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SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman made his first court appearance Thursday on a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

During the brief appearance, Zimmerman stood up straight, looked straight ahead and wore a gray prison jumpsuit. He spoke only to answer "Yes, ...

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A JetBlue Airways pilot accused of disrupting a Las Vegas-bound flight when he left the cockpit screaming about religion and terrorists has been indicted.

Court documents posted Thursday show Clayton F. Osbon has been indicted on one count of interference of a flight crew. It's the ...

Perhaps you’ve heard about this sort of thing. The government, for your own good, is going to require you to buy certain things. No, I’m not talking about the Health Care Mandate. In Wisconsin they have a NAIS Mandate. Mandatory premiss registration, animal ID, etc. But, they are so generous. They’ll allow you to write off 25% of the forced costs from your tax burden.

Gee… So it still is going to cost you 75%. Since it is a government mandate it will be over priced because the vendors have a lock on the market. You know how these things go. Using some rough numbers, what should have cost $10 per animal is going to cost $20 but you’ll be able to deduct $5 making it so you’re only paying 50% more than you would have not spent had you been willing to spend it if it wasn’t a mandate. Confused?

But it is a mandate and you wouldn’t be paying it at all except that it is a mandate. So now you’re out $15 per animals. Oh, and did you know, surely you did as a farmer, that you’re only making or losing $5 a head? So now, with the government mandate, for your own good, you stand to lose $20 per animal instead of losing $5 per head.

Oh, one last detail, if you don’t get any profit then you don’t get to deduct that 25% of the cost of the mandated program which means you’re losing another $5 per animal for a total of $25 each. Oh, well, I guess you’ll just have to make it up in volume.

Remember: government is here to help you.

Among the bills [Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker] will be signing is SB396, which authorizes the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture to hire an independent agent to administer the livestock premises registration program and create an income and franchise tax credit for producers to cover their costs of radio frequency identification tags.

Under the bill, an income and franchise tax credit for 25 percent of the amount that a taxpayer paid in the taxable year for radio frequency identification tags for the taxpayer’s livestock located in this state and 25 percent of the amount that a taxpayer paid in the taxable year for equipment used in this state to read radio frequency identification tags on livestock. If the amount of the credit exceeds a taxpayer’s tax liability, the taxpayer does not receive a refund, but, instead, may carry forward the amount of any unused credit to subsequent taxable years.
-Wisconsin Ag Connection

Defendant’s post-conviction claim that defense counsel was ineffective for not pursuing a motion to suppress was fatally defective for not alleging prejudice. Would she have gone to trial and not pled? Zanchez v. State, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 5557 (Fla. 2d DCA April 11, 2012).*

But upon further examination of her motion, we note that Ms. Zanchez has failed to allege that there is a reasonable probability that but for counsel's errors, she would not have pleaded guilty but would have insisted on going to trial. See Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 59 (1985); Nelson, 996 So. 2d at 952. Thus Ms. Zanchez's motion completely omits an allegation of prejudice flowing from her attorney's alleged deficient performance.

The juvenile was detained pending “investigation” for loitering, and there was no reasonable suspicion for a patdown. The officer "testified that she routinely searches suspects prior to placing them in her vehicle as a safety precaution." D.S. v. State, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 5461 (Fla. 3d DCA April 11, 2012).*

A gap in the record on whether the independent source doctrine would support the search in question required remand. The case arose from a grow operation that the police visited without warrants. Outbuildings were searched off the curtilage and in open fields, but the court can’t decide the question. United States v. Noriega, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 7309 (11th Cir. April 11, 2012).*

A forced blood draw in a DUI case was barred by statute. The state’s reliance on State v. Krause, 484 N.W.2d 347 (Wis. Ct. App. 1992) (permitting blood draw from hogtied suspect) and Schmerber is inapposite. People v. Farris, 2012 Ill. App. LEXIS 265, 2012 IL App (3d) 100199 (April 10, 2012):

[**P21] In addition to Krause and Schmerber, the State cites to several cases which stand for the proposition that forced blood draws are objectively reasonable and can pass constitutional muster under the fourth amendment. See State v. Clary, 2 P.3d 1255, 1256 (Ariz. App. Ct. 2000); Carleton v. Superior Court, 216 Cal. Rptr. 890 (Cal. Ct. App. 1985); State v. Worthington, 65 P.3d 211 (Idaho Ct. App. 2002); State v. Lanier, 452 N.W.2d 144 (S.D. 1990). However, we find each of these cases to be irrelevant to the question before us, which is whether the trial court correctly held that a forced blood draw was not permitted under the Vehicle Code. The trial court, relying upon our supreme court's holding in Jones, held that force is not permitted under the statute. Specifically, the trial court relied upon the Jones court's "clarification" that it was "not suggest[ing] that a DUI arrestee's lack of a right to refuse chemical testing under section 11-501.2(c)(2) permits law enforcement officers to use physical force in obtaining blood, urine, and breath samples." Jones, 214 Ill. 2d at 201.

Defendant was accused of twice getting out of his car and battering his girlfriend. When police arrived, they had a reliable report that defendant might be armed because the threatened to shoot a bystander witness, and that justified a search of his car under the automobile exception. Commonwealth v. Gouse, 2012 Mass. LEXIS 255 (April 10, 2012).*

Defendant’s driving back and forth three times in five minutes in front of a construction site at 1a.m. where anhydrous ammonia was stored was reasonable suspicion. “No one was supposed to be at the construction site at that hour. Officers can consider the lateness of the hour in determining whether criminal activity was afoot.” State v. Morgan, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 478 (April 10, 2012).*

Defendant jumped out a hotel room window in flight from the police, and this was an abandonment of the room. He also abandoned a pair of socks on the roof the hotel. State v. Jackson, 2012 Conn. LEXIS 128 (April 1, 2012):

The defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the hotel room or in the personal effects that he left there after he jumped out of the hotel window, and even if he had not manifested a subjective intent to abandon the hotel room, the New York City police officers' initial entry into the hotel room was justified under the emergency exception to the warrant requirement because they reasonably could have believed that there might be other persons in the hotel room who were injured or who needed assistance and, therefore, they were not required to obtain a search warrant before seizing the defendant's clothes for safekeeping pursuant to their community caretaking function; furthermore, the mere transfer of the items from the New York City police to the New Haven police did not violate the defendant's fourth amendment rights, the transfer having involved no additional intrusion into the defendant's privacy and the subsequent forensic testing of the defendant's pants and belt having been performed pursuant to a search warrant.

Positive alerts by "sophisticated" dogs that can discriminate currency from drugs have more value that "unsophisticated" dogs. United States v. Approximately $77,000.00 in United States Currency, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50404 (E.D. Cal. April 10, 2012):

The Ninth Circuit has given probative weight to positive alerts by "sophisticated" dogs - dogs that react only to ephemeral by-product of narcotics and not to commonly circulated currency - to show that currency is substantially connected to illegal drug activity. See United States v. $42,500 in U.S. Currency, 283 F.3d [977,] at 982; United States v. $22,474 in U.S. Currency, 246 F.3d at 1216.

More specifically, the Ninth Circuit has explained its jurisprudence on unsophisticated versus sophisticated dog alerts to currency:

In addition, Sutter alerted to the money found in Hysell's luggage. Sutter's handler submitted a declaration stating that Sutter does not alert to cocaine residue found on currency in general circulation. Rather, Sutter alerts to a by-product of cocaine which does not linger on currency. We recently held that a sophisticated dog alert, where the dog reacts only to ephemeral by-products of narcotics and not to commonly circulated currency, is an important factor in determining probable cause. See United States v. $22,474 in U.S. Currency, 246 F.3d 1212, 1216 (9th Cir. 2001) (explaining that because of more sophisticated training a narcotics canine would not alert to money unless it had recently been in the proximity of cocaine). The evidence of Sutter's sophisticated training is undisputed, and therefore, Sutter's alert is relevant in determining probable cause. ...

United States v. $42,500 in U.S. Currency, 283 F.3d at 982-983. Here, Claimant relies on the two cases relied upon by claimant Hysell in the aforementioned excerpt. As explained above however, where a canine is trained not to alert to currency in general circulation, but instead the canine alerts only to the by product of illegal narcotics, that evidence is to be afforded greater weight in a determination of this kind.

It thus appears that Cody's training lends itself to a finding that Cody is in fact a "sophisticated" dog. Therefore, Cody's alert to the presence of illegal drugs on the currency found in Claimant's vehicle is strong evidence going to the determination of whether the Government had met its burden.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — After an extraordinary public campaign to make an arrest in the shooting of an unarmed black teen, a Florida prosecutor came back with a murder charge in the case that has galvanized the nation for weeks.

But prosecutors face steep hurdles to win a second-degree murder ...

HARTFORD, Conn. — After years of failed attempts to repeal the death penalty, Connecticut lawmakers in both the House and the Senate have passed legislation that abolishes the punishment for all future cases.

As expected, members of the House voted 86-62 in favor of the bill after a floor debate ...

SAN FRANCISCO — A University of California task force said Wednesday that UC Davis police should not have used pepper spray on student demonstrators in an incident that prompted national outrage and calls for the chancellor's resignation after online videos of the confrontation went viral.

The decision by officers to ...

CORCORAN, Calif. — A prison panel denied parole Wednesday to mass murderer Charles Manson in his 12th and probably final bid for freedom.

Manson, now a graybearded 77-year-old, did not attend the hearing where the parole board ruled that he had shown no efforts to rehabilitate himself and would not ...

Phrases such as "generationally great" permeate the Washington Capitals' organization. Don't try to talk to owner Ted Leonsis or general manager George McPhee about the window to win a Stanley Cup shutting any time soon, even though this core of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green has ...

SEATTLE — Striving to reduce the trash it sends to landfills, Seattle has banned foam takeout containers and plastic bags, told residents they must recycle cardboard and compost food scraps, and set up a registry for people to opt out of getting phonebooks.

Some city officials think the city can ...

LANSING, MICH. — Rusty Bongard keeps a 1976 photo of motorcycle lobbyist Jim Rhoades sitting on the steps of the Michigan statehouse in Lansing, holding a sign that reads "Helmet Laws Suck."

Now 35 years after that picture was snapped, Mr. Bongard, a spokesman for the biker advocacy and safety ...

A Florida prosecutor charged George Zimmerman with second-degree murder Wednesday in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin after weeks of protests demanding his arrest.

Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey said at a news conference in Jacksonville that Mr. Zimmerman, 28, was arrested Wednesday after turning himself in to authorities. She ...

KANSAS

TOPEKA — A Kansas judge declared a mistrial in a murder trial Wednesday after a newspaper reporter tweeted a photo that included the grainy profile of a juror.

The Shawnee County District Attorney's Office said it plans to reschedule Austin Tabor's trial for June or July in the wake ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman is being charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose death ignited nationwide protests.

Special prosecutor Angela Corey says that the 28-year-old Zimmerman is in custody. She wouldn't disclose Zimmerman's whereabouts for his safety, but ...