Just Imagine The Fullest Application Of This Search/Seizure Ruling

In Drug Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Drug Crimes on Tuesday, September 11, 2018. As an intelligent Missouri resident, would you be bothered by an apparent police ability to summarily enter an apartment complex with a pack of dogs and have them engage in warrantless drug-focused sniffs at every doorway? We think we know our readers’ answer to that query. It is likely to be the same as that forcefully delivered by a Minnesota appellate court and two justices of that state’s Supreme Court in their dissent decrying police tactics in a search-and-seizure case. The key facts of that matter can be …

New Sex Offender Registry Offers Hope, Not Just Harsh Outcomes

In Sex Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Sex Crimes on Monday, August 27, 2018. Current Missouri law potentially provides for the outcome that both a rapist and a person charged with public urination while intoxicated be placed on the state’s Sex Offender Registry for life. The registry does not distinguish between such persons regarding the law’s onerous reporting requirements. Both of them have the same duty to visit a police station four times annually. That will change tomorrow. Senate Bill 655 takes legal effect in just a few short hours, and will usher in major changes to Missouri’s registry law. The enactment …

Huge Changes Imminent Concerning Missouri’s Sex Offender Registry

In Sex Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Sex Crimes on Thursday, August 23, 2018. Being on Missouri’s Sex Offender Registry is no proverbial walk in the park. In fact, it is a lifelong burden that challenges registrants in an almost unimaginable way. We note on our criminal defense website at the St. Louis law firm of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry that Missouri’s registry law is among the toughest in the country. If you’re required to register, doing so “will have a significant and negative impact on your life as well as the lives of your loved ones.” Indeed, inclusion on the registry can …

New MO Federal Attorney Spotlights Sharp Prosecutorial Focus

In Violent Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Violent Crimes on Tuesday, August 14, 2018. Missouri has always been a state where alleged criminal activity is relentlessly probed and harshly prosecuted. And that is hardly about to change under the helm of Timothy A. Garrison, the recently appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. Criminal suspects in Missouri have always had an urgent need for quality defense representation when they face the resolve and resources of state and federal authorities. Comments offered by Garrison in the wake of his appointment as one of the country’s 93 federal prosecutors indicate that a …

Federal Drug Case Spotlights “Poisonous Tree” Doctrine

In White Collar Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in White Collar Crimes on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. We suspect that most of our readers in St. Louis and across Missouri and other states have a healthy respect for police officers driving anywhere near them on streets and freeways. That is, motorists tend to immediately reduce their speed when they see a police car, almost as a knee-jerk reaction. Here’s a question: Have you ever been pulled over after slowing down, even when the speed you were traveling at before letting off the gas was already legal? We didn’t think so. Yet that is precisely …

Material Misconceptions Regarding White Collar Crime

In White Collar Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in White Collar Crimes on Tuesday, July 24, 2018. We note from long professional experience that many defendants across Missouri and elsewhere facing white collar criminal charges never consciously set out to engage in unlawful behavior. We stress on our website at Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry that “panic regarding cash flow and a ‘slippery slope’ to more serious legal infractions often form the background to many of these types of cases.” That inside perspective on white collar crime psychology and motivation is often echoed in national reports and studies. A Washington Post article notes, for example, …

A Compelling Need To Reform/Improve Witness ID Processes

In Violent Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Violent Crimes on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Every American law school student becomes acquainted with one select quote very early in their legal studies. It comes courtesy of the illustrious Sir William Blackstone, a renowned 18th-century judge and jurist. Blackstone allegedly uttered the following words, which still resonate in an aspirational and idealistic way for criminal law attorneys across the United States: “Better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent person suffer.” Although some lock-them-up hard-on-crime enthusiasts might object to that sentiment, doesn’t it ring absolutely true from an ethical standpoint? No reasonable …

Multiple St. Louis County Cops Having DWI Scrapes

In Drug Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Drug Crimes on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. Talk about unforgiving. If you believe that the aftermath of a drunk driving conviction in Missouri is generally marked by dire unpleasantries (and it is certainly reasonable to think so), imagine the perspective of a St. Louis metro police officer who is charged with a DWI offense. Any such officer has reason to be discouraged by what is potentially forthcoming in the wake of a drunk driving charge. Two words: job loss. A St. Louis County cop convicted of DWI need look no further than to words uttered …

Major Fed Sting Targets Health Care Fraud, Drug Crimes

In Drug Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Drug Crimes on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Some state and federal criminal task forces – both singly and together – target drug crimes. Others focus on fraud-linked offenses. And, increasingly, many investigative teams concentrate on both, as evidenced by news stories that feature criminal probes into things like prescription drug fraud. One such story surfaced just last week when, on Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped up to microphones to discuss what has been described as “the nation’s largest ever health care fraud takedown.” An in-depth Washington Post article spotlighting the criminal sweep and noting …

Organizations File Class Action Suit Against Gang Database

In Violent Crimes by RSFJ

On behalf of Rosenblum Schwartz & Fry posted in Violent Crimes on Monday, July 9, 2018. Several organizations have banded together in a federal lawsuit against the Chicago police department over the use of a gang member database. The database compiles information about suspected gang members based on gang attire, tattoos, and other distinguishing characteristics. Many other cities use similar resources. Opponents argue that the database reinforces racial profiling. The list names 68,000 juveniles and as many as 195,000 persons of interest in total. People on the list face heightened police surveillance, civil rights infringements, threat of deportation and damaging quality of life issues Not aligned …