On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Criminal defense on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The separate beatings of two gay men and the shooting death of a third in New York City last weekend have caused a lot of surprise and panic, even as far away as St. Louis. Many people thought that we as a country had moved past using violence to resolve differences, let alone as a means to express disapproval of a certain way of life. These events seemed to suggest the opposite.
On Wednesday, a 39-year-old man turned himself into police, saying he was responsible for the beating in one of the incidents.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Drug charges on Monday, May 20, 2013
It's allergy season. And St. Louis is well known to be a place where this hits hard. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America lists St. Louis as one of the areas most affected by allergens in the entire nation.
Many people deal with these seasonal allergy flare-ups by getting decongestants at their local pharmacies. But these cold medicines contain pseudoephedrine, an ingredient that can be used to make methamphetamine.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Drug charges on Monday, May 13, 2013
In our system of government, the executive (president, governor or mayor) usually has three choices when a legislative body passes a bill. The executive can sign the law. The executive can veto the law. Or the executive can let a legislative bill become law without his or her signature.
In St. Louis, Mayor Francis Slay chose the first of these options regarding the Board of Aldermen's ordinance on marijuana enforcement. Under that ordinance (local law), St. Louis police will be able to divert cases involving small amounts of marijuana to the municipal court system. As we have discussed in recent posts, this will greatly affect the resolution of marijuana charges in St. Louis.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Internet crimes on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Facebook is an incredibly popular social media platform, with hundreds of millions of users. It was founded by David Zuckerberg, a gifted computer programmer who unabashedly describes himself as a “hacker.”
Obviously there are different types of hacking. But how does the law define hacking as a computer crime and distinguish it from perfectly legal cutting-edge programming? The answer to this question affects many computer users not only in St. Louis, but throughout the nation.
A good place to start in responding to the question is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The CFAA is a federal law has been on the books since 1984. Many critics contend it is outdated and overly broad.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Juvenile crimes on Monday, May 6, 2013
In the first part of this post, on April 18, we discussed the broad effects that recent U.S. Supreme Court cases may have on the juvenile justice system throughout the nation. The Court has made clear that juveniles are not the same as adults and just receive individualized determinations when being sentenced for adult offenses.
In this post, let’s look at a specific juvenile justice initiative that is in place in St. Louis and a few other areas in Missouri. It is called the Juvenile Detention Initiative.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Drug charges on Thursday, May 2, 2013
“The times they are a-changin’,” sang the iconic singer Bob Dylan in the 1960s. Dylan’s concern was not exactly drug policy. But this phrase from one of his signature songs has entered the American lexicon. And it could certainly be applied now to currents of change in Missouri marijuana policy.
The St. Louis Board of Alderman recently gave this change a big push when they decided last month to take an alternative approach to marijuana enforcement. The board voted to respond to low-level pot possession using a process that resembles how traffic violations are handled. Rather than an arrest and booking into jail, these offenses would merely involve a summons for a municipal court appearance.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Drug charges on Monday, April 29, 2013
"House" is a very basic English word. It comes with various connotations, of course, depending on the modifier that is used. For example, Charles Dickens chose a decidely down-beat modifier for his famous novel, "Bleak House."
In our times, the word "meth" is sometimes used to modify "house." A meth house refers to a residential dwelling where methamphetamine is produced. Potentially harmful chemicals are involved in this process. Local governments that work on cleaning up such houses after meth production has ended are therefore concerned about the contaminants they may encounter.
One St. Louis-area city is now considering a specific ordinance to spell out this is supposed to work.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Federal Crimes on Friday, April 26, 2013
When a federal case is being pulled together, authorities don't tend to stint on the processes. The evidence is gathered over long periods of time and compiled into a massive compendium. Individuals in Missouri or any state who may have just a suspicion that they are being investigated by federal authorities can benefit from early consultation with legal counsel.
Swift, early engagement of an attorney often is a key to mitigating issues before an indictment is ever issued. And considering the heavy penalties that go along with federal crime convictions, it is only reasonable to be monitoring the investigative processes closely.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Criminal Defense on Monday, April 22, 2013
Our world is wired wall-to-wall with electronics. Or at least so it seems, as surveillance cameras proliferate and police grow more knowledgeable about how to use evidence taken from them.
In a recent St. Louis theft case, police used surveillance video to investigate suspicions that parking lot attendants at downtown city lot were taking some of the parking proceeds. Four men are accused of felony theft in connection with the incident.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Juvenile Crimes on Thursday, April 18, 2013
Adolescents are not the same as adults. No matter how fast their bodies have grown, their minds work differently than those of adults. Cutting-edge brain research is increasingly documenting this, such as by showing how the pre-frontal cortex in the juvenile brain takes time to develop.
The legal system, however, is struggling to catch up with the insights that science provides on the proper response to juvenile offenses. In Missouri and throughout the nation, there has been a trend in the last two decades to treat juveniles more like adults.
That trend is starting to be reversed, and in our next two posts we will examine how that is happening.
