Criminal Law

Tabitha Walrond - 10 years laterI

Posted on October 05, 2009
Tabitha Walrond - 10 years laterI do still monitor comments and update them although it's been a long time since I've put a new post on this Blog. But suddenly, I've been awash with comments on the Tabitha Walrond case and feel the need to come out of my semi-blog-retirement to comment...

Lost Links...Somehow, I've lost

Posted on October 21, 2008
Lost Links...Somehow, I've lost all of the links to my other favorite blogs as well as the link to purchase my book, "Bronx D.A."I hope that I can figure out how to get these links back soon so you can follow the writing of some other great bloggers.http://www...

Appearance MondayOn Monday, I will

Posted on October 17, 2008
Appearance MondayOn Monday, I will be appearing on Tru TV's "Lisa Bloom: Open Court" from 9 - 11 am ESTChannel 58 in New York.We will be discussing the Esto, Florida prosecution of a mother for the drowning death of her 7-year-old daughter in the family's swimming pool...

Safety Reminders for the New School

Posted on October 15, 2008
Safety Reminders for the New School YearTalking to children about safety is a frightening thing for parents, but is the single most important things parents can do to increase the safety of their children. The beginning of a new school year is a great time to reinforce safety rules with your child and to update the rules based on your child's age, increased ability to understand more complex rules, and increasing freedom and Independence...

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McCain Fails Women on Violence

Posted on September 22, 2008
McCain Fails Women on Violence Issues by Jennifer MercurioWhile this is not a political blog by any means, I felt that it was important to share the following opinon on McCain versus Obama when it comes to sexual violence issues. This "guest blog" was authored by Jennifer Mercurio, someone whose opinions on these particular types of issues are well-informed and carefully considered...

Thank Someone9-11 seems a fitting

Posted on September 11, 2008
Thank Someone9-11 seems a fitting day to write my first piece in quite a while. I?ve been on maternity leave, but today is a good day to return. Law enforcement is a thankless job. It does not pay well. The hours can be awful. And the work can be depressing and grueling...

Registered Sex OffendersCriminal

Posted on May 22, 2008
Registered Sex OffendersCriminal Justice Degrees Guide just posted an article "12 Online Tools to Discover Where Sexual Predators and Criminals Live in Your Neighborhood". These tools are excellent and I highly recommend using them. A search of my area on Family Watchdog revealed one sex offender living about 10 miles away from me, but within a mile of the local school...

I wanted to share the following

Posted on April 23, 2008
I wanted to share the following post from a reader in response to me article about pushing pedophiles to poor neighborhoods:"You are assuming anyone with the label "pedophile" has committed a serious crime. Like all crimes in general, most are made up of minor offenses, and haven't resulted in a prison sentence, these people make up the vast majority of people on the sex offenders registry...

CORRECTION RE NANCY GRACE APPEARANCEI

Posted on April 20, 2008
CORRECTION RE NANCY GRACE APPEARANCEI have been informed that Nancy was not on the show last night because she had the night off and not because she was sick - apologies to Nancy and I'm glad she's feeling well!!!http://www.bronxdabook.com

My appearance on Nancy Grace tonight

Posted on April 18, 2008
My appearance on Nancy Grace tonight is cancelled due to Nancy's illness. Stay tuned for future appearances!!!http://www.bronxdabook.com

Sarena Straus AnnouncesAppearing

Posted on April 16, 2008
Sarena Straus AnnouncesAppearing Friday! April 18, 2008 onCNN's Headline News with Nancy Grace 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm ESTChannel 59 in New YorkI'm also pleased to announce that my book is now available as an Amazon Kindle book. Enjoy!!http://www.bronxdabook...

Amazon KindleBronx DA: True Stories

Posted on April 07, 2008
Amazon KindleBronx DA: True Stories from the Sex Crimes and Domestic Violence Unit is now available on Amazon Kindle. Enjoy!!!http://www.bronxdabook.com

Appearing Tomorrow! April 1, 2008

Posted on April 01, 2008
Appearing Tomorrow! April 1, 2008 onThe Morning Show with Mike and Juliet9:00 am - 10:00 am ESTChannel 5 in New YorkWe will be discussing the case of Jennifer Latham. Latham kidnapped an infant from a Florida hospital and was apprehended a short time later...

Another Prosecutor Blog!!!!I am

Posted on January 02, 2008
Another Prosecutor Blog!!!!I am pleased to report that there is finally a new prosecutor blog in town! Thus far, "You . . . For The People" is fabulous, useful and prolific. In the short time they have been live, they have posted articles on DNA resources, the total coolness of being a prosecutor (I so miss being cool), resources regarding Child Sexual Assault and more...

Appearance On Friday, November

Posted on November 28, 2007
Appearance On Friday, November 30, 2007I will be appearing on CNN's Headline News with Nancy Grace at 8:00 - 9:00 pm EST Channel 59 in New Yorkhttp://www.bronxdabook.com

Appearance TomorrowI will be appearing

Posted on October 16, 2007
Appearance TomorrowI will be appearing on Court TV'sBanfield & Ford - Courtside1:00 - 2:15 pm ESTChannel 58 in New YorkWe will be discussing the Eastern Michigan University rape murder of Laura Dickinson - should be a great show and I hope you will tune in!http://www...

Follow up on "Parents' ire grows

Posted on September 17, 2007
Follow up on "Parents' ire grows at pedophile's unabashed blog"Reader Jeff Deutsch left the following comment on my earlier posting regarding a pedophile's blog - a little bit of the other side of the argument: "Ms. Straus makes some good points about the need to make sure people don't aid and abet criminals by posting information...

Appearing Tomorrow, August 23,

Posted on August 22, 2007
Appearing Tomorrow, August 23, 2007 onFox 5 Live's (FNC)"The Live Desk with Martha MacCallum"1:30 - 2:00 pm ESTChannel 26 in New Yorkhttp://www.bronxdabook.com

On Being a ProsecutorA while back,

Posted on August 15, 2007
On Being a ProsecutorA while back, I posted about why I left the DA's office. The post got some wonderful responses and I wanted to share one in particular from RAG of The Somewhat Daily RAG:"As a career prosecutor -- 26 years on the job -- I understand every word that you wrote...

Parents' ire grows at pedophile's

Posted on July 30, 2007
Parents' ire grows at pedophile's unabashed blogOn July 28th, an extremely disturbing article appeared in several papers including the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. The article is about the California police's inability to take action against a self-proclaimed pedophile who is posting his musings about children along with images and lists of places that pedophiles can go to find children...

First Amendment Protections and

Posted on July 16, 2007
First Amendment Protections and the CourtOn Friday, on ?The Live Desk with Martha MacCullum,? I was a member of the ?A-List?, a panel of four that discusses current issues in the news. One of the issues that we covered involved a Nebraska judge that prohibited the use of certain words during a rape trial; specifically, "victim," "assailant", "sexual assault", "rape" and "sexual assault kit"...

Upcoming Appearance: Appearing

Posted on July 12, 2007
Upcoming Appearance: Appearing Tomorrow, July 13, 2007, on Fox 5 Live's (FNC)"The Live Desk with Martha MacCallum"1:30 - 2:00 pm ESTChannel 26 in New YorkWork is also well under way on a new book that I am co-authoring with my father, Marc Straus. Stay tuned for more information!http://www...

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?It

Posted on June 26, 2007
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?It starts with something simple. Someone tells me they are taking a child somewhere large, crowded and usually urban. To a zoo or a Wollman Rink in Central Park. Or to an amusement park. Or sometimes a combination of several, like this weekend when my parents told me they were taking my two nieces and my nephew to Coney Island...

NYPD Cops To Take Breathalyzer

Posted on June 20, 2007
NYPD Cops To Take Breathalyzer Tests Yesterday?s NYT reported that the NYPD is looking into mandatory alcohol testing for officers that shoot someone and to undergo a psychological screening when they become candidates for undercover work. While I support screening officers for undercover work (a few UCs that I knew were pretty darn nutty), is mandating an officer to blow even legal? Remember that even an officer accused of wrong-doing has rights...

How They Found MeI'm on a long

Posted on June 09, 2007
How They Found MeI'm on a long long long overdue vacation and have not posted for a while, so I hope you will forgive me a bit of a fluffy post. Occasionally, I list how people found me based on my ability to search back on site meter. As an aside, I've notice that the most common search that leads people to my site is either "Brass Knuckles" or "Metal Knuckles" due to a post from quite some time ago...

Exposing Informants to the PublicMy

Posted on May 27, 2007
Exposing Informants to the PublicMy friendly anonymous AUSA has shared another interesting story with me that appeared in the New York Times (5/22, Liptak) 5 days ago. The article discusses the DOJs concern about a site called, whosarat.com, a site whose link I've not added because I don't want to encourage people to go there...

The Duke AffectThis week's National

Posted on May 19, 2007
The Duke AffectThis week's National Law Journal reports some predicable fallout on prosecutors as a result of the Duke case. In an interview with New Jersey prosecutor Paul DeGroot, DeGroot said that he "knew it wouldn't take long for the Duke University lacrosse rape case to wreak havoc on prosecutors...

Upcoming Court TV AppearanceOn

Posted on May 11, 2007
Upcoming Court TV AppearanceOn Monday, May 14, I will be appearing on Court TV's "Bloom & Politan" starting at 9 a.m. We will be discussing Phil Spector's murder trial. I hope you will tune in!Also, wanted to point you out to a terrific blog, which was also the source of my hairbag etymology...

Technology and the ProsecutorColposcope.

Posted on May 07, 2007
Technology and the ProsecutorColposcope. Toluidine Blue Dye. Forensic Nurse with Rape Crisis expertise. Forensic Nurse with Child Abuse Expertise. A Working Wire. Heck. A Working Computer! Just a couple of items on my law enforcement wish list.In today?s New York Times, the front page article of the NY Regional Section was about how digital photography may be helping prosecutors obtain convictions in Domestic Violence cases...

Injustice Anywhere . . .: Thought for the Day

Posted on April 30, 2007
Why I Left the DA?s OfficeI received a comment a few weeks back from "Texan": "It seems like you enjoyed working as a prosecutor. Why did you quit? I am considering entering law school but the glut of unhappy lawyers is making me think twice about it...

A Little Levity in a Dark WorldI

Posted on April 26, 2007
A Little Levity in a Dark WorldI recently send an inquiry to the author of another blog as to definition of "hairbag". You see, hairbag is police jargon and I always thought it meant someone who was really into the job, or a buff...I thought I'd get a one line response and I got this wonderful etymology of hairbag...

Response to HypotheticalNicely

Posted on April 25, 2007
Response to HypotheticalNicely reasoned argument in support of prosecutors using deception in limited circumstances and where it does not shock the conscience.Howard said "One caveat to the points above: some prosecutors play a closer role to police detective than others...

Hypothetical Number 2A few weeks

Posted on April 20, 2007
Hypothetical Number 2A few weeks ago, I posted a couple of hypotheticals regarding ethical dilemmas often faced by prosecutors. One regarded informing a defense attorney that the only witness in a one witness case had died and after posting a few comments from others, I weighed in...

Be Nice to Loners CampaignI?ve

Posted on April 19, 2007
Be Nice to Loners CampaignI?ve been reluctant to comment on the tragedy at Virginia Tech. But I did finally see something today that made me want to say something. In this morning?s New York Times, there was a small article in the Arts section about a campaign that has been started on Facebook...

LONG OVERDUE UPDATES ON WHAT IS

Posted on April 15, 2007
LONG OVERDUE UPDATES ON WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE GOOD OLD US OF AMany apologies for the long absence! I had some surgery (I'm fine, thank you) and recovered just in time to get a bad cold, so I am sorry to offer nothing new in so long. I have a friend in law enforcement that can't post on a blog due to his position, but he does send me all kinds of interesting articles, some of which I use here, making him almost a silent partner in this venture...

My Answer?Sorry if the suspense

Posted on March 15, 2007
My Answer?Sorry if the suspense was killing you and that it?s taken so long for me to post my take on one of the hypotheticals I posed a couple of weeks ago. In case you did not see it, the hypothetical was as follows:Lets say that you have a one witness case that you are about to take to trial...