Category Archives: General

Claimant Made Self Unavailable for Work

Statutes provide that the elements of a claim for employment security benefits include availability for work. Negating that element was appellant’s request of her employer not to schedule her for work during the COVID pandemic. “[L]imitations on the hours and days … Continue reading

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Statute Applied Retroactively

A new statute bars prosecution for drug possession when defendant overdoses on a controlled substance and calls for medical help. That statute applies to events occurring before the statute’s effective date. Savings statute, preserving pre-amendment statutes for prosecution despite amendments, … Continue reading

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Appearance by Video Violated Confrontation Clause

Confrontation Clauses protect the right of an accused, including a juvenile, to confront State’s witnesses face-to-face. Orders of the Supreme Court and circuit court, addressing procedure during COVID-19 pandemic, barred in-person appearances only as otherwise allowed by law. Those provisions … Continue reading

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Attorney-Client Privilege Waived

In a criminal action, the erroneous exclusion of State’s evidence supports mandamus, because double jeopardy bars re-trial. The circuit court barred from evidence a recording of incriminating statements made during an attorney-client meeting. But, when defendant disclosed that recording to … Continue reading

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Self-Defense Instruction Was Due

An instruction is due on request when substantial evidence supports it even where there is contrary evidence. Statutes allowed appellant to use deadly force if appellant “reasonably believe[d] that such deadly force [was] necessary to protect himself … against … … Continue reading

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Orlando sisters sentenced in $25 million tax fraud scheme

Petra Gomez and her co-conspirator, her sister, Jakeline Lumucso, were sentenced to eight and four years in federal prison, respectively. They operated a tax preparation business with five locations in central Florida that filed more than 16,000 false tax returns … Continue reading

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Lee’s Summit Man Pleads Guilty to Arson, Insurance Fraud Conspiracy

A Lee’s Summit, Missouri, man has pleaded guilty in federal court to leading an arson and insurance fraud conspiracy and to illegally possessing firearms. Wandale J. Fulton, 40, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Jan. 27, to one count of conspiracy to … Continue reading

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DC Solar owner sentenced to 30 years in prison for billion dollar Ponzi scheme

Jeff Carpoff, the owner of California-based DC Solar, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison and forfeited $120 million in assets to the U.S. government for victim restitution after creating a Ponzi-scheme that involved the sale of thousands of … Continue reading

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Capital One Settles a Class-Action Lawsuit for $190 Million in a 2019 Hacking

Capital One has agreed to pay $190 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by customers of the bank after a hacker stole the personal data of more than 100 million people in 2019. The settlement would cover 98 million … Continue reading

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NC man’s seminars on defrauding the IRS cost the government $38 million, feds say

Mehef Bey, who went by the alias Arthur Daniels, traveled the country recruiting people to file bogus tax returns seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds from the Internal Revenue Service, according to federal prosecutors. He succeeding in recruiting … Continue reading

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