Testimony on Friday from Colorado State Patrol Trooper Scott Boskovich also revealed that the RV driven by Sean M. Cheese was traveling at least 86.75 mph - or 21.75 mph over the speed limit - when it collided with motorcyclist Donald E. Mills Jr.
Boskovich testified during a one-hour motions hearing during which VanMeveren attempted to prevent jurors from hearing evidence collected from a "black box" that compiles data from the engine of the RV.
The data indicated the top speed the RV had ever traveled was 88 mph, although Boskovich said there is no way to determine when that speed was recorded or who was driving the vehicle at the time.
VanMeveren argued that the information was irrelevant during the trial because of the inability of investigators to determine when the top speed was collected by the box.
Judge Jolene Blair, however, disagreed. She said the information can help jurors determine if Cheese was driving in a reckless manner. She said the value of the evidence outweighed any concerns about unfair prejudice.
Link:
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100130/NEWS01/1300317/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02/RV-speed-can-be-considered-at-trial-judge-says
Favorite Quotes
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Be careful what you post on Facebook it could add more time to your sentence.
Ashley M. Sullivan is in Niagara County Jail, and Facebook may be to blame as much as the car crash that killed a Niagara Falls man.
Sullivan, 17, of Linden Avenue, North Tonawanda, was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to six months in the County Jail and five years' probation for crashing her car while drunk and killing her boyfriend May 30 on Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda.
She pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to criminally negligent homicide and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.
The Buffalo News has learned that Sullivan went to Florida a month after the crash and posted a photo on her Facebook Web page captioned, "Drunk in Florida."
"I'm troubled by your conduct since the crash," County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III told Sullivan, "and that's the reason for the jail sentence."
Murphy also refused to grant Sullivan youthful offender status for the same reason.
"I don't believe the defendant has earned it," the judge said.
Link:http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/937238.html
Sullivan, 17, of Linden Avenue, North Tonawanda, was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to six months in the County Jail and five years' probation for crashing her car while drunk and killing her boyfriend May 30 on Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda.
She pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to criminally negligent homicide and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.
The Buffalo News has learned that Sullivan went to Florida a month after the crash and posted a photo on her Facebook Web page captioned, "Drunk in Florida."
"I'm troubled by your conduct since the crash," County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III told Sullivan, "and that's the reason for the jail sentence."
Murphy also refused to grant Sullivan youthful offender status for the same reason.
"I don't believe the defendant has earned it," the judge said.
Link:http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/937238.html
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Google toolbar track users' browsing history even when turned off!
Run the Google Toolbar, and it’s strikingly easy to activate “Enhanced Features” -- transmitting to Google the full URL of every page-view, including searches at competing search engines. Some critics find this a significant privacy intrusion (1, 2, 3). But in my testing, even Google’s bundled toolbar installations provides some modicum of notice before installing. And users who want to disable such transmissions can always turn them off – or so I thought until I recently retested.
In this article, I provide evidence calling into question the ability of users to disable Google Toolbar transmissions. I begin by reviewing the contents of Google's "Enhanced Features" transmissions. I then offer screenshot and video proof showing that even when users specifically instruct that the Google Toolbar be “disable[d]”, and even when the Google Toolbar seems to be disabled (e.g., because it disappears from view), Google Toolbar continues tracking users’ browsing. I then revisit how Google Toolbar's Enhanced Features get turned on in the first place – noting the striking ease of activating Enhanced Features, and the remarkable absence of a button or option to disable Enhanced Features once they are turned on. I criticize the fact that Google’s disclosures have worsened over time, and I conclude by identifying changes necessary to fulfill users’ expectations and protect users’ privacy.
Link: http://www.benedelman.org/news/012610-1.html#contents
In this article, I provide evidence calling into question the ability of users to disable Google Toolbar transmissions. I begin by reviewing the contents of Google's "Enhanced Features" transmissions. I then offer screenshot and video proof showing that even when users specifically instruct that the Google Toolbar be “disable[d]”, and even when the Google Toolbar seems to be disabled (e.g., because it disappears from view), Google Toolbar continues tracking users’ browsing. I then revisit how Google Toolbar's Enhanced Features get turned on in the first place – noting the striking ease of activating Enhanced Features, and the remarkable absence of a button or option to disable Enhanced Features once they are turned on. I criticize the fact that Google’s disclosures have worsened over time, and I conclude by identifying changes necessary to fulfill users’ expectations and protect users’ privacy.
Link: http://www.benedelman.org/news/012610-1.html#contents
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
DA's in California don't like a judge's ruling, so they call for a boycott.
In an extremely rare rebuke of a sitting judge, Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr instructed her staff Friday to stop bringing all criminal cases before Superior Court Judge Andrea Bryan, who recently angered prosecutors by finding that a trial prosecutor committed numerous acts of misconduct, including giving false testimony.
Carr took the unprecedented step of publicly confirming her "blanket challenge," or boycott of Bryan, in a news release, saying her decision was based on a "number" of unspecified rulings over the past several years, not any single embarrassing ruling.
"We must safeguard the ability to prosecute our cases and do not believe we can fulfill our responsibility to the public if lawyers from this office continue to appear before Judge Bryan," Carr said in the release.
Earlier this month, Bryan ordered the release of Augustin Uribe, who had been sentenced to 38 years to life on child molestation charges after finding Deputy District Attorney Troy Benson had woven what she called "a tangled web of deceit,"
Uribe's conviction on charges he sexually assaulted a young relative was overturned by an appellate court in 2008, after a finding that the District Attorney's Office had improperly withheld a videotape of the purported victim's physical exam, which was turned over only after Uribe had been sentenced. A defense expert then reviewed the videotape and said it contradicted the prosecution witnesses' testimony that the child had been assaulted.
Prosecutors have since acknowledged the existence of about 3,300 of those videotapes, dating to 1991, that were never provided to trial attorneys, as required by law. They have insisted that most of the tapes are of little value. But Bryan's decision reinforced the contention of legal experts that dozens of other child sex abuse convictions in the county are at risk of being overturned.
Link: http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_14254154?IADID
Carr took the unprecedented step of publicly confirming her "blanket challenge," or boycott of Bryan, in a news release, saying her decision was based on a "number" of unspecified rulings over the past several years, not any single embarrassing ruling.
"We must safeguard the ability to prosecute our cases and do not believe we can fulfill our responsibility to the public if lawyers from this office continue to appear before Judge Bryan," Carr said in the release.
Earlier this month, Bryan ordered the release of Augustin Uribe, who had been sentenced to 38 years to life on child molestation charges after finding Deputy District Attorney Troy Benson had woven what she called "a tangled web of deceit,"
Uribe's conviction on charges he sexually assaulted a young relative was overturned by an appellate court in 2008, after a finding that the District Attorney's Office had improperly withheld a videotape of the purported victim's physical exam, which was turned over only after Uribe had been sentenced. A defense expert then reviewed the videotape and said it contradicted the prosecution witnesses' testimony that the child had been assaulted.
Prosecutors have since acknowledged the existence of about 3,300 of those videotapes, dating to 1991, that were never provided to trial attorneys, as required by law. They have insisted that most of the tapes are of little value. But Bryan's decision reinforced the contention of legal experts that dozens of other child sex abuse convictions in the county are at risk of being overturned.
Link: http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_14254154?IADID
Monday, January 25, 2010
A supposed electrocution threat was used in a New Jersey prison to intimidate an inmate.
One week before Javier Tabora’s release from the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel, a specialized prison for sex offenders, he was summoned to an examination room.
Once there, Tabora later told investigators, a sergeant instructed him to sit in an electronic chair used to scan inmates for contraband and pretend to be electrocuted.
Tabora sat in the chair yelling and shaking, "pretending that electricity was coming from the chair," he said. Then he placed "cream soup" in his mouth and allowed it to seep out "for added effect."
The entire ruse was allegedly conducted to frighten a second inmate, Robert Grant, a sex offender with a history of mental health problems whom officers planned to question. In a separate interview, Grant told investigators he saw an inmate with "foam coming from his mouth" and then became "upset, nervous and shaking" when officers sat him in the chair while interrogating him.
The officers involved denied the allegations, saying none of Tabora’s account was true. They told investigators they were only using the chair to search Grant for contraband before questioning him. Instead of threatening to electrocute Grant, they said, the officers were trying to reassure him by unplugging the chair, used to detect metal in objects like weapons or cell phones, because Grant’s handcuffs set off an alarm, scaring him.
The investigation, which concluded this month, did not substantiate the electrocution threat or the preceding ruse, according to the report. Without a video camera in the examination room, the case boiled down to the officers’ word against the inmates’.
Link: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/fake_electrocution_of_prisoner.html
Once there, Tabora later told investigators, a sergeant instructed him to sit in an electronic chair used to scan inmates for contraband and pretend to be electrocuted.
Tabora sat in the chair yelling and shaking, "pretending that electricity was coming from the chair," he said. Then he placed "cream soup" in his mouth and allowed it to seep out "for added effect."
The entire ruse was allegedly conducted to frighten a second inmate, Robert Grant, a sex offender with a history of mental health problems whom officers planned to question. In a separate interview, Grant told investigators he saw an inmate with "foam coming from his mouth" and then became "upset, nervous and shaking" when officers sat him in the chair while interrogating him.
The officers involved denied the allegations, saying none of Tabora’s account was true. They told investigators they were only using the chair to search Grant for contraband before questioning him. Instead of threatening to electrocute Grant, they said, the officers were trying to reassure him by unplugging the chair, used to detect metal in objects like weapons or cell phones, because Grant’s handcuffs set off an alarm, scaring him.
The investigation, which concluded this month, did not substantiate the electrocution threat or the preceding ruse, according to the report. Without a video camera in the examination room, the case boiled down to the officers’ word against the inmates’.
Link: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/fake_electrocution_of_prisoner.html
Fake phone ID's are being used by people across the country.
Now anyone can download a software program or, for as little as $4.95, buy a spoof card online that will enable them to call someone on their telephone but have the caller ID on the receiving end display any number they want.
"With the advent of new technology comes new ways to exploit the technology and criminals continue to stay on top of technology and abuse it," New Hampshire Asst. Atty. Gen. Lucy H. Carrillo said. Carrillo works in the internet crimes unit which trains law enforcers in detecting and investigating cyber crime. Law enforcement officers, bounty hunters, private investigators, and companies who hire mystery shoppers to spot check on their call center operators are frequent users of the service, Cohen said. Some even buy the additional voice alteration service, he said.
One criminal case pending trial in Rockingham County involves an East Kingston woman who allegedly bought a disposable cellular telephone and registered it to her ex-husband, court records reveal.
Kristin K. Ruggiero, 34, allegedly used the phone to send 12 text messages to herself in 2008, then went to local police claiming her former husband, Jeffrey Ruggiero, sent the messages in violation of the restraining order she had against him, court records show.
A grand jury indicted Kristin Ruggiero last May on 12 counts of falsifying physical evidence and one count of making a false report to law enforcement. She pleaded not guilty to the charges and is set to go on trial April 19.
Link:
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Calling+on+a+fake+ID&articleId=e768c5c7-afac-4f5f-b614-0c994591534f
"With the advent of new technology comes new ways to exploit the technology and criminals continue to stay on top of technology and abuse it," New Hampshire Asst. Atty. Gen. Lucy H. Carrillo said. Carrillo works in the internet crimes unit which trains law enforcers in detecting and investigating cyber crime. Law enforcement officers, bounty hunters, private investigators, and companies who hire mystery shoppers to spot check on their call center operators are frequent users of the service, Cohen said. Some even buy the additional voice alteration service, he said.
One criminal case pending trial in Rockingham County involves an East Kingston woman who allegedly bought a disposable cellular telephone and registered it to her ex-husband, court records reveal.
Kristin K. Ruggiero, 34, allegedly used the phone to send 12 text messages to herself in 2008, then went to local police claiming her former husband, Jeffrey Ruggiero, sent the messages in violation of the restraining order she had against him, court records show.
A grand jury indicted Kristin Ruggiero last May on 12 counts of falsifying physical evidence and one count of making a false report to law enforcement. She pleaded not guilty to the charges and is set to go on trial April 19.
Link:
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Calling+on+a+fake+ID&articleId=e768c5c7-afac-4f5f-b614-0c994591534f
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Physicians making money promoting pharmaceutical companies, raises ethical questions.
Boston physician Lawrence M. DuBuske was given a choice: Either stop moonlighting as a paid speaker for pharmaceutical companies or quit his job at a top Harvard teaching hospital. To the surprise of some, DuBuske, an allergy and asthma specialist and a Harvard Medical School instructor, will resign from Brigham and Women’s Hospital at the end of the month, the hospital said.
DuBuske is no ordinary speaker. Out of thousands of US doctors hired by drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline to talk about its products, he was the highest paid during a three-month period last year, the company recently disclosed: He made $99,375 for giving 40talks to other physicians last April, May, and June, almost one every other day. ’’There are physicians earning so much money [from drug makers] that they would give up their jobs,’’ said Dr. Steven Nissen, head of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. “It’s a shocking story. Normally you’d give up the [pharmaceutical company] honoraria.’’
DuBuske did not return phone calls from the Globe. But his situation shows both the significant amounts of money doctors can make moonlighting for pharmaceutical companies and the potential impact of the growing restrictions on industry ties at teaching hospitals.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/01/23/doctor_quits_brigham_to_speak_for_pay/
DuBuske is no ordinary speaker. Out of thousands of US doctors hired by drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline to talk about its products, he was the highest paid during a three-month period last year, the company recently disclosed: He made $99,375 for giving 40talks to other physicians last April, May, and June, almost one every other day. ’’There are physicians earning so much money [from drug makers] that they would give up their jobs,’’ said Dr. Steven Nissen, head of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. “It’s a shocking story. Normally you’d give up the [pharmaceutical company] honoraria.’’
DuBuske did not return phone calls from the Globe. But his situation shows both the significant amounts of money doctors can make moonlighting for pharmaceutical companies and the potential impact of the growing restrictions on industry ties at teaching hospitals.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/01/23/doctor_quits_brigham_to_speak_for_pay/
Incareration nation, half a million inmates who could be free are locked up because they can't afford bail.
More than a half-million inmates sitting in America’s jails not because they’re dangerous or a threat to society or because a judge thinks they will run, says National Public Radio. It’s not even because they are guilty; they haven’t been tried yet. They are there because they can’t make bail, sometimes as little as $50. Some wait behind bars for as long as a year before their cases make it to court. It costs taxpayers $9 billion this year to house them.
A bail process almost unique to the United States rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor. It exists almost solely to protect the interests of a powerful bail bonding industry. The result is that people with money get out. They go back to their jobs and their families, pay their bills and fight their cases. According to the Justice Department and national studies, those with money face far fewer consequences for their crimes. People without money stay in jail and are left to take whatever offer prosecutors feel like giving them.
One example is Leslie Chew who's bail is $3,500. He would need to leave that much as a cash deposit with the court to leave jail. Or he could pay a bail bondsman a $350 nonrefundable fee to do it for him. If he had either amount, he could stand up and walk out the door right now. But he doesn't. The money, says Chew, "is like a million dollars to me." When Chew headed down the grocery aisle and put four $30 blankets under his arm, he set in motion a process almost unique to the United States that rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor. And, NPR has found, it exists almost solely to protect the interests of a powerful bail bonding industry.
The result is that people with money get out. They go back to their jobs and their families, pay their bills and fight their cases. And according to the Justice Department and national studies, those with money face far fewer consequences for their crimes. People without money stay in jail and are left to take whatever offer prosecutors feel like giving them. If a defendant does run, the bondsman is also supposed to pay the county the full cost of the bond as a sort of punishment for not keeping an eye on the client.
According to Beni Hemmeline from Lubbock's district attorney's office.
Hemmeline says Lubbock usually settles for a far lower amount than the full bond. In fact, according to the county treasurer in Lubbock, bondsmen usually only pay 5 percent of the bond when a client runs.Consider that math for a minute. The bondsmen charge clients at least 10 percent. But if the client runs, they only have to pay the county 5 percent. Meaning if they make no effort whatsoever, they still profit.
Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122725771
A bail process almost unique to the United States rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor. It exists almost solely to protect the interests of a powerful bail bonding industry. The result is that people with money get out. They go back to their jobs and their families, pay their bills and fight their cases. According to the Justice Department and national studies, those with money face far fewer consequences for their crimes. People without money stay in jail and are left to take whatever offer prosecutors feel like giving them.
One example is Leslie Chew who's bail is $3,500. He would need to leave that much as a cash deposit with the court to leave jail. Or he could pay a bail bondsman a $350 nonrefundable fee to do it for him. If he had either amount, he could stand up and walk out the door right now. But he doesn't. The money, says Chew, "is like a million dollars to me." When Chew headed down the grocery aisle and put four $30 blankets under his arm, he set in motion a process almost unique to the United States that rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor. And, NPR has found, it exists almost solely to protect the interests of a powerful bail bonding industry.
The result is that people with money get out. They go back to their jobs and their families, pay their bills and fight their cases. And according to the Justice Department and national studies, those with money face far fewer consequences for their crimes. People without money stay in jail and are left to take whatever offer prosecutors feel like giving them. If a defendant does run, the bondsman is also supposed to pay the county the full cost of the bond as a sort of punishment for not keeping an eye on the client.
According to Beni Hemmeline from Lubbock's district attorney's office.
Hemmeline says Lubbock usually settles for a far lower amount than the full bond. In fact, according to the county treasurer in Lubbock, bondsmen usually only pay 5 percent of the bond when a client runs.Consider that math for a minute. The bondsmen charge clients at least 10 percent. But if the client runs, they only have to pay the county 5 percent. Meaning if they make no effort whatsoever, they still profit.
Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122725771
Friday, January 22, 2010
Who's responsible for the alleged murder of Kenneth Howe at a North Andover police sobriety checkpoint?
A lawyer for the family of a man who died after his arrest at a police sobriety road block in North Andover says the medical examiner has ruled the death a homicide.
Attorney Frances King tells The Eagle-Tribune the medical examiner determined that 45-year-old Kenneth Howe of Worcester died of blunt force trauma to the head, face and chest. "It reaffirms what we have believed from the very beginning — that he was beaten to death. Now we are hoping that the perpetrators are punished accordingly," King said.
Stephen O'Connell, spokesman for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, said the death certificate also said Howe suffered from atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
"At this point, I can tell you that our investigation into the matter is continuing and is being headed by Assistant District Attorney Gerald P. Shea. He is a 25-year veteran of the office," O'Connell said. "We are still awaiting the final autopsy report and are also awaiting the results of forensic testing."
Link:
http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_022011609.html
Attorney Frances King tells The Eagle-Tribune the medical examiner determined that 45-year-old Kenneth Howe of Worcester died of blunt force trauma to the head, face and chest. "It reaffirms what we have believed from the very beginning — that he was beaten to death. Now we are hoping that the perpetrators are punished accordingly," King said.
Stephen O'Connell, spokesman for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, said the death certificate also said Howe suffered from atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
"At this point, I can tell you that our investigation into the matter is continuing and is being headed by Assistant District Attorney Gerald P. Shea. He is a 25-year veteran of the office," O'Connell said. "We are still awaiting the final autopsy report and are also awaiting the results of forensic testing."
Link:
http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_022011609.html
Thursday, January 21, 2010
California officials received a number of bad results from a forensic lab, who's double checking the results in our country's forensic labs?
Retesting of dozens of tests done by a Chatsworth forensics laboratory ---- tests feared to be faulty ---- have not turned up any more botched findings, San Diego County prosecutors said this week.
The review came after tests from Pacific Toxicology in Chatsworth returned a number of incorrect results in San Diego County criminal matters, including a false positive finding of morphine in the system of one juvenile suspect charged after a deadly crash in Rancho Santa Fe killed a teenager.
Pacific Toxicologies is a private forensic laboratory that tests evidence in many drug- and alcohol-rated cases for law enforcement agencies.
Prosecutors often use the results of such tests in criminal cases; bad lab tests raise fears of wrongful convictions.
It is the second time in a year that criminal cases in San Diego and Riverside counties have been hit with concerns about the potential for bad lab results.
The problems at Pacific Toxicologies, commonly referred to as Pac Tox, followed concerns early last year involving an unrelated Riverside laboratory that led officials to question and subsequently retest thousands of cases.
Link:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_c3203045-8c4b-5769-aca3-4e6083b01a38.html
The review came after tests from Pacific Toxicology in Chatsworth returned a number of incorrect results in San Diego County criminal matters, including a false positive finding of morphine in the system of one juvenile suspect charged after a deadly crash in Rancho Santa Fe killed a teenager.
Pacific Toxicologies is a private forensic laboratory that tests evidence in many drug- and alcohol-rated cases for law enforcement agencies.
Prosecutors often use the results of such tests in criminal cases; bad lab tests raise fears of wrongful convictions.
It is the second time in a year that criminal cases in San Diego and Riverside counties have been hit with concerns about the potential for bad lab results.
The problems at Pacific Toxicologies, commonly referred to as Pac Tox, followed concerns early last year involving an unrelated Riverside laboratory that led officials to question and subsequently retest thousands of cases.
Link:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_c3203045-8c4b-5769-aca3-4e6083b01a38.html
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Flash cookies pose a security problem to anyone browsing the internet.
Web users are not yet deleting Flash cookies as often as they shed more traditional cookies, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to use Flash technology to track consumers online. That's according to a new report commissioned by media audit company BPA Worldwide. The report, authored by analytics expert Eric Peterson, warns that the use of Flash cookies, also called "local shared objects," to override consumers' choices could invite new privacy laws. "With the attention given to consumer privacy on the Internet at both individual and governmental levels, we believe that companies making inappropriate or irresponsible use of the Flash technology are very likely asking for trouble, (and potentially putting the rest of the online industry at risk of additional government regulation)," writes Peterson, CEO and principal consultant at Web Analytics Demystified. Several years ago, Peterson shook up the online ad industry with a report that around 40% of Web users deleted their cookies at least monthly. Before that research was published, many industry observers assumed that relatively few people trashed cookies.
Flash cookies are not stored in the same place as HTTP cookies, which means that users who tell their browsers to delete cookies aren't getting rid of Flash cookies. Users can erase Flash cookies through other means, including at Adobe's online controls. But at this point, few people appear to be aware that Flash cookies even exist.
Link:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=120673
Flash cookies are not stored in the same place as HTTP cookies, which means that users who tell their browsers to delete cookies aren't getting rid of Flash cookies. Users can erase Flash cookies through other means, including at Adobe's online controls. But at this point, few people appear to be aware that Flash cookies even exist.
Link:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=120673
Overlapping technologies track individuals and share information concerning their movements day or night.
As he sat near the frosted window of a Cambridge coffee shop, Andrew Blumberg’s academic look easily blended in with the crowd. A laptop computer and a steaming cup of coffee were precariously balanced on a tiny table; occasionally, Blumberg consulted an Apple iPhone pulled from a jacket pocketYet Blumberg was acutely aware that he was a long way from anonymity, even though he knew no one there except a reporter he had just met.
There were many ways strangers might have identified and tracked him, Blumberg said, pointing out no less than 12 interactions that could have generated such information as he made his way to this specific spot: Darwin’s, Ltd., on the edge of Harvard Square. Had he stopped at an ATM, for example, the bank would know he had been there, and when. Had he traveled on the T, a turnstile could have noted the time and station when he swiped his pass. There were also a half-dozen technologies that could still be tracking him as he sat, he said.
Still, he is among a growing number of academics and technologists who are starting to raise concerns about what’s being called “location privacy,’’ the idea that the proliferation of mobile devices, smart cards, tracking technologies, and Internet databases is creating an environment in which citizens are under a constant threat of surveillance. As overlapping technologies and systems start sharing this information, location privacy advocates say, it will become easier for governments, employers, and interested parties to track an individual’s everyday movements.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/01/18/overlapping_technologies_track_individuals_and_share_information/
There were many ways strangers might have identified and tracked him, Blumberg said, pointing out no less than 12 interactions that could have generated such information as he made his way to this specific spot: Darwin’s, Ltd., on the edge of Harvard Square. Had he stopped at an ATM, for example, the bank would know he had been there, and when. Had he traveled on the T, a turnstile could have noted the time and station when he swiped his pass. There were also a half-dozen technologies that could still be tracking him as he sat, he said.
Still, he is among a growing number of academics and technologists who are starting to raise concerns about what’s being called “location privacy,’’ the idea that the proliferation of mobile devices, smart cards, tracking technologies, and Internet databases is creating an environment in which citizens are under a constant threat of surveillance. As overlapping technologies and systems start sharing this information, location privacy advocates say, it will become easier for governments, employers, and interested parties to track an individual’s everyday movements.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/01/18/overlapping_technologies_track_individuals_and_share_information/
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Here are two more podcast links for private investigators. There are approx. 100+ podcasts available.
http://www.curbsideinvestigator.com/
This blog has almost 100 podcasts are available for private investigators to listen to, check out the archives section to the right of the blog.
http://www.completelegalinv.com/radio_investigator/
this link has almost 30 shows that are available for private investigators.
This blog has almost 100 podcasts are available for private investigators to listen to, check out the archives section to the right of the blog.
http://www.completelegalinv.com/radio_investigator/
this link has almost 30 shows that are available for private investigators.
Comparative bullet lead analysis by the FBI played a role in 2,500 cases nationwide.
Three people convicted of murder have been released from prison because their cases were tainted by a now discredited theory that bullets found at a crime scene could be linked to bullets found in possession of suspects.
Nearly five years after the FBI abandoned its so-called comparative bullet lead analysis, the FBI has yet to complete its review of nearly 2,500 cases where law enforcement used such evidence to investigate a case.
So far, the agency has found 187 cases where so-called comparative bullet lead analysis evidence was not only used in the investigation, but came into play at trial where FBI experts provided testimony. It has notified prosecutors in those cases where testimony from its experts "exceeds the limits of the science and cannot be supported by the FBI," one agency letter says.
Link: http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/1690825.html
Nearly five years after the FBI abandoned its so-called comparative bullet lead analysis, the FBI has yet to complete its review of nearly 2,500 cases where law enforcement used such evidence to investigate a case.
So far, the agency has found 187 cases where so-called comparative bullet lead analysis evidence was not only used in the investigation, but came into play at trial where FBI experts provided testimony. It has notified prosecutors in those cases where testimony from its experts "exceeds the limits of the science and cannot be supported by the FBI," one agency letter says.
Link: http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/1690825.html
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
If you lose your laptop, how secure are your passwords?
If you allow applications to save your passwords, anyone with physical access to your PC can decode them unless you're properly encrypting them—and chances are pretty good you're not. Let's walk through the right and wrong ways to store your passwords.
For the purpose of this article, we'll assume that the people you allow into your house are trustworthy enough not to hack your passwords, and your laptop has been stolen instead—but the tips here should apply to either scenario. Regardless of how you choose to save your passwords, you should make sure to use great passwords and even stronger answers for security questions. It doesn't even matter all that much if you've got a tough Windows password; anybody with physical access to your PC can use an Ubuntu Live CD to copy all of your data onto an external drive without modifying anything, and crack your files on another machine whenever they please (assuming you don't have your entire hard drive encrypted). If they had a little more time, they could use Ophcrack to figure out your password, or they could just be mean and use the System Rescue CD to change your Windows password.
Once that person has access to your files, they can recover your passwords with free tools easily—you can recover passwords in a few clicks from Outlook, Instant Messenger, Wi-Fi, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or any number of other applications. All it takes is a quick Google search to find even more cracking utilities.
Link:
http://lifehacker.com/5445101/your-passwords-arent-as-secure-as-you-think-heres-how-to-fix-that?skyline=true&s=i
For the purpose of this article, we'll assume that the people you allow into your house are trustworthy enough not to hack your passwords, and your laptop has been stolen instead—but the tips here should apply to either scenario. Regardless of how you choose to save your passwords, you should make sure to use great passwords and even stronger answers for security questions. It doesn't even matter all that much if you've got a tough Windows password; anybody with physical access to your PC can use an Ubuntu Live CD to copy all of your data onto an external drive without modifying anything, and crack your files on another machine whenever they please (assuming you don't have your entire hard drive encrypted). If they had a little more time, they could use Ophcrack to figure out your password, or they could just be mean and use the System Rescue CD to change your Windows password.
Once that person has access to your files, they can recover your passwords with free tools easily—you can recover passwords in a few clicks from Outlook, Instant Messenger, Wi-Fi, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or any number of other applications. All it takes is a quick Google search to find even more cracking utilities.
Link:
http://lifehacker.com/5445101/your-passwords-arent-as-secure-as-you-think-heres-how-to-fix-that?skyline=true&s=i
Two party consent when recording with audio is still an issue in MA.
Simon Glik, a lawyer, was walking down Tremont Street in Boston when he saw three police officers struggling to extract a plastic bag from a teenager’s mouth. Thinking their force seemed excessive for a drug arrest, Glik pulled out his cellphone and began recording. Within minutes, Glik said, he was in handcuffs.
“One of the officers asked me whether my phone had audio recording capabilities,’’ Glik, 33, said recently of the incident, which took place in October 2007. Glik acknowledged that it did, and then, he said, “my phone was seized, and I was arrested.’’ The charge? Illegal electronic surveillance.
In 1968, Massachusetts became a “two-party’’ consent state, one of 12 currently in the country. Two-party consent means that all parties to a conversation must agree to be recorded on a telephone or other audio device; otherwise, the recording of conversation is illegal. The law, intended to protect the privacy rights of individuals, appears to have been triggered by a series of high-profile cases involving private detectives who were recording people without their consent.
In arresting people such as Glik and Surmacz, police are saying that they have not consented to being recorded, that their privacy rights have therefore been violated, and that the citizen action was criminal
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/12/police_fight_cellphone_recordings/
“One of the officers asked me whether my phone had audio recording capabilities,’’ Glik, 33, said recently of the incident, which took place in October 2007. Glik acknowledged that it did, and then, he said, “my phone was seized, and I was arrested.’’ The charge? Illegal electronic surveillance.
In 1968, Massachusetts became a “two-party’’ consent state, one of 12 currently in the country. Two-party consent means that all parties to a conversation must agree to be recorded on a telephone or other audio device; otherwise, the recording of conversation is illegal. The law, intended to protect the privacy rights of individuals, appears to have been triggered by a series of high-profile cases involving private detectives who were recording people without their consent.
In arresting people such as Glik and Surmacz, police are saying that they have not consented to being recorded, that their privacy rights have therefore been violated, and that the citizen action was criminal
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/12/police_fight_cellphone_recordings/
Monday, January 11, 2010
Social networking jurors posing a problem in courtrooms.
Al Schuler, one of 12 jurors weighing the fate of a 23-year-old charged with killing a homeless man in Maryland, was confused by the word "lividity" and what role it might have played in explaining the circumstances of the victim's beating death.
So, one night after deliberations, the retired engineer did what so many people do in the digital age: He looked up the definition on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. "It was just a definition, like going to the dictionary," Schuler said. "It was very innocent."
Judges and legal experts are particularly concerned about how technology and culture are affecting jurors and a defendant's right to a fair trial. The Internet has provided easy and instant access to newspaper archives, criminal records, detailed maps, legal opinions and social-networking sites, such as Facebook, all at the anonymous click of a mouse in jurors' homes or on the tiny keyboards of their cellular phones.
"This is a generational change, and I don't know if the legal system is ready for it," said Thaddeus Hoffmeister, a law professor at the University of Dayton Law School, who closely studies jury issues.
Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010803694.html
So, one night after deliberations, the retired engineer did what so many people do in the digital age: He looked up the definition on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. "It was just a definition, like going to the dictionary," Schuler said. "It was very innocent."
Judges and legal experts are particularly concerned about how technology and culture are affecting jurors and a defendant's right to a fair trial. The Internet has provided easy and instant access to newspaper archives, criminal records, detailed maps, legal opinions and social-networking sites, such as Facebook, all at the anonymous click of a mouse in jurors' homes or on the tiny keyboards of their cellular phones.
"This is a generational change, and I don't know if the legal system is ready for it," said Thaddeus Hoffmeister, a law professor at the University of Dayton Law School, who closely studies jury issues.
Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010803694.html
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Federal government releases nursing home study.
Compare Nursing Homes:
Welcome to Nursing Home Compare. This tool has detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country. Before you get started, you or your family member may have other long-term care choices like community-based services, home care, or assisted living depending on your needs and resources. For more information, see Alternatives to Nursing Homes. Otherwise, follow these steps when choosing a nursing home:
Step 1: Find Nursing Homes in your area. Search by name, city, county, state, or ZIP code.
Step 2: Compare the quality of the nursing Homes you're considering using the Five-Star Quality Ratings, health inspection results, nursing home staff data, quality measures, and fire safety inspection results.
Step 3: Visit the nursing homes you're considering or have someone visit for you. Use the Nursing Home Checklist and other resources under “ Additional information ” below.
Step 4: Choose the nursing home that best meets your needs. Talk to your doctor or other healthcare practitioner, your family, friends, or others about your nursing home choices. Contact the Long-Term Ombudsman or State Survey Agency before you make a decision.
Link:
http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/SearchCriteriaNEW.asp?version=default&browser=IE%7C8%7CWinNT&language=English&defaultstatus=0&pagelist=Home&CookiesEnabledStatus=True
Welcome to Nursing Home Compare. This tool has detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country. Before you get started, you or your family member may have other long-term care choices like community-based services, home care, or assisted living depending on your needs and resources. For more information, see Alternatives to Nursing Homes. Otherwise, follow these steps when choosing a nursing home:
Step 1: Find Nursing Homes in your area. Search by name, city, county, state, or ZIP code.
Step 2: Compare the quality of the nursing Homes you're considering using the Five-Star Quality Ratings, health inspection results, nursing home staff data, quality measures, and fire safety inspection results.
Step 3: Visit the nursing homes you're considering or have someone visit for you. Use the Nursing Home Checklist and other resources under “ Additional information ” below.
Step 4: Choose the nursing home that best meets your needs. Talk to your doctor or other healthcare practitioner, your family, friends, or others about your nursing home choices. Contact the Long-Term Ombudsman or State Survey Agency before you make a decision.
Link:
http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/SearchCriteriaNEW.asp?version=default&browser=IE%7C8%7CWinNT&language=English&defaultstatus=0&pagelist=Home&CookiesEnabledStatus=True
Saturday, January 9, 2010
A Federal study shows a lack of standards for sealing cases.
The study found that there is "seldom" a public record of why a sealing was justified, and notes that in cases sealed from the start, "there will almost never be an opportunity for public challenge, because there will be no public record of the case."
The study also found that some courts intentionally leave sealed cases out of the electronic case management and filing system, meaning the public would never know a case was filed. It also notes that it did not count cases with "highly redacted docket sheets" and every document sealed as a sealed case.
Links:http://www.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=11199
http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/sealcafc.pdf/$file/sealcafc.pdf
The study also found that some courts intentionally leave sealed cases out of the electronic case management and filing system, meaning the public would never know a case was filed. It also notes that it did not count cases with "highly redacted docket sheets" and every document sealed as a sealed case.
Links:http://www.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=11199
http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/sealcafc.pdf/$file/sealcafc.pdf
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States a Path Forward.
Private investigators may find this link useful they can read almost the entire book online.
Here is an excerpt from page 36:
"Not all forensic services are performed in traditional crime laboratories by trained forensic scientists. Some forensic tests might be conducted by a sworn law enforcement officer with no scientific training or credentials, other than experience. In smaller jurisdictions, members of the local police or sheriff’s department might conduct the analyses of evidence, such as latent print examinations and footwear comparisons. In the United States, if evidence is sent to a crime laboratory, that facility might be publicly or privately operated, although private laboratories typically do not visit crime scenes to collect evidence or serve as the first recipient of physical evidence. Public crime laboratories are organized at the city, county, state, or federal level. A law enforcement agency that does not operate its own crime laboratory typically has access to a higher-level laboratory (e.g., at the state or county level) or a private laboratory for analysis of evidence."
Here is a little trick I learned reading books online.
When reading this book online eventually you will be prompted to purchase the book. To continue reading the book click the "back arrow" button to return to the page you just finished, then continue reading normallly.
Link: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12589&page=35
Here is an excerpt from page 36:
"Not all forensic services are performed in traditional crime laboratories by trained forensic scientists. Some forensic tests might be conducted by a sworn law enforcement officer with no scientific training or credentials, other than experience. In smaller jurisdictions, members of the local police or sheriff’s department might conduct the analyses of evidence, such as latent print examinations and footwear comparisons. In the United States, if evidence is sent to a crime laboratory, that facility might be publicly or privately operated, although private laboratories typically do not visit crime scenes to collect evidence or serve as the first recipient of physical evidence. Public crime laboratories are organized at the city, county, state, or federal level. A law enforcement agency that does not operate its own crime laboratory typically has access to a higher-level laboratory (e.g., at the state or county level) or a private laboratory for analysis of evidence."
Here is a little trick I learned reading books online.
When reading this book online eventually you will be prompted to purchase the book. To continue reading the book click the "back arrow" button to return to the page you just finished, then continue reading normallly.
Link: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12589&page=35
Mortgage fraud on the rise in Tampa FL and across the U. S.
TAMPA — A leading cause of the foreclosure deluge that has swamped Tampa Bay's housing market is mortgage fraud, so it was welcome news in November when federal prosecutors announced they had nailed some of the culprits.
A nine-month investigation nabbed more than 100 defendants and 700 properties across a region that includes Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Fort Myers. The U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida said he hoped the sweep would send a clear message to the public.
"Mortgage fraud will not be tolerated," said A. Brian Albritton. "We must protect the integrity of the real estate market in our communities."
Albritton said the cases were a "surge" that was never meant to ensnare the larger players, at least not yet. In the months ahead, he said, prosecutors will try to get those charged to identify higher-level conspirators, such as ring leaders or industry insiders.
If anything, the surge shows the limitations of prosecuting mortgage fraud, despite its ubiquity.
Link: http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article1062518.ece
A nine-month investigation nabbed more than 100 defendants and 700 properties across a region that includes Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Fort Myers. The U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida said he hoped the sweep would send a clear message to the public.
"Mortgage fraud will not be tolerated," said A. Brian Albritton. "We must protect the integrity of the real estate market in our communities."
Albritton said the cases were a "surge" that was never meant to ensnare the larger players, at least not yet. In the months ahead, he said, prosecutors will try to get those charged to identify higher-level conspirators, such as ring leaders or industry insiders.
If anything, the surge shows the limitations of prosecuting mortgage fraud, despite its ubiquity.
Link: http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article1062518.ece
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