Daily Archives: May 17, 2005

Sex defenders?

Every once in a while, I check the stats for the site and some of the nifty features include "referring link" and "keywords". Over the last three weeks to a month, I’ve seen an increase in the number of people coming to this blog by searching for "sex defenders".

Sex defenders? What the hell is a sex defender? Someone who defends sex? Or is it possible, that people in their infinite stupidity, mean to type sex offender, but end up typing defender instead?

Take the latest one (this is the exact search query):
Latest query – click me!

Now, if you look at the results, my blog is search result #1. And all it highlights is "sex".

So can someone please, please explain – what are you looking for when you type "sex defender".

Oh crap, you know what I just realized? I’m going to get so many more hits because I typed sex de…. "sd"  about 10 times.

Oh well. The pains we put ourselves through in the pursuit of knowledge!

NY proposes 24 hour “charge or release” bill

TalkLeft reports that in the wake of the arrests of protesters at the RNC, NY is proposing a "Charge or Release" bill, which would ensure that people who are arrested would be brought before a Judge within 24 hours.

This is not new for other states and I’m surprised NY did not have such a requirement. As one commenter notes, California has 48 hours to arraign.

What’s the law in CT, you ask? Well, I have the answer! C.G.S. 54-1g provides for "prompt presentment". I’d link to the statute but it takes forever to load, so here it is. The statute provides, in relevant part,

(a) Any arrested person who is not released sooner or who is charged
with a family violence crime as defined in section 46b-38a or a
violation of section 53a-181c, 53a-181d or 53a-181e shall be promptly
presented before the superior court sitting next regularly for the
geographical area where the offense is alleged to have been committed.

Although it doesn’t specify a time limit, that has been explained by the Courts. The Appellate Court, in State v. Piorkowski, 43 Conn. App. 209 (1996) cites three SCOTSOCT cases and explains:

For the purposes of the Connecticut prompt arraignment statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 54-1c,
the "next session" of the circuit court means the regular session next
to be held, excluding any session held on the day of the arrest.

Although the legislature inserted the word "promptly" in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 54-1g,
§ 54-1g still requires presentment before the superior court sitting
next regularly for the geographical area where the offense is alleged
to have been committed. The use of the word "promptly" does not change
the essential meaning of § 54-1g, specifically, that a defendant must
be brought before the next session of the superior court, excluding any
session held on the day of his arrest.

So essentially, within 24 hours – unless the arrest is on a Friday/Sat/Sun, in which case it would be the next Monday. I want to add more to this, specifically regarding dismissal of informations for failure to arraign, but I don’t have time right now. I’ll do it tonight.

To blog or not to blog

The topic du jour seems to be whether to blog from work. Ambimb, after receiving numerous comments saying he should avoid it, is still unsure. Keep blogging, I try to convince him. Just don’t talk about anything specific before it becomes public record. So, don’t talk about a case you’re working on until you’ve had the trial – or filed the motion – or better yet, wait till the appellate decision. Instead, write about areas of law, legal decisions, proposed legislation, your views on certain statutes, dumb criminals, dumb clients, dumb lawyers. There’s plenty of fodder to go around. Don’t give up blogging because of it!

Also, I’ve stumbled upon what seems to be a good new blog, so I’m adding it to the list. Check out ‘On Firm Ground‘.

Prosecutor under scrutiny retires

Supervising Assistant State’s Attorney David Newman, who was previously suspended [prior commentary], has chosen to retire. He was under investigation for charitable contributions – the kind you can make in lieu of paying a traffic fine. A courthouse foreign language interpreter lodged a complaint  about Newman earlier this year. The matter was then referred to the state police for  an investigation, which is still ongoing.