Legal Advice Sought?

A relative of mine was the victim of a crime, recently. The case is due in court very soon. Tonight I discovered that the accused has been blogging about the incident since it happened, including using my relative's full name such that the number 1 Google search for that name links to the accused's blog. I'm pretty sure he shouldn't be doing this, but cd somebody with more legal knowledge than me give me some advice? You can use my webmail if that's more confidential.

The relative wants to report this to the DA as quickly as possible.

speaking as someone with 0 legal knowledge, i would suggest you bring this to the attention of whoever is prosecuting the case (or maybe the judge) and let them deal with it.

xp

Since its a criminal case, its better to just let the state - either the DA/State's attorney or the cops - handle things.

Pretty sure this will NOT be looked upon well by the court.

Accused is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

B.L.A.M.'s right. It could be defamation. Could be stalking. Could be another tort. But all that depends on other facts and the local law, and civil remedies aren't really what your relative probably wants, anyway. Your relative should contact the State Attorney ASAP.

Yeah I've been onto the police, and I'm just going a bit frantic because nothing happens quick enough. Thx for confirming what I thought tho.

Not just the police; Also contact the State Attorney prosecuting the case.

Slightly different system over here but I will get onto that. Thanks.

This is the type of stuff prosecuting attorneys LOVE. they will eat it up.

With my little legal experience it sounds like it could be "intending to pervert the cause of justice". Presumably he's putting his side of the story up there? If he's telling porkie pies (<<<legal term) about your relative then he's really in the doodie (<<<another legal term).

I'd imagine there's pretty strict regulation about putting things relating to pending or ongoing court cases into the public sphere. depends on whether the UK legal system has defined blogging etc as that yet.

Unrelated legal advice sought here.

I'm filling out a background check form for a job. Let me just copy and paste the question:

For question 9, your answer should include convictions resulting from a plea of nolo contendere (no contest), but omit (1) traffic
fines of $300 or less, (2) any violation of law committed before your 16th birthday, (3) any violation of law committed before your 18th birthday
if finally decided in juvenile court or under a Youth Offender law, (4) any conviction set aside under the Federal Youth Corrections Act or
similar state law, and (5) any conviction for which the record was expunged under Federal or state law.

9. During the last 10 years, have you been convicted, been imprisoned, been on probation, or been on parole?
(Includes felonies, firearms or explosives violations, misdemeanors, and all other offenses.) (If "YES," use item 16
to provide the date, explanation of the violation, place of occurrence, and the name and address of the police
department or court involved.)

Here's the deal: The week before I turned 21, an asshole cop gave me a Minor in Possession (MIP) because I was walking from my friend's house (next door) to my own to recycle my EMPTY beer can. I ended up getting a suspended sentence, where I was put on probation for 2 years, but then my record was to be "wiped clean" according to what someone at court told me.

Do I have to report this or not? Does this count as a "conviction" or not? And since apparently my record was "wiped clean", is that the same thing as it being "expunged", as point 5 mentions above?

sounds like yes--you *were* put on probation. better to err on the side of caution, etc etc

Yeah. Minor alchohol possession is not the kind of thing anybody cares about anyway and it'll make you look more honest than if you didn't report it and they found it.

although maybe you should check to see if in fact your record was expunged

ugh. I don't mind reporting it at all, it's just the hassle of getting the information (the date, the court involved). I've made about a dozen phone calls this morning and apparently I have to fax in some information and then wait "72-96 hours", which sucks because this background form is due within "5 business days".

I wood agreez with both theez pinions.

What state do you live in, ZS?

xpost

that's the thing, check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expungement#Missouri

Apparently Missouri law (where all of this happened) was amended in 2005 to allow for total expungement of certain MIP cases, of which it appears that mine would qualify. But I think you have to request it, which would probably take longer than 5 business days.

yeah looks like 30 days, if this is the correct statute (I'm just looking quickly here)

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C600-699/6100000123.HTM

Would this be helpful?

https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/base/welcome.do

What state do you live in, ZS?

So that you don't go there?

Is this a standard punishment for walking around with a can of beer? Seems harsh.

xpost to kingkong

YES! That's great! I had been looking for that all morning, thank you!

No problem.

late response to NV: the issue is likely to be contempt of court. if he creates a "substantial risk of serious prejudice" to the case by what he's written then that could be an extra offence in addition to the original crime. this is probably only going to apply if the case is heading for a jury trial though. judges regard themselves as impossible to prejudice, so if it's a guilty plea or dealt with in the magistrates' court, they may not take it any further.

the only other significant issue i can think of would be if it were a sexual offence, in which case naming the victim is in itself contempt of court.

The police and the CPS seem to be dealing with this in a pretty satisfactory way. My instinct was that it was contempt but there are also other possibilities, apparently. Anyway, thx for everybody's advice. I know this was all a bit cryptic but it's been a stressful week and I wanted to keep things as low key as possible whilst working out what steps needed taking.

good luck

Can anyone advise me on a UK legal question on behalf of a friend, Natalie? (All names changed.)

Natalie just lost her partner, John, in an accident in the US. Natalie is a UK citizen and so was John. They were living in the US and were not married. John had a previous partner, Marie(John was not married to her) with whom he had a son, Peter. Marie moved away (I think to Australia) with the son eight years ago, and removed all contact with John, against John's wishes. Jon's son Peter is legally the next of kin and being not very organised, John left no formal instructions that anyone else (e.g. his mother or Natalie) should be treated as next of kin. However, he did fill in his mother as next of kin on various work-related forms (e.g. security).

John's body is in the UK but has not yet been released to the family. It now seems there is some doubt whether Peter is really John's son, and someone has mentioned this to the UK solicitors. Now they are saying that John's body cannot be released until the high court has DNA tested John to check. But they say that the High Court could take up to a year to get this done.

Can anyone advise on the legal process needed to use the work forms John filled in to bypass all this by getting John's mother named as his next of kin?

Huge thanks for any help.

bump

geez: good luck to your friend!

bump

xpost thanks nabisco

:-((((( wish i cld help

Thanks Stevie. One last bump for late Sunday evening in the UK.