Academic

Harassment, Emails and the Passionate Fan

Posted on May 20, 2013
In 2011, Paul Michael Glaser obtained a six-month civil harassment restraining order under California Code of Civil Procedure § 527.6 against Pamela Meserve. Glaser v. Meserve, 2013 WL 1460339 (California Court of Appeals 2013). When that order expired and Meserve ?resumed her harassment,? he ?obtained a three-year injunction? against her, after which Meserve ?appealed the second order...

Bestiality, Encryption and Probation

Posted on May 17, 2013
According to this and other news stories, in mid-April of 2010 Douglas Spink was arrested ?for running what authorities say appears to be a bestiality farm in Washington state in which visitors could engage in all sorts of twisted sex acts with animals...

Emails as Property of Decedent?s Estate . . .

Posted on May 15, 2013
After their brother John died, the co-administrators of his estate ? his sister Marianne Ajemian and his brother Robert Ajemian ? brought a ?declaratory judgment action in the Probate and Family Court, seeking a declaration that electronic mail messages (e-mails) John sent and received using a Yahoo!, Inc...

Peer Spectre, Evidence and Child Pornography

Posted on May 13, 2013

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Texting, Sexting and Attorney Misconduct

Posted on May 10, 2013
William Jeffrey Detweiler ?of Akron, Ohio . . . was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1987.? Disciplinary Counsel v. Detweiler, __ N.E.2d __, 2013 WL 1831782 (Ohio Supreme Court 2013). In October 2010, the Ohio Supreme Court, ?publicly reprimanded Detweiler for engaging in an improper sexual relationship with his client...

Craigslist, Casual Encounters and Entrapment

Posted on May 08, 2013

FTK, Experts and Daubert

Posted on May 06, 2013
?After a two-day bench trial,? Robert Springstead was convicted of distributing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S. Code §2252(a)(2), receiving child pornography in violation of 18 U.S. Code §2252(a)(2), possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U...

The Cell-Phone, the Sentencing and Contempt

Posted on May 03, 2013
After being convicted of criminal contempt in violation of 18 U.S. Code § 401(3), Maurtez Prince appealed.  U.S. v. Prince, 2013 WL 1693977 (U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit 2013).  As Wikipedia explains, contempt of court is a court order which in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...

Minors, Obscenity and the Barracks Room

Posted on May 01, 2013

The School, Suicide and the Cell-phone

Posted on April 29, 2013

Trojan Horse Warrant . . . Fail?

Posted on April 26, 2013
A few years ago, I did a post in which I speculated about the possibility of U.S. law enforcement?s using a Trojan Horse or similar program to surreptitiously search, and perhaps, monitor a suspect?s computer.  And a few years after that, I included an expanded version of that analysis in a law review article, which you can find here, if you?re interested...

?Possessing Criminal Tools?

Posted on April 24, 2013
As I noted in a post I did some years ago, many (if not all?) U.S. states outlaw the possession of ?burglar?s tools? . . . on the premise that possessing burglar?s tools is basically a step toward committing the crime of burglary.  As I explained in that post, these statutes are predicated on the same rational the law uses to criminalize an attempt to commit a crime, e...

Theft, Deception and Unauthorized Control

Posted on April 22, 2013
After Michelle L. Hafer was convicted of theft and computer crimes in violation of Kansas law and sentenced to ?18 months of probation with an underlying sentence of 8 months' imprisonment and 12 months of postrelease supervision?, she appealed...

Passwords, Profiles and Child Pornography

Posted on April 19, 2013
After he was convicted of ?criminal damaging, vandalism, criminal trespass, possession of criminal tools, two counts of retaliation? and ?ten counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor? in violation of Ohio law, Nicholas Castagnola appealed...

Computer Repair, Child Pornography and the Virus

Posted on April 17, 2013

Unauthorized Access, Using a Computer to Commit a Crime and Obstruction of Justice

Posted on April 15, 2013
Michael Anthony Greene was charged with four crimes under Michigan law:  ?use of a computer to commit a crime? in violation of Michigan Compiled Laws §§ 752.796 &  752.797(3)(d), unauthorized access of a computer in violation of Michigan Compiled Laws §§ 752...

Aggravated Assault, the Text Message and Excited Utterances

Posted on April 12, 2013
After a jury convicted him of ?two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon? in violation of Arizona law and the judge imposed ?flat-time sentences? of 11.25 years ?for his conviction of aggravated assault? and ?a concurrent term of 11...

Harassment and Unlawful Use of Encryption

Posted on April 10, 2013
?Following a bench trial,? Steven C. Kucharski was convicted of two counts of electronic harassment in violation of 720 Illinois Statutes §135/1-2 and one count of unlawful use of encryption in violation of 720 Illinois Statues § 5/16D-5.5.  People v...

The Warrant, the Affidavit and the Metadata

Posted on April 08, 2013

Child Pornography, Private Parties and Seizure

Posted on April 05, 2013

At-Will Employment, Loyalty and Computer Access

Posted on April 03, 2013

Metadata, Voyeurism and Upskirting

Posted on April 01, 2013

Miranda and the Consent to Assume Online Presence

Posted on March 29, 2013

Emails, Stalking and Jurisdiction

Posted on March 27, 2013
After a jury convicted him of ?three felony counts of stalking? in violation of Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-3-602(1)(b)and ?three misdemeanor counts of harassment? in violation of Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-9-111(1)(e) and a judge sentenced him to ?a prison sentence of twelve years?, Jerry L...

Threats: ?Sending? versus ?Posting?

Posted on March 25, 2013
After he was charged with ?two counts of making written threats to kill or do great bodily harm in violation of? Florida Statutes §836.10, Timothy Ryan O?Leary moved to dismiss the charges.  O?Leary v. State, __ So.3d __, 2013 WL 1091690 (Florida Court of Appeals 2013)...

Webwatcher, Wiretapping and Interception

Posted on March 22, 2013
This post examines an opinion issued in a civil suit:  Luis v. Zang, 2013 WL 811816 (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio 2013).  It was initiated by Javier Luis, who originally filed his complaint in a federal court in Florida, but the defendants had the case ?removed? to the federal court in Ohio...

Aggravated Identity Theft and Purchasing Personal Identifying Information

Posted on March 20, 2013

The AIM Status Update, Authentication and Prejudice

Posted on March 18, 2013
Marvin Wren and Antonio Toy were convicted of (i) attempted murder in violation of California Penal Code §§ 187 and 664 and (ii) burglary in violation of California Penal Code § 459.  People v. Toy, 2013 WL 500500 (California Court of Appeals 2013)...

Passwords and the Right to Say No

Posted on March 15, 2013
After a juvenile court judge found that he violated California Penal Code § 148 ?by unlawfully obstructing a police officer?, Cesar R., a minor, appealed.  In re Cesar R., 2013 WL 873823 (California Court of Appeals ? 4th District 2013).   As Wikipedia explains, in all but four U...

Spam, ?Pump and Dump? and Unauthorized Access

Posted on March 13, 2013
After a New Jersey federal jury convicted him of (i) one count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S. Code § 371 to further securities fraud by transmitting spam using false e-mail headers and using falsely registered e-mail addresses, (ii) one count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.