David Cassidy - from a perspective unrelated to his celebrity.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/11/04/david.cassidy.arrest/index.html

A recent news development for better or worse , is David Cassidy's DUI arrest in Florida. In reading the details of the investigation and arrest, I just want to point out a few things. Though I don't condone drinking and driving, especially impaired, it is very important to remember the government (police and prosecutors) need to prove that the driver is impaired.

Cassidy blew twice the legal limit, but says he felt good enough to drive. He is presumed impaired by the breathalyzer, however his mental and motor skills might be fine. So it is possible that he was really not guilty of the DUI. A presumption is just a piece, but it can be overcome.

The Field Sobriety Examination's are conducted in such a way that anybody can fail them. There are multiple steps meant to trip up the person doing them.

There was a half empty bottle bourbon in Cassidy's back seat. This part of the article made me mad. It does not mean he drank that, only that it was there. There is no way of telling what he actually ingested. The bottle on the back seat indicates only that the bottle was there. I consider this a highly prejudicial aspect of the police report, and therefore the news report.

My point is that we shouldn't just judge a DUI based upon one piece of evidence or another. There are multiple things that should be considered, and a person who has the responsibility of weighing the evidence has the duty to look at everything, and not rush to judgment.

4 Year Old Can Be Suedhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/29/AR2010102906493.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/29/AR2010102906493.html



A Judge in New York City decided that a 4 year old is old enough to appreciate the danger of riding a bicycle into a elderly lady, who later died of injuries sustained from the collision.



Why this isn't so significant. Parents can be held responsible for the negligence or intentional torts of their children. Even though it's a stretch to hold a girl who probably finished watching the latest episode of Yo Gabba Gabba, to that of a person who knew that riding a bicycle could possibly kill a elderly lady, this particular judge found there to be enough awareness to get past a summary judgment (can go forward to trial). I can easily see a similar outcome in many states and jurisdictions throughout the U.S.

A four year old child was held accountable. Again, it happens all the time, that parents are held accountable for their childrens torts.

Parents should have home owners or renters insurance for such a dilemma.

Simply Incredible

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/25/florida.hiccup.girl/index.html


Many times handing unheeded attention to kids and the stunts they perform on Youtube seem innocent enough. In this case this girl could not get enough.

That being said, I hope that she is accorded a fair examinination of her true actions and complicity in this horrible event. Everybody deserves a fair investigation!

Support those with Mental Health Issues

http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/ohstate/story/Ohios-mental-health-system-on-verge-of-collapse/0C48714Z9kaZE87NbYcucw.cspx

We should definitly help those who can't help themselves. Those who suffer with mental health issues should not be treated like it is their fault.

Cleared by DNA

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/21/new.york.exoneration.judgment/index.html

As a practitioner in criminal defense, I step foot in jails and prisons regularly. It's hard being in those places for a couple minutes, yet alone years.

On a side note: I really respect people who work in those facilities, as they live a portion of their lives behind bars daily. Though they do get to leave at the end of the day.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/23/man-who-sparked-tuberculosis-scare-can-sue-cdc-court-rules/?hpt=Sbin

This guys should sue! The U.S. government not only decides to take aways his valuable freedom, warranted or not, (I'd say it's a total stretch when not knowing what the guy had) but they put his name and medical condition for all to know. He lost everything as a result.

Online Privacy?

www.newsweek.com/2010/10/22/forget-privacy-what-the-internet-knows-about-you.htm



I read this article after thinking the same thing earlier in the day. I am guilty of "googling" myself. It is incredible the amount of information that I picked up about myself. Some information that I voluntarily provided to the world, and information that I have not.



Some of these social networking sites, give us a false sense of security, by placing privacy settings. The problem is that all our likes, interests, ideas and thoughts leaves a footprint of who we are accessible to the world in some form. The groups and "likes', tweets we follow and whatever else we join are being counted.



The most interesting aspect from a lawyers point of view are the havoc that social media is wreaking on private lives, marriages and employment. People are getting arrested for comments made to others, or getting their identities stolen, divorces and break ups are occuring from improper behavior with others, and loss of employment from either preoccupation with social media or evidence of unprofessional shenanigansin our private matters. Yet with all these stories that we are becoming more and more familiar with, we still come back for more. We can't stay away. I think social media has most startlingy brought about a hyper awareness of human insecurities, and how fragile we are.



I think we are just coming into the inception of the legal fallout that social media, and the over connection it brings into our lives. The best or worst is definitly in front of us.