortgage fraud prosecution are often subpoenaed by the prosecutors to testify before the grand jury. A criminal defense attorney should likewise generally advise a witness or subject to not testify if any part of the testimony would possibly incriminate the client. With respect to a federal mortgage fraud investigation, when a citizen receives a target letter, subject letter, or a subpoena to testify before the grand jury, or is contacted in person by a law enforcement officer such as an FBI special agent, a South Carolina criminal lawyer who is experienced in federal prosecutions should be consulted immediately. One of the biggest mistakes a mortgage fraud target, subject or witness can make is to testify before the grand jury or speak to criminal investigators prior to consulting with a criminal defense attorney. The 5th Amendment to the Constitution allows any person, including a target, subject or witness in a mortgage fraud prosecution, to not incriminate himself or herself. Interestingly, there is no 5th Amendment protection for a corporation. Obviously, if a defendant has been indicted or arrested for a federal mortgage fraud crime in South Carolina, an experienced SC mortgage fraud lawyer should be consulted immediately.

An important practice tip for South Carolina attorneys representing clients who have decided to testify before the grand jury is to accompany the client to the grand jury court room. While not allowed in the grand jury proceeding itself, the attorney can wait just outside of the court room and the client is allowed to consult with the attorney for any question which is posed to the client by prosecutors or grand jurors. This is an effective way to help minimize any potential damaging statements by the client, and a great way to learn the focus of the prosecutor’s case. This approach makes it much easier to gain insights from the client as to the questions asked during the grand jury proceeding as opposed to debriefing the client after a sometimes long and grueling question and answer session which can last for hours.

South Carolina white collar criminal attorneys need to be aware of the types of mortgage fraud that are prevalent in the state in order to effectively identify and represent clients who are involved in mortgage fraud activities. Consumers need to be aware of the variations of mortgage fraud so that they do not unwittingly become a part of a scheme to defraud a bank or federally backed lending institution. Federal mortgage fraud crimes in South Carolina are punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment in federal prison or $1,000,000 fine, or both. It is unlawful and fraudulent for a person to make a false statement regarding his or her income, assets, debt, or matters of identification, or to willfully overvalue any land or property, in a loan or credit application for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of a federally backed financial institution.

Some of the applicable federal criminal statutes which may be charged in mortgage fraud indictments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• 18 U.S.C. § 1001 – Statements or entries generally

• 18 U.S.C. § 1010 – HUD and Federal Housing Administration Transactions

• 18 U.S.C. § 1014 – Loan and credit applications generally

• 18 U.S.C. § 1028 – Fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents

• 18 U.S.C. § 1341 – Frauds and swindles by Mail

• 18 U.S.C. § 1342 – Fictitious name or address

• 18 U.S.C. § 1343 – Fraud by wire

• 18 U.S.C. § 1344 – Bank Fraud

• 18 U.S.C. § 2 – Aiding and Abetting

• 18 U.S.C. § 371 – Conspiracy

• 42 U.S.C. § 408(a) – False Social Security Number

While states experiencing the highest number of mortgage fraud cases are California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, the state of South Carolina has seen a huge rise in the number of mortgage fraud cases being prosecuted by the USAO, DOJ and FBI.

In South Carolina, a disproportionate number of mortgage fraud cases have occurred in the coastal region. Some of the South Carolina counties with high concentrations of mortgage fraud or bank fraud cases include Horry County, Florence County, Georgetown County, Charleston County, Berkeley County, Dorchester County, Beaufort County, Colleton County and Jasper County. Some of the South Carolina cities with high concentrations of mortgage fraud or bank fraud cases include Little River, North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Georgetown, Awendaw, Mt. Pleasant, Charleston, North Charleston, James Island, Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Hollywood, Ravenel, Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island. The reason for the increased number of mortgage fraud and bank fraud criminal prosecutions in these areas is because large number of condominium, condotels, townhouse and similar real estate projects which proliferated in these areas. These real estate developments were popular in areas close to the waterfront and bank lenders were willing to loan money at a furious pace due to a perceived enormous demand.

There are a wide variety of schemes, artifices and conspiracies to perpetrate mortgage frauds and band frauds with which the South Carolina white collar criminal defense lawyer and consumers must be familiar. Typical mortgage fraud schemes or conspiracies that have occurred in South Carolina and elsewhere throughout the United States include the following:

Air Loans. The air loan mortgage fraud scheme is a loan obtained on a nonexistent property or for a nonexistent borrower. Professional scam artists often work together to create a fake borrower and a fake chain of title on a nonexistent property. They then obtain a title and property insurance binder to present to the bank. The scam artists often set up fake phone banks and mailboxes in order to create fake employment verifications and W-2s, home addresses and borrower telephone numbers. They may establish accounts for payments, and maintain custodial accounts for escrows. Phone banks are used to impersonate an employer, an appraiser, a credit agency, a law firm, an accountant, etc…, for bank verification purposes. The air loan scam artists obtain the loan proceeds and no property is ever bought or sold, and the bank is left with an unpaid loan that never had any collateral.

Appraisal fraud. Appraisal fraud is often an integral part of most mortgage fraud scams and occurs when a dishonest appraiser fraudulently appraises a property by inflating its value. In most cases, after the seller receives the closing proceeds, he will pay a kickback to the appraiser as a quid pro quo for the fake appraisal. In most cases, the borrower doesn’t make any loan payments and the house or property goes into foreclosure.

Equity Skimming. In an equity skimming mortgage fraud scheme, an investor often uses a straw buyer, false income documents, and false credit reports to obtain a mortgage loan in the straw buyer’s name. After the closing, the straw buyer signs the property over to the investor in a quit claim deed which relinquishes all rights to the property and provides no guaranty to title. The investor does not make any mortgage payments, and rents the property until foreclosure takes place several months later. Equity skimming also occurs when a scam artist purchases a residential property whose owner is in default on his mortgage and/or his real estate taxes, and then diverts rental income from the property for personal gain and does not apply this rental income toward mortgage payments, the payment of taxes and other property-related expenses.

Flipping. A flipping scheme occurs when the seller intentionally misrepresents the value of a property in order to induce a buyer’s purchase. Flipping mortgage fraud schemes usually involve a fraudulent appraisal and a grossly inflated sales price.

Foreclosure schemes. Foreclosure scheme scam artists prey on people with mounting financial problems that that place them in danger of losing their home. Homeowners in the early stages of foreclosure may be contacted by a fraudster who represents to the homeowner that he can get rid of his debt and save his house for an upfront fee, which the scam artist takes and then disappears. In a similar foreclosure scheme, Homeowners are approached by a scam artist who offers to help them refinance the loan. The homeowners are fraudulently induced to sign so-called “refinance” documents only to later find out that they actually transferred title to the house to the fraudster and then face eviction.

Nominee Loans/Straw buyers. One of the most frequent types of mortgage fraud occurs when a “straw buyer” is used to hide the identity of the true borrower who would not qualify for the mortgage. The straw buyer or nominee buyer generally has good credit. The scam artist usually fills out the loan application for the straw buyer, and falsifies the income and net worth of the straw buyer in order to qualify for the loan. These fraud scams were popularized with the advent of the “stated income” loans which did not require a borrower to prove his true income and net worth – the bank just believed the income and net worth that was “stated” on the loan application. Straw buyers are often duped into thinking that they’re investing in real estate that will be rented out, with the rental payments paying the mortgage, and are sometime paid a nominal fee outside of closing. In most case, no payments are made and the lender forecloses on the loan. Sometimes straw buyers are actually in on the scam and are getting a cut of the proceeds.

Silent Second. In the silent second mortgage fraud scheme, the buyer borrows the down payment for the purchase of the property from the seller through the execution of a second mortgage which is not disclosed to the lending bank. The lending bank is fraudulently led to believe that the borrower has invested his own money for the down payment, when in fact, it is borrowed. The second mortgage is generally not recorded to further conceal its status from the primary lending bank.

A mortgage fraud is usually reported to the FBI by the financial institution upon which the fraud has been committed. Pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA), a bank must file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with FinCEN if a customer’s actions indicate that the customer is laundering money or otherwise violating a federal criminal law such as committing mortgage fraud. See 31 C.F.R. § 103.18(a). A bank is required to file a SAR no later than 30 calendar days after the date of initial detection by the bank of facts that may constitute a basis for filing a SAR, unless no suspect was initially identified on the date of the detection, in which case the bank has up to 60 days to file the SAR. See 31 C.F.R. § 103.18(b). Once FinCEN has analyzed the information contained in the SAR, if a criminal activity is found to have occurred, then the case is turned over to the FBI and the DOJ or AUSO for investigation and prosecution. The rise in FBI SARs reports involving mortgage fraud went from approximately 2,000 in 1996 to over 25,000 in 2005. Of those 2005 SARs reports, 20,000 of involved borrower fraud, approximately 7,000 involved broker fraud, and approximately 2,000 involved appraiser fraud.

The FBI has identified a number of indicators of mortgage fraud of which the South Carolina criminal white collar lawyer needs to be aware. These include inflated appraisals or the exclusive use of one appraiser, increased commissions or bonuses for brokers and appraisers, bonuses paid (outside or at settlement) for fee-based services, higher than customary fees, falsifications on loan applications, explanations to buyers on how to falsify the mortgage application, requests for borrowers to sign a blank loan application, fake supporting loan documentation, requests to sign blank employee forms, bank forms or other forms, purchase loans which are disguised as refinance loans, investors who are guaranteed a re-purchase of the property, investors who are paid a fixed percentage to sell or flip a property, and when multiple “Holding Companies” are used to increase property values.

One of the first and biggest South Carolina mortgage fraud prosecutions occurred in the Charleston Division in the 1990’s. It involved nominee borrowers and straw loans made by Citadel Federal Saving and Loan. Over 10 straw purchasers were enticed into the real estate loans by getting paid fees for signing up for the loans. They did not put up any of their own money as part of the deal and when the loans went sour the bank was left with properties that were upside down, that is, the real estate was worth less the the amount of the loan. Some bank insiders were part of the scheme and got convicted for their respective roles.

The range of defendants that a SC criminal lawyer will represent in a typical mortgage fraud case may include straw borrowers or nominee borrowers, real estate agents, developers, appraisers, mortgage brokers, and sometimes even closing attorneys and bankers. Bankers often get involved in mortgage fraud scams because they are receiving kickbacks from the borrowers or are paid bonuses for the volume of loans made and thus ignore proper banking loan requirements and protocols in order to make more money. Close scrutiny should be given to bank loan applications, appraisals, HUD-1 closing statements, borrower’s W-2 and tax returns when analyzing a potential mortgage fraud case for a potential client.

Federal judges who impose sentences for mortgage fraud normally rely upon the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are now advisory as a result of the U.S. v. Booker case, when determining a sentence. A federal court calculates a particular guideline range by assessing a defendant’s criminal history, the applicable base offense level, and the amount of the actual or intended loss. Section 2B1.1 of the USSG sets forth a loss table which increases the base offense level according to the amount of money involved in the mortgage fraud. Generally, the more money which is lost in a mortgage fraud scam, the greater the sentence the defendant receives. In some cases, a defendant may be subjected to sentencing enhancements which means the defendant receives a greater sentence. A defendant may receive an enhancement for the role in the offense if the court determines that the defendant was an organizer, supervisor, or a recruiter, or used a sophisticated means to facilitate a crime, abused a position a trust, or targeted a vulnerable victim such as a disabled or elderly person. However, federal judges now have wide latitude for imposing a sentence because they must consider the broad statutory factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)which include the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant, the need for the sentence imposed to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense, the need to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct, the need to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant, the need to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner, the kinds of sentences available, the sentence recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines and any applicable guidelines or policy statement therein, the need to avoid sentence disparities, and the need for restitution.

There are some important strategic decisions which need to be made for the defendant who has been charged or indicted for mortgage fraud. The defendant and his lawyer should seriously consider the consequences of pleading guilty if he has in fact committed the crime. A mortgage fraud defendant can receive up to a 3 level downward departure for pleading guilty. A criminal lawyer representing a mortgage fraud defendant can also file a motion for a downward departure and/or a motion for a variance and argue factors to the court in support of an additional decrease in a defendant’s sentence. The mortgage fraud defendant’s criminal attorney should closely scrutinize the circumstances of the case and the defendant’s background and criminal history in order to help minimize the amount of time to be served. A valuable tip for an attorney representing a criminal mortgage fraud defendant in South Carolina is to consider mitigating factors such as disparate sentences, 5K departures for cooperation, aberrant behavior, property values, family ties, extraordinary rehabilitation, diminished mental capacity, extraordinary restitution should be considered as possible justifications for a lesser sentence.

A white collar criminal defense attorney in South Carolina must have an understanding of the basics of the mortgage fraud in order to adequately represent clients who have been charged or indicted with mortgage fraud violations. Recognizing the difference between the status of being a target, subject or witness can have important consequences in how a case is handled. A white collar bank fraud or mortgage fraud criminal conviction can have life altering consequences for those defendants convicted of the same. A defendant who is charged or indicted with the federal crime of mortgage fraud should consult with a SC criminal lawyer who is knowledgeable about the different types of these scams, how the scams are carried out, the law enforcement investigatory process, the grand jury process, substantive law regarding mortgage fraud, the applicable federal sentencing guidelines and approaches available to minimize a defendant’s potential sentence.

© 2010 Joseph P. Griffith, Jr.

Los Angeles Criminal Lawyers Slice

There are many instances where you may need to search for driving records online. Maybe you just want to review your own driving record to ensure it is accurate before you apply for a new job. Maybe you need to pull driving records for new company drivers or contractors for insurance purposes.

No matter the reason you need to gain access to driving records, there are several ways you can accomplish the task online. In this article, we’re going to review several simple and easy ways you can find driving records online.

The first method is to visit your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) website. Depending on the state, you may be able to download or order a copy of your own driving and DMV records. If you’re needing to access someone else’s driving record, you may or may not be able to get a copy through the DMV website. Pricing for driving records range from state to state.
A second option for getting a copy of someone else’s driving records is to contact a local private investigator. Depending on the way the investigator’s business license is setup; he or she may be able to access the driving records for you. Private investigators normally charge by the hour for their services so you can expect to pay $100 or more per driving record search.
If you’re looking to save a little, but you still want the convenience of having a professional service search for the driving records, you can try using on of the online national public records services like Abika.com, DrivingRecord.org and DMV.org. These services can normally get you driving records for as little as $29.95 per driving record search.
The cheapest option for conducting driving record searches is to join one of the public record membership sites where you pay one annual fee (normally $29 to $59 per year) and you access databases used by private investigators. These services can save you quite a bit of money if you understand what you’re doing. The downside is you must do the work yourself and there is no guarantee of finding the driving records you need.In closing, getting access to driving records has never been easier. Simply use one of the choices above and you may be able to get your hands on driving record data in minutes.

Houston Mesothelioma Lawyers

When it comes to the purchase of a firearm, people are now required to undergo a background check as well as a cooling off period prior to being able to take possession of the firearm. The reason for this is because of the Brady handgun law which was passes on a national level back in the mid 1990’s. Basically, if any person who was dishonorably discharged from the military or if they have a felony conviction, they cannot get a handgun. This background check was put in place to prevent those who have a higher tendency to commit a gun related crime from owning or even possessing a weapon.

When the law was first passed, the only option for a gun store owner was to take the person’s information down to the local police station and perform a criminal background check on them. This unfortunately was flawed as the local police station could only provide the criminal background if the crime had been committed in their jurisdiction. What this meant was that if a person had committed a crime in another state and then moved to a new state and attempted to purchase a gun, chances were good that they would get it.

Later on, thanks to the freedom of information act, the international databases for criminal records were made public and anyone who wanted to could access them to obtain a person’s background record. This too was flawed as trying to locate and navigate through this criminal database was hard, and you would also need that person’s entire history of residences to perform the background check.

Then came along the firearm background check companies who take all of this information and compile it onto their own database which allows you to have access to the information regardless as to whether you have their complete address history.

This made the purchase of a gun easier for those who would like to own one. There is still a cooling off period prior to being able to take possession of the firearm, but at least you already know if you will be able to return in a couple days to pick up your new handgun. All of this comes from the firearm background check services who have made it their goal to supply handgun store owners with the necessary tools to perform a comprehensive criminal background check on any handgun purchase with ease.

Tea

To begin with, let us tell you that this article is going to smash any preconceptions out there regarding opening a halfway house in the USA. You do not need a license, permit, or any other document to open a halfway house. If any person, government official, government agency, zoning commission, etc. tells you otherwise, they are engaging in illegal and unfair practices. Know your rights (see bellow links to know your rights).

NATIONAL LAWS (ADA) ALWAYS SUPERSEDE LOCAL LAWS.

Just for a hypothetical situation; let’s say that 3 people who have depression decide to become roommates in a home. Should they be shut down and kicked out of the neighborhood because of their disability? Does that mean they have to get a license or permit to stay? Of course not. They are protected under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), as well as other determinations (see links below) against such discrimination. Havingchemically dependent persons in a home is no different!!! Alcoholics and addicts have the same laws to protect them.

It is a well known fact that City Councils have tried to stop halfway houses in their neighborhoods by stating that a halfway house with alcoholics and/or addicts, in other words disabled persons, (and alcoholics and addicts qualify as disabled under the ADA), must not have roommates (as in 2 people in a room at a house), which prevents most halfway houses from opening.

If you have a house, and you want to open a halfway house, and your mortgage payment is $700.00 per month (see additional expenses at the bottom of this paragraph), there are many things to consider before accepting residents into your house. Let’s say, hypothetically, you follow licensing and zoning guidelines. With the average charge to a resident with a substance abuse problem, being around $125.00 per week, you can see that if you went with what the license division / politicians tell you, (which are illegal tactics), you would be out of business shortly. Keep in mind that in addition to your mortgage payment are things such as: utilities, phone service, water, food, furniture, cooking utensils, beds, sheets- basically everything you would need to survive, etc.

On the other hand, if you did not license your house, you could put in 2 or 3 people in a room and keep your halfway house open. In other words, helping others to get a hand up at living sober. Please read more details below…

NATIONAL LAWS (ADA) ALWAYS SUPERSEDE LOCAL LAWS.

How to open a Recovery Home, Halfway House, Sober Living Home OR starting a Half Way House/Recovery Facility*- Resources to assist you. This article includes information on the standards and requirements of opening and operating a Halfway House/Recovery Home- NOTE: Not every county in the United States approaches standards and licensure in the same way- it is best to contact your local licensure department and/or zoning division.

The first thing you should know about opening a halfway house is that you do not need a degree or special certification to open one, and that most operate without a license/permit. Also, under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and The Fair Act Amendment, as well as other determinations, makes it illegal to discriminate against halfway houses and the people who own, operate, and live in them. Please see our links below for more information concerning these issues. There are a number of other important issues to cover concerning opening a halfway house that are vital to know.

You must first decide where you will operate. Once you have determined a location you have a choice in whether to license* the facility or not. There are also other permits, inspections, zoning variances, etc. to explore prior to opening up a halfway house. Please keep in mind that it is your choice whether to obtain a license, permit, and other certifications for the operation of a halfway house. If you choose to open a halfway house without a license, there are certain parameters you must operate under to make sure you are not shut down by the county/city you operate within. It is always best to check into what is required, allowed, and not allowed by contacting your local licensure agency and zoning department.

Most halfway houses that are not licensed are mandated to NOT provide on-site counseling or other wrap-around services- to avoid additional

paperwork and hassles, you could provide these services at a local church or other building. Most halfway houses that are licensed may need to

obtain a zoning variance, simply because (in the eyes of politicians) you are basically operating a business in a residential area. You may find that

because you are licensing it, the county (Zoning Commission) will limit the number of people you can have in any one room and at any one residence.

A halfway house that is going through the licensing process (and this may take months, even years to work out) will be required to have certain

structural adaptations made (water/fire sprinkler lines installed- which is very expensive) wheel chair accessible, parking and traffic issues to deal with, etc.

There are some overhead details to work out before you start taking in residents. You should know how many residents you will have in each room, what you are going to charge each resident, and what services are included in this cost or rent. You may also have to contend with residents coming in with no money, or that some residents will be late and/or short of the entire rent monies owed. It’s up to you how you handle these situations. If you have a house ready to use as a Halfway House (providing you have decided whether to license it or not) and your mortgage payment, for a 4 bedroom home, is $700.00 per month (estimate), you will also need to factor in start-up and continued costs like food costs per week, water and utility costs, household needs, (paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, cleaning chemicals, phones, etc.), as well as monthly and yearly costs, (beds and sheets, TV, computer(s), Internet connection, towels and face clothes, shampoo, dishes and utensils, pest control services, vucuum(s), maintenance, etc.)- basically everything you would need if you were starting from scratch in a new home (considering you have nothing on hand) only this time it is for X number of people. Also include additional items, if licensed, like license and permit charges, health inspection fees, reports, paperwork and filing, accounting, etc. With the above example you can clearly see that many licensure and zoning variances would limit you to having only 4 people at your house, so meeting your overhead is not possible- you would be operating in the red every month.

Fair Housing Act

A case in point (actual court case) in which, for a period of more than 1 year, a city violated the provisions stated within the Fair Housing Amendments

Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, 42 U.S.C. §§3601-3619) and denied the operating of a Halfway House within a residential area.

In an effort to assist individuals, agencies, religious affiliations, etc. open recovery places and tackle the unfair and illegal tactics politicians and others are using to stop them, NICD has put together some basic, and very needed, resources to aid in the journey. Counties are using zoning

codes/variances to try and control halfway houses/sober living homes and the total census allowed within these centers. Some of the bias is a

NIMBY, (Not In My Back Yard) situation, while others include property value concerns. In any case, the reasons for discrimination and unfair tactics are not based on fact or material circumstances. These counties and individuals are in violation of the law as it relates to the ADA, (Americans With Disabilities Act), Section 36.209 section 510 which describes alcoholics/drug addicts as people with disabilities. The Federal Fair Housing Act, (see link below), 42 USC section 3604(f)(2) makes it unlawful “to discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection with such dwelling because of a handicap.” The 42 USC section 3604(f)(3)(B) provides that unlawful discrimination includes failure to make “reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices.

providing some resources that you can use in starting up a program.

There are numerous obstacles to overcome in trying to open up a halfway house for alcoholics and/or drug addicts. NICD will attempt to help you by

Note: Please feel free to copy/print this page, as we have waived the copyright for this page only.

Some additional concerns you may encounter:

The next section has some rules that should be a part of any quality run halfway house. In addition to these is a section for navigating your way

through getting your residents into benefits and entitlements.

Specific: Halfway Houses Rules- A good halfway house should have rules. We have constructed some that we feel are essential.

RULES & REGULATIONS

IMMEDIATE DISCHARGE

*Being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs

*Possession of alcohol/drugs

*Possession of weapons

*Threats either verbal or physical, or acts of violence, fighting

*Property destruction or altering the physical construction of the premises, including interior walls

*Failure to submit a U/A (which are always at your cost)

*Unaccountable or discrepancies in times off of premises

*Lies, either found on your intake paperwork or otherwise, stealing, unusual behavior, and any criminal activity

*Failure to comply with rules and/or staff directions

1. You are required to attend at least 3 12-Step meetings per week, have a program book, (Big Book, NA Text, etc.), and have your meeting slip

signed by a member of the group, and not another resident, and attend on-premises “House Meetings” which are held 2 times per week, 1-2 hours per meeting.

2. House meeting attendance is mandatory, (which means you must arrange for employment that does not interfere with these meetings), there are

no exceptions to this rule.

3. For the first 30 days you are to remain on premises, (during this time you are expected to be working on your steps), and must arrange 12-Step meeting attendance with another resident who is not on restriction, and this must be pre-approved by the house manager.

4. You are required to sign-out when leaving the premises, and sign-in upon return- all leaves must be pre-approved by the house manager in

advance, and any inconsistencies in leave times are grounds for discharge.

5. Rent must be paid every Friday directly to the house manager, and kept up to date without exception.

6. You must see the house manager at least 1 time per week to discuss your recovery program- it does not count as a visit to discuss program while paying rent, unless the house manager chooses to do so.

7. You must obtain a Home Group and a Sponsor (You must provide a contact name and phone number), within the first week of residency, and this will be verified.

8. You must have Steps 1,2, and 3 in writing, and present these in the House Meeting by the 3rd week, along with a copy to the house manager.

9. You are required to be employed full time, and you are not permitted to quit a job without first discussing it with the house manager, (employment status will be checked on periodically).

10. There are certain types of employment that are not allowed, and you must speak with the house manager

11. No cab driving, working in bars, clubs, or places that sell alcohol.

12. Your room must be kept neat, with your bed made at all times, rugs vacuumed, toilet cleaned, kitchen area clean, which means absolutely no

glasses, dishes, forks, knives, spoons, etc. left in the sink at any time, and any trash disposed of in a timely manner.

13. You will be assigned daily and weekend chores (these are mandatory as part of your stay).

14. All vehicles will have current tags and insurance, and this must be verifiable. Also, there will be no storage of vehicles, and no working on vehicles on the premises.

15. Bikes and other modes of transportation must be stored in the appropriate locations, and security for these are at your own cost.

16. Any situation that requires police involvement must be discussed with the house manager before the police are called, (any police involvement

without house manager approval will be grounds for discharge).

17. There are absolutely no visitors allowed on premises without prior approval from the house manager.

18. There will be no congregating outside, no loud music or discussions, no walkmans, caps, sunglasses, bandanas, or inappropriate dress allowed, and you are required to attend to daily hygiene needs.

19. No one is allowed in another residents room- period.

20. There are no sharing of clothes, personal property, loaning money, borrowing vehicles, including bikes by either staff or residents.

21. You may be requested to submit to a U/A at any time, which may include either with cause or without.

22. Any resident who is aware of a rules infraction and does not notify the house manager immediately will be subject to discharge, which includes

finding out later that you knew about it.

23. All rooms are subject to inspections at any given time, and any room that does not pass inspection may cause all residents in that room to be

discharged.

24. Smoking is not allowed in rooms.

25. There will be no illegal hook-ups of cable, or use of cable boxes. Cable hook-ups will be done legally, at your cost, and your risk. If bills are not current you will be required to cut-off services until the bill is paid for.

26. Phone hook-ups are your responsibility, as are the bills that go along with it.

27. Any cooking done by residents requires immediate clean-up.

28. Any delegation, directive, or request that is made by staff will then become a rule.

29. Any medical conditions and/or injuries must be brought to the attention of the house manager.

30. Calls to 911 for medical conditions, injuries, etc. must be approved by the house manager before calling.

31. If there is an emergency, call 911, and then notify the house manager immediately.

32. Any and all medications, including pain pills, psych. meds, aspirin, Advil, cold, flu, sinus, etc. will be kept, and locked up by the house manager and dispensed according to the instructions on the bottle- any Rx. or

33. House shut downs will occur if chores are not done, the grounds and buildings are not cared for, rooms are not kept clean, or general attitudes are not in line with house etiquette, and is done so at the discretion of the house manager.

34. All rules and regulations are subject to additions and changes at the house managers discretion.

This is not a complete list of all the possible rules and/or violations that may happen, so to insure a healthy, happy, drug and alcohol free recovery

environment please do your part to use common sense when it comes to either doing or not doing something that may affect yours and others

continued stay.

Finally, staff will not take the role of cop, lawyer, or investigator. This means discharges will occur without investigation of who did what, what was said, who is, or who is not at fault.

The NIMBY Syndrome, (Not In My Back Yard), is one area that an owner of a recovery home / halfway house will have to contend with. It is usually best to address this issue up front before you open, or before construction is started. Your local Zoning Commission office should be able to provide information on the area you plan on opening the halfway house in. The census bureau can provide information on the neighborhoods make up, (economic base, average salaries made, gender average, average cost of homes in the area, and other good information to educate yourself with).

Check to see if there is a homeowners association, as that could be your best bet in getting to know your neighbors, and them getting to know you.

You should plan on going to one of their meetings before you open, but definitely after you have been armed with the information that you know will come up for discussion. Some concerns will be on whether or not you will accept violent offenders, psychiatrically unstable residents, how your home will affect property values. You can convince people that you plan on running a safe, drug free, and strict program by bringing a copy of your intake protocol and halfway house rules. Let them know how you plan on handling the situation when one of your residents comes up positive on a drug

screen. You should develop, in writing, protocols for dealing with this and other situations- there should be a plan of action that all staff and residents are to follow in any given situation. There will be some fear there, as no one wants a drug addict discharged/kicked out in their neighborhood at 1:00 A.M. on a weekend or any other time.

You need to arm yourself with the facts and also how you will handle all sorts of possible situations. If you take the lead and let your neighbors know, before they ask, what they can expect from you, you will go far in gaining their trust. Just be sure you follow through as you promised. It will pave the way to open another site, if you want to, if you have a great relationship with those that live around your halfway house.

In six major studies of communities where halfway houses were opened, no significant change in average housing prices could be found (MacNeil & Kappel, 1986, Part III.A.).

Consolidating Private Student Loans Footbath

Using a personal injury calculator can help you figure out how much your car accident claims are worth. Here are the top 5 questions people ask about calculating the value of their auto insurance settlement.

1. How Does the Personal Injury Calculator Determine my Car Accident Claim?

The most basic formula that is known to be used for car accident injury claims is:

Pain Multiplier X Medical Expenses + Loss of Income

The “pain multiplier” is a number typically between 1.5 and 5. This multiplier number is chosen based on the severity of your car accident injuries; the more serious your injuries, the larger the multiplier.

For example, a minor injury like a sprained neck is more likely to get a low multiplier (1.5-3). While a more serious and painful injury, like a broken leg, would get a higher multiplier (3-5). The multiplier range may even go to higher figures (10) for more severe and long term injuries.

The next thing that is included in the claims formula is your medical expenses, also known as “special damages.” These expenses include the cost of your medical treatments, visits to the hospital, ambulance ride, X-Rays, pain medication etc.

The final thing that is added in your insurance settlement is your loss of income. This refers to the amount of income you lost as a result of your injuries. For example, if your injuries forced you to stay home from work, then your lost income would equal your daily pay rate times the number of work days you missed.

2. When Should You Use a Personal Injury Calculator?

The best time to use the injury calculator is at the end of your medical treatment. You should always have your injuries thoroughly diagnosed and examined before filing an injury claim. This gives you a more accurate estimate of your total medical expenses that should be included in your final settlement.

3. Who Should NOT Use the Personal Injury Calculator?

Most personal injury claims involve minor injuries that do not require you to immediately hire an expensive lawyer. For these types of claims, you should use the injury calculator to get a rough estimate of what your auto accident settlement might be worth.

However, there are insurance claims which cannot be handled without the help of a skilled injury lawyer. These types of car accident claims involve more serious and long term injuries like permanent disabilities, lost or severed limbs, traumatic head injuries etc. If you were severely injured, your best option is to meet with a lawyer who is familiar with claims related to your specific injuries.

4. How Accurate is the Personal Injury Calculator?

The injury calculator does not give you the exact final settlement, but an initial estimate of how much your injuries are worth to the insurance companies.

Many people would argue that the injury calculator is too simplistic. That it does not address the complexities and subtleties of an individual’s personal injury claim. Others are quick to bring up Colossus, a sophisticated software program used by the insurance companies to evaluate insurance claims.

However, the biggest benefit of using the personal injury calculator is not to tell you what will be your specific settlement amount. The biggest benefit is to help you understand how your specific settlement amount will be calculated. The settlement calculator emphasizes that the range of your final settlement amount will be primarily based on:

The seriousness of your injuries.
Your total medical costs.
Your lost income.

These are going to be a key factors in your injury settlement regardless of which specific software program you use.

5. Should I Use the Personal Injury Calculator?

You will always have the option of bringing in a lawyer further down in the claims process. The best advice is to use the settlement calculator to get a quick assessment of what your auto accident claims can be worth.

Washington State Personal Injury Attorney Notebook Bags For Women

When you are pulled over on suspicion of DUI, you may be asked to submit to a Breathalyzer test. The alcohol Breathalyzer test will measure the amount of alcohol in your blood stream. Most people have heard of the Breathalyzer, but there is a lot of confusion about what it does exactly and whether or not you should agree to take one.

In fact, you may not even know that you are allowed to refuse the Breathalyzer test. While you do not have to take the alcohol Breathalyzer, you may suffer some negative consequences by refusing the Breathalyzer.

Before you are asked to give a Breathalyzer test, you will usually be asked to perform several field sobriety tests. You can and should refuse to submit to any field sobriety tests.

For some states, refusing a Breathalyzer test means that you go to jail, period. It can actually be considered a crime to refuse a Breathalyzer in some states. That means that refusing a Breathalyzer may cause you to serve more jail time than of you were only convicted for DUI. In addition, in some states when you refuse a Breathalyzer it is considered evidence that you think you are guilty. As you can see, there are some negative consequences of refusing a Breathalyzer.

While many people believe that Breathalyzer tests are highly scientific and irrefutable, in reality they are not 100% accurate. In fact, there have been arguments that the Breathalyzer, while very sensitive, yields results that are not specific enough. That means that while they will test positive for the alcohol in your blood, other chemicals may also cause positive results. If this happens your Breathalyzer results will be falsely elevated.

Breathalyzers can yield false positives from several medical conditions including diabetes, smoking and alcoholism. Inhaling other chemicals such as paint fumes can also lead to positive Breathalyzer results. As a result, your alcohol Breathalyzer test result may not be completely accurate.

Often a positive Breathalyzer result will lead to another test. Alcohol levels can also be determined from testing your urine or blood, not just from a Breathalyzer. These tests are more specific and are preferred as evidence in court over the Breathalyzer test results. These tests are used to confirm what was found in the alcohol Breathalyzer before proceeding with a conviction.

When you are asked to take a Breathalyzer test, you do have the right to refuse. However, you should think about the consequences of refusing. If you are in doubt about whether to take a Breathalyzer, you can always ask to speak with your attorney. At that point the police will end all testing, including the Breathalyzer. However, you will still be booked for the DUI. If you are confident that you are below the legal limit. You can take the Breathalyzer test and then you will be free to go on your way if you are below the legal limit.

Dui Lawyer Torrance Diffuser Yellow Gold Earring

Successfully navigating your way through a criminal prosecution for Driving Under the Influence in Washington State requires a clear understanding of the DUI court process. In other words, knowing what is coming your way will greatly reduce the amount of stress you feel when fighting a DUI charge.

Although each Court System in Washington varies a little on how they handle the initial stages of a criminal prosecution, the basic outline below will help you understand the Court process as a whole:

When you get arrested for a crime, you will have several court dates to go through. Your first time in Court is called an Arraignment. Your next court date is called a Pre-Trial or Status Conference. You may also have court dates for Motions or Trial.

Arraignment

This is your first time in Court and it’s where you are formally told about the charges against you. In the case of DUI, you may already know what the charge is before you even enter the Courtroom. However, there can be additional charges that you were unaware of like infractions for bad driving or additional criminal charges the prosecution filed after your arrest for DUI.

Depending on Jurisdiction, you will either be mailed a Hearing Notice or you will have to look on your citation (about 1/3 from the bottom) where it says Mandatory Court Appearance for your court date and time. If you’re not sure about the date or the time, call the Court Clerk’s Office (numbers are available via internet). The Court you are in is listed at the top of the citation, e.g. a citation marked “District Court” and the offense happened in Snohomish County , you would do an internet search for “Snohomish County District Court.”

Arrive a few minutes early. Most courts will have a computer printout of all the people scheduled for court that day, called a docket. These printouts are generally in plain sight near the courtrooms. Next to your name will be a courtroom number. That’s where you need to go. If you get confused or can’t find your courtroom, ask at the Court Clerk’s office – they are generally very helpful.

Once you get to the right courtroom, be prepared to wait. Most Courts will have either a video or a paper that explains your rights at arraignment. If it’s a paper, they will want you to sign your name – saying that you understand your rights.

Eventually, you will be called up in front of the Judge. Don’t Panic. This is not your time to explain what happened – there will be ample time for that later. All the Judge wants to know at Arraignment is whether you understand the charge(s) against you and whether you want to plead Guilty or Not Guilty. That’s it.

Common sense would tell you that if you did something wrong, you should take it easy on the Court System by pleading guilty and the Court System will take it easy on you by not sentencing you as hard as if you fought the charges. Unfortunately, the Court System is not always based on common sense. In fact, you will most likely be punished worse if you plead guilty at arraignment rather than fighting the charge(s). In other words, DO NOT PLEAD GUILTY!

Once you have pled Not Guilty, the Court will ask you about whether you want a lawyer. The old cliché about “The man that represents himself has a fool for a client” is very true. If you don’t understand the rules of court and the law regarding DUI (or any other crime) you don’t stand a chance against a well trained prosecutor.

Lawyers come in two flavors: Private and Public Defenders. You do not need to have a lawyer with you at arraignment. If you are planning on hiring a private attorney, you need only tell the Judge that and he or she will be satisfied – but will warn you not to wait too long to hire them. If you can’t afford a lawyer of your own choosing then you may qualify for a Public Defender. The Court will have a series of questions for you in order to determine whether or not you qualify based on your income, dependants, etc. The downside with a Public Defender is that you have no control over who is appointed to your case. Even if you qualify and have a Public Defender represent you, you can always have a private attorney take over at any time. It’s very common for people with a Public Defender to hire a private attorney – so don’t worry, your Public Defender will not be upset if you replace them with a private attorney – they may even be relieved since it means one less case to handle.

After the Judge addresses the issue of your Lawyer, the Court will then address your release status. If you have a clean record, you will probably be released on your promise to come back. If you have a criminal record, the Judge may impose a bail or bond amount to ensure you will come back.

The Court will assign a date when you will need to come back for your Pre-Trial hearing. If you can’t make it on that date, make sure to tell the Judge about your conflict so another date can be picked. If a conflict comes up later, contact your lawyer immediately so he or she can file a motion for continuance of the court date.

You will leave with Court with a piece of paper telling you the date and time of your next court date. Don’t be surprised if this is two to three months from your arraignment date. This may seem like a long time but don’t wait – if you need to find an attorney start immediately as it may take a long time to find the one you want and to get the money together to hire them.

Once you’ve hired your attorney, that person will need to send in a Notice of Appearance, telling the Court and Prosecution that they represent you. They will also need time to get all of the Police Reports and other documents the Prosecution intends on using against you (collectively referred to as Discovery). After your attorney has all of the Discovery, they will need to sit down with you face to face and discuss your case. One of the bizarre rules in Washington State is CrRLJ 4.7, the rule that allows your lawyer to get the discovery in your case. The same rule actually prevents them from giving you a copy of the discovery – even though it’s your case! This rule is even more bizarre considering the fact that if you were to fire your lawyer and represent yourself, the State would be REQUIRED to give you a copy of the Discovery. None the less, nothing prevents your lawyer from giving you access to the Discovery whenever you want – as often as you want; they just can’t send you home with a copy.

Pre-Trial Hearings

These hearings take place at Court and in front of a Judge. Their purpose is to make sure that no case “slips through the cracks” by making sure that the case is reviewed in a systematic way. During a pretrial, the Judge wants to know what the status of the case is: Do the parties (Prosecutor or Defense) want to enter a Guilty Plea to something, do they want to set a time for a Motion Hearing, do they want to have a Trial, or do they not know what they want and are simply asking for more time?

These hearings are administrative in nature. That means that they are relatively low stress because nothing will happen at a pretrial unless the Defendant makes it happen. In most cases, the Defendant does not need to say anything other than answering the Judge when the Judge asks if the Defendant consents to what is happening, e.g. asking for a continuance or setting a Motion Hearing. You and your attorney will have discussed what is to take place at the pretrial long before you actually get there.

Most criminal cases have several pretrial dates. There are many reasons why you don’t want to resolve your case during the first pretrial: You may have legal issues that need to be decided by a Judge (during a Motion Hearing), your attorney may need longer to negotiate with the prosecution, or you may simply not have decided which way you want to go on your case.

If you are asking the Judge to continue your case, the issue of Speedy Trial will come up. If you are out of custody, then your case must be resolved within ninety days (sixty if you are in custody). When a Defendant asks for a continuance, the Judge will either not want that extra time to count against the 90 days or will ask for a fresh 90 days -starting on the date of the continuance request- before granting the request for continuance. Although this Speedy Trial rule is an important right – as a practical matter, it very rarely determines the outcome of a case. In other words, if your lawyer thinks it’s a good idea to waive the Speedy Trial rule, by giving the State more time to bring you to trial, then it probably is in your best interest.

Motion Hearings

Motions are written legal arguments on why evidence in your case (sometime the whole case) should be thrown out. There are potentially hundreds of motions that could be filed in a criminal case. Your lawyer will know which ones (if any) apply to your specific facts.

Motions serve two purposes: First, if you can suppress evidence then you may have a better chance of winning if you go to trial. Second, motions are a wonderful way to change the strength of your case thus making it more likely that the prosecution will want to make an offer of settlement that you make actually want to accept.

A motion hearing looks like a bench trial: They take place in Court and in front of a Judge, There may be witnesses, Both Defense and Prosecution will make arguments to the Judge and finally, the Judge will make a legal ruling on the issue. This is where the similarity to a trial ends. The burden of proof at a motion hearing is substantially less that at a trial and the Judge is required to view the evidence in a motion hearing “in the light most favorable to the State.” These two elements combine to make a motion hearing easier for the State to win than the Defense. The reason behind this unfair advantage is actually a good one: The heart of our legal system is the Jury Trial. If you win at a Motion Hearing, then you may bypass the Jury Trial entirely.

Trials

Trials come in two flavors: Bench and Jury. A bench trial is one where the Judge decides everything. A Jury trial is one where six people (twelve in the case of a Felony) decide what the facts are and the Judge decides what the law is.

You can waive (give up) your right to a Jury Trial at any time but if you do so then you generally cannot get it back. If you are ever asked to decide if you want a Bench or Jury trial, you always pick Jury (since you can always change your mind) because if you pick Bench Trial – that’s what you’re stuck with.

At trial, the prosecution is required to prove each of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Your lawyer will discuss with you the elements (what the state has to prove in your case). Your job as a Defendant is to decide whether or not the State can prove each of those elements. Can any of the elements become unprovable if you win at a Motion Hearing?

The outcome of a trial is easy: you either win or you loose. If you win, go home – you’re done. If you loose, then you will typically (though not always) end up with a little more jail time and a little more fines than if you had pled guilty. Is it worth the risk? That’s something for you and your lawyer to decide.

Conclusion

Being able to mentally prepare for the types of court dates you will encounter while fighting a DUI charge may not eliminate the stress you feel, but it will knock it down to a manageable level.

Copyright (c) 2007 The Cahoon Law Office – All rights reserved.

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