Nowhere is this more evident than in the Trayvon Martin case. The national media had convicted George Zimmerman from day one without having a fraction of the evidence that the police originally had. They painted a portrait of racial hatred where there was absolutely no evidence to suggest this. They have tried to intentionally incite racial division the whole time. George Zimmerman had been a mentor to a black child. Hardly the actions of a racist, but this fact wasn’t mentioned very often.  Old photos of Travon were presented showing a young innocent teenager, while a mugshot of George Zimmerman was the only picture to be displayed. There were pictures of Zimmerman in a tie, but in no way could Zimmerman be presented to be a respinsible hardworking citizen. One thing is certain. Zimmerman has no chance at a fair trial. The only acceptable outcome for the media and certain minority groups is a conviction.  This is not the type of justice that this country was founded on, and it’s very frightening to think that it may soon be illegal to defend oneself against a violent attacker.

The criminal law statutes are divided into two categories: those classified as a felony and those classified as a misdemeanor. Felonies include most serious charges such as murder, rape, robbery, arson, and kidnapping. Misdemeanors are minor offenses such as trespassing, disturbing the peace, underage alcohol possession, and some traffic offenses such as DUI. Some offenses can be charged as either a felony or misdemeanor depending on their severity. Examples include assault and battery, larceny, destruction of property, and some drug possession charges.

Many people who are charged with a misdemeanor ask themselves, “Do I really need a criminal defense lawyer?” The answer to that question depends upon the value you place on your future. Many states do not allow for a criminal conviction, even a misdemeanor, to be expunged from your record. In that case a criminal conviction from one state, be it a felony or a misdemeanor, will follow a person for the rest of their life, regardless of where they live.

Criminal convictions may have drastic effects on a person’s life. Felony convictions carry additional civil punishments such as loss of voting privileges, loss of the right to possess a firearm, disqualification from federal loans for housing or school, and the inability to freely travel without permission from a probation officer.

While misdemeanor convictions do not carry those added consequences, they generally carry the risk of jail, even for a first offense, and heavy fines. In addition they will affect one’s life in the following ways:

Employment opportunities: Many regular employers perform background checks on applicants, particularly those businesses that require some higher level of trust in employees, such as security or finance. A misdemeanor conviction can have a devastating effect on one’s chances of being hired by them.

State licensing: Careers and jobs which require a state license, such as medicine, law, real estate, bonding, building contractors, and restaurants with a liquor license will be effected by a misdemeanor criminal record. In some states a conviction will be a barrier to becoming licensed, in others it may require additional requirements to qualify.

Security clearances: military and other government employees who are required to have a security clearance of some sort may find that their clearance level is reduced, or they are ineligible for a clearance all together. In some situations, this can lead to loss of employment.

Credit Ratings/Loans: Finance companies regularly perform background checks on applicants. A misdemeanor conviction will have an impact on whether someone gets approved for that new car loan or mortgage.

College enrollment: Colleges that knowingly admit students with criminal records who later commit crimes against another student can be civilly liable to the victim. For this reason, many will not accept applicants with any criminal background, including misdemeanor convictions.

Housing: Rental companies ask for a criminal history of potential tenants and may deny housing to ones with misdemeanor convictions.

Immigration/citizenship status: People who are seeking U.S. citizenship, or those in the U.S. for employment, will be screened for possible deportation, may have their VISA revoked, or may be denied citizenship if convicted of a misdemeanor.

Community activities: Many civic organizations, such as little leagues and scouting groups, will not accept parents and other volunteers who want to participate if they have a misdemeanor conviction on their record.

Firearm possession: Some misdemeanor convictions, such as domestic assault or firearm charges, will have an effect on future firearm permits and licensing. Federal forms required for firearm purchases routinely inquire about these offenses and may be a disqualification for purchase.

The list above is not an exclusive list. Surely there are other local or regional effects to which others may be subject. If you do not think that any of the above will apply to you and your life, then maybe you can comfortably deny your need for a criminal defense lawyer. For those that do consider these risks, a good criminal defense attorney may be able to reduce charges, or have them dismissed altogether.

Author:

James Garrett is the founding member of Garrett Law Group, PLC in Virginia Beach, VA. if you are in need of misdemeanor criminal defense attorney in Virginia Beach, please contact his office at (757) 422-4646.

Please visit the firm’s blog for more news on Virginia criminal laws.

Dylan’s music career was in decline by the mid 1970’s. Going electric had lost him much of his folk and acoustic fan base and his overt Gospel influences further alienated many of his fans. Hurricane was a tremendous return to pure anger and protest.

The song was inspired by a true story, based on the sorry fate of US boxer, Rubin Carter, nicknamed Hurricane. Carter was one of two men arrested for killing three people, and severely wounding a fourth  (a man was blinded in one eye) during a robbery at an American grill-diner in 1966.  Many at the time, felt that Hurricane and alleged accomplice, John Artis, were framed, and that the evidence and eyewitness testimonies against them were flawed, etc.

Hurricane-Carter maintained his innocence and his stance made a profound impression on Dylan, who met with him in prison.

Dylan exaggerates Hurricane’s status and chances of attaining the world championship in boxing. Though he had been in the ascendant, many boxing pundits did not see him competing for champion status. Even so, his conviction obviously ruined his sporting career.

No witnesses identified Carter as being at the scene of the shootings, but described two armed black men approaching the bar, and a white getaway car that seemed similar to Carter’s own car. A survivor of the attack said Carter didn’t look like one of the attackers, and a gun found in Carter’s car did not match the calibre of the murder weapon. No fingerprints were taken at the crime scene and other forensic procedures were also neglected and / or botched.

Initially, Carter and Artis were released after a few hours of questioning, only to be re-arrested months later as they had been implicated in the case by the testimony of a man called Alfred Bello, arrested near the New Jersey Diner on the night of the murders for robbery. His presentation of evidence was probably an attempt to reduce his own pending conviction. Bello identified Carter and Artis as the killers, and this evidence led to the first trial and conviction for the men. Carter’s life as a boxer was ruined on the basis of it. 

Despite much focus on the evidence inconsistencies the suspects were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, narrowly avoiding the death sentence.

Protests, and the chief prosecution witnesses, including, Bello, recanting their claims, led to calls for a retrial. Carter drew a great deal of celebrity support and his case became a modest media sensation. Dylan’s song was released and heavyweight champion boxer, Mohammed Ali also offered public support for Carter. The 1976 retrial was a bitter one, with Rollo’s evidence heavily challenged by the defence, but with several people from the 1967 defence defecting to the prosecution side to claim that Carter had talked them into offering him a false alibi for the night of the murders. The convictions were upheld to considerable public outrage. An appeal was issued for Carter’s name to be cleared and in 1985, after serving 18 years (and ten years after Dylan’s spirited song was released), Rubin Carter was finally granted his freedom. He now works for prison reform bodies and as an aid to victims of wrongful arrests and convictions.

Dylan’s song, a single of eight minutes and thirty-three seconds, identifies the witnesses, and makes Bello in particular into a rather shady character. Carter’s arrest is just a routine shake-down of a black driver by a white racist cop – as Dylan observes, black people go out knowing that the New Jersey police will target them as a matter of routine.

Dylan highlights the one-eyed survivor of the shootings pointing out that Carter was not his attacker. The police had only the assertion that the attackers were black and big men, looking like they ought to be in boxing. Dylan emphasises the police fixing deals with the white men responsible for other crimes in order to get a conviction on Carter (Dylan largely ignores fellow innocent victim, Artis).

The song captures Dylan’s genuine anger and passion superbly, and creates a chilling picture of corrupt racist cops rigging a case, and Dylan’s view is upheld in hindsight now that Hurricane Carter has finally been granted his freedom and the right to declare himself innocent.

The lyrics http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bobdylan/hurricane.html

Arthur Chappell

The Former President of Israel, Moshe Katsav now 66, is a very unhappy man. As a father, grandfather and an eminent citizen, the last thing you want to do is spend your last days behind bars! He was found guilty of commiting an array of sexual offences while in office, ranging from rape, sexual harassment to indecent acts on female staffers working in his office.

The conviction was concluded in 2010, but the actual commencement of the sentence was delayed by the many appeals he tried to lodge but all failed to save him. Now the Israeli courts want him to begin his jail term on 7th  December 2011 and depending his good behavior, this could see him in prison until 2018.

Mr. Moshe however, continues to plead innocence to the courts of public opinion, saying, the Israeli state was convicting an innocent man and literally burying him alive. But three women seeking justice against the former President’s crimes insist he is guilty and sexually assaulted them. It was on account of these accusations that he was forced to resign as president in 2007, handing the office over to Shimon Peres

 Sexual crimes happen all the time in high offices. Sometimes political detractors take advantage of these situations to malign their opponents and bring them down. We have seen how these crimes keep catching up with American politicians every election year. Only recently, one of the Republican Presidential aspirants had to resign after he was subjected to a sustained accusation by a number of women who claimed he sexually assaulted them.

Whatever happened, the idea of spending his last days in jail for 7 years remains extremely disgraceful to a man who of such high social stature.

Should juvenile records of teens be sealed? (Wikipedia image)

A juvenile record can have a significant impact on later life. If a convicted juvenile delinquent applies when an adult for a job, the prospective employer on discovering the applicant’s criminal background might well deny the application. Applications to college and for a professional driver’s license can also be affected adversely by a juvenile record.

Many people with juvenile records believe that once they reach adulthood these are automatically erased. In some cases, this may be so, but usually a petition must be filed with the juvenile court where the proceedings were conducted in order for the records to be sealed. This is also termed expunging, which means that the records will not be available to the public. Sometimes, the records are destroyed. A petitioner must either be legally defined as an adult or a certain number of years must have passed since his last conviction. Different states have their own laws concerning who is eligible to file such a petition.

When the record of a former juvenile delinquent is sealed or destroyed, this usually leaves the former juvenile offender free to legally answer in the negative when asked whether he has ever been in trouble with the law. This is because the offense is deemed to never have occurred. This is intended to protect youthful offenders from the lingering effects of having a criminal past so they can start life afresh with a clean slate.

But if the juvenile offender was convicted for a serious offense, such as murder, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, arson, and similar offenses, the offender’s records may not be sealable. These are offenses that are grave enough for the juvenile offender to be automatically tried as an adult. Often, such information cannot be withheld from the public in future if the state determines that it exposes a tendency in the subject towards such behavior thus serving as a possible indicator of future actions.

Even with sealed records, some information may still be accessible to certain parties, law enforcement for example, conducting background checks.

A former juvenile offender who desires that his criminal record be expunged should consult a competent attorney to ascertain what laws pertain in the petitioner’s particular state. In many cases, especially where the offenses committed are relatively minor, this can be accomplished successfully. But even with the more serious offenses, there have reportedly been cases where attorneys were able to have juvenile records sealed.

• Preservance of Conscience,
• Commitment to Convictions, and
• Mindset of Contentment. 

Preservance of Conscience

Conscience is the most naturally built inner core of a person reflected through his/her moral code of conduct. It is based on the fact that core of every person in its purity is ideally moral and truthful. It is only the circumstantial factors that change a person to sub-human level. With this notion in mind, it becomes the duty of an individual to preserve his/her inner core from getting deformed by external pressures and project it as his/her personality.     

Commitment to Convictions

Everyone has his/her own convictions about things he/she applies his/her mind on. With this, it becomes the pious duty of the person to remain committed to his/her convictions and behave accordingly. But persons, in general, in-spite of having convictions behave in diffrent ways under external pressures or for serving their vested interests. Since such persons have their own inner contradictions for their not being committed to their own convictions, they behave in unantcipated and confused ways. This reduces their value not only in the external world but also in their own mind.  

Mindset of Contentment

I have very little wealth and lead a simple rural life in loneliness with bare minimum needs and desires. With all what I have, I feel comfortable, healthy and contented. Conversely, my brother has retired from a government job, gets a hefty pension every month, has a lot of wealth. The day he retired from his job, he wept bitterly for his loss of Rs 35,000 a month by retiring. He now runs a hardware shop, works from 6 in the morning to 12 midnight to earn more wealth, and feels highly deprived and has a number of incurable diseases in his body.  

I have given this comparative statuses of two of us to underline source, need and effect of contentment in life. As is clear from the exemplification, contentment comes from mindset of a person. Feeling contented has many pluses and adds a great value to one’s life.  

All three attributes of one’s personality are interrelated and cultivating even one provides benefits of other two also through auto-cultivation. 

We sit in a circle each week

As my teacher mode comes to the fore.

I look at each face…black, brown or white

Noting each man God created to be.

Juan with his quiet, gentle mien;

Smiling George of weathered face;

James with jokes to cover fears;

tattooed street men;

All bear scars more hidden than seen.

I never ask what brought them here,

These deemed the worst by societal norms.

How dare I brave these bars and fears?

When the call came out to plow this field,

I grabbed for seeds to scatter.

Now my reward is more than gold

When their hands take mine in thanks,

There is soul-shine in their eyes

That wraps my spirit in a blanket of grace.

This poem seems right to introduce you to my friend, K.  His story is tied to another of my prison friends.  Let me introduce you to him and then tell you about K.

Colin was a beautiful young man.  He had a history of trouble, along with others in his family.  He had truly turned a corner though, as when he was released, he began working with troubled youth and seemed to be in a godly place.  All was well until he was found murdered in a dark alley in Allentown.  His funeral was beautiful.  One young man wore a t-shirt that he had made announcing, “Only the good die young.” 

A year or so later, another young man, a drug dealer, was shot to death in Allentown.  A week before his death the words, “R.I.P. Colin were spray painted on his door.

That is when I met K.  He came into the county prison accused of murdering the drug dealer.  I was immediately impressed with K.  He is a tall, good-looking young black man with a smile that lights the whole room when he enters.  He has a gentleness and kindness about him that seemed to totally belie the reason for his incarceration.  I got to know him pretty well during the near year that he spent before his trial, as he never missed our weekly sessions.  When he was found guilty, all of us were truly surprised.  K.  asked me to testify at his hearing for sentencing.  He was faced with life in prison or death.   Yet K. remained undisturbed.  He told me that if he had to spend the rest of his life in prison, he would spend it for God. 

I did go to the hearing and I did testify.  Some of the things that were testified to were brought out again in the hearing.  Some of them really shocked me that he had been found guilty.  One of the eye witnesses had testified that the shooter was a short man, no more than 5′9″.  K. is very tall.  At least 6′3 or 4.”  Another difference was in the type of gun used…conflicting information.  He was given a life sentence instead of the death sentence.

Before K. was sent up-state, I was allowed to counsel with him on a one-to-one basis as he was put into solitary confinement after the verdict.  K. would be ushered into the visitor’s room in chains, but as soon as we saw each other, that terrific smile would light up the room.  He remained much more positive than I could ever be in a similar situation…or even when life gets to me in the ordinary world.

K. and his lawyer appealed the verdict with the many quirks of the trial.  One of them K. discovered himself in the law library.  There is a law in Pennsylvania that if a lawyer asks for the jury to be tallied, it needs to happen.  It didn’t.  The judge wouldn’t allow it.  There were quite a few anomalies that the appeal was based upon.  It has gone before the superior court and is now waiting for a decision, one that seems to be taking forever to hear.

A few months ago K.s mother went to a prayer conference.  One of the participants who did not know either her or her sons situation came up to her and told her God said, “Three years is enough.”  It gave both the mother and K. a lot of hope.

Now, I would like to share his last letter to me.

Hello, Christine,

I just want to start by saying how good it was to hear from you knowing that you are still pushing forward in bringing some kind of peace to the jails.  I mean that’s how I felt every time I came to a service.  No matter what was going on that day when I came into that room I was cool.  Getting your letter was also weird,  But in a good way.  Because right before I received your letter I was going to write you.  There were just some things that I was thinking about.  In regards to God’s timing, prophecy, and working towards fulfilling that prophecy.  There was something prophesied to my mother about me.  And the time mentioned in this prophecy is getting close.  And I was struggling with the fact of, could I possibly be messing up the prophecy by not having my walk with God where it needs to be?  So, looking at what I was “not” doing in my walk got me a little scared.  I talked to a guy who I attend church with.  He reminded me of something my mother said.  “Blessings can be delayed, but never denied.”  Now that I understand that it cannot be taken from me, I have to work on it not being delayed by things that I don’t do or choose to do.

The young man you talked about really bothered me a little.  He’s filled with a lot of anger & despair.  Like you said in your letter, you can understand where it comes from.  But the way he is going about expressing his disapproval is totally wrong.  Fighting fire with fire only leads to an explosion.  He has to learn to articulate his views so that they can be heard in the right way by others.  People tend not to listen when you yell or when your words are spoken in anger.  He also needs to see that the choices he’s making in life, coming to jail is only going to hinder him getting into politics and moving forward to make positive changes in his life or community.  I know his response to that will be, “The reason I’m in jail is because of lack of opportunities.”   But by committing crimes you decrease your opportunities.  I wish that I was there in the county to talk to this kid.  I have a lot that I think I could say to him that would help.  But bottom line, he has to learn to let go of all that anger & allow God to work on his heart.

As far as your volunteer situation goes, I pray that God keeps you guys strong and to be able to stay consistent with the work.  Your situation makes me think of Matt: 9: 37.  You know, sometimes I dream of what I would do when I leave here.  Sometimes I dream about going back to a church my family attended when I was a kid and becoming the pastor.  And as bad as I want to leave prison and go back to New Jersey, but I have dreams about either coming back to the state prisons or Le high to minister.  I mean I would definitely have a story to tell that these guys would be able to relate to & possibly draw encouragement from.

Glad to hear that Don didn’t get lost.  Is he doing any better?  And how are you coping with things?  OK Christine, I’m going to end it off here.

Your friend,

K.

Though how one rationalizes that they’re in same sex relationship bounded with a strong tied  of love still the whole thing got a bad shadow , the whole picture always tells the ugly side. No matter how broad one is , seeing same sex in relationship really implies something , that sometimes we expectators  just shut up our mouth but mind is working.

This is not to  judge people in same sex because we don’t really have the right to do so. We are not in their shoe to know what’s going on their relationship and how it is to be there , mine is just an opinion ,no intention to degrade or humiliate people.

Image via Wikipedia

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, is this some form of mind control?” Of course not, understanding psychological triggers or mind motivators is not for manipulation (of course, you can use it for that purpose, if you’re a bad bad man). Think about it, the next time you want someone to willingly give you their lollipop candy or piece of gum, you’ll be able to do it. Amazing. This is pretty useful.

So here are the seven most powerful motivators of the human mind:

1. Sex Appeal. That’s the reason why you find sex in advertising. Sex in movies. Sex in literature. You got it right. Writers, photgraphers, advertisers and directors know that the most powerful motivator on earth is the need for “some”. And the best thing is, you can appeal to this human motivation without dressing like a prostitute. In fact, you can ethically use this even in professional or corporate situations. Studies show that the most persuasive individuals in various fields are those who are the most sexually appealing…either through looks, smell, personality, or choice of words.

2. Scarcity. People are attracted and persuaded towards things that are of a limited supply. So the next time you want someone to give you a free burger, just tell them “You better give me that burger for free because very few people have the privilege to do that. Most people out there sell me burgers”. Try it, and it might work. Ok, maybe not. But I’m sure you get the point.

3. Safety and Security. Would you rather go out in an Afghan battlefield with hundreds of Ak47s pointed at you and ready to shoot? Of course not. So that’s the principle behind this mind motivator. if you could show people a way or solution that will give them safety and security, they’ll gladly surrender to your way of thinking. I know I would.

4. Tell them the “reason why” you’re doing something. Human beings are generally nosy and interrogative. If you do a particular thing, the first thing that they think about is, “why is he doing this”? Asking for the reason why is an automatic response of the mind. So if you want to persuade people, you better give them a good reason why you’re doing something. For example, if you are asking a friend to loan you money, just say “I’m asking you to lend me money because I’m broke”. Ok, I know that’s kinda desperate but at least it’s better than saying, “Give me money now. I’ll pay you later”.

5. Fear of Pain. Why do you think the Hollywood big shot in “The Godfather” signed the contract for Johnny Fontaine? It’s because the Don gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. If he didn’t do it, he’ll experience torture and possibly death. Fear of pain is a strong motivator. You don’t need to terrorize people. Just tell them the bad things that could happen if they don’t do the thing you are recommending. For example, you can say, “Dude, if you don’t man up now, you’ll lose this girl”.

6. Consistency and Commitment. If you get someone to do just a small part of a task or activity, you have a better chance of persuading him or her to do an entire thing. This is called commitment and consistency. This is the reason why good and well behaved teenagers are persuaded to drink alcohol and smoke pot by their friends. First they are persuaded to try smoking “just one stick”, or “just take one glass of this”. By the end of the night, they are persuaded to drink an entire bucket of alcohol, or more than that.

7. Competition. This is a strong motivator, almost ranking equally with our topnotcher, sex appeal. The reason for this is that people are naturally competitive. It’s part of our natural instinct to want to get ahead of anyone else. If there’s a sale going on, we want to be able to buy first than anyone else. If there’s a contest, lots of people will join even if they know they don;t have what it takes to win (just see American Idol). Guys want to date the chick who is the most popular around campus, and the same thing goes on for girls when it comes to choosing a boyfriend. To use this mind motivator in any situation, you can say, “You better do this or that, or someone else will”.

Here’s a sample paragraph that shows all the mind motivators at work:

“You might be wondering why I know all this. It’s because I’m cool, sexually attractive and I’m the best person you can possibly meet online. There are only very few people like me (I’m scarce). So if you want to be safe, I’ll take you into my loving arms (where you’ll be secure). If you want to avoid heartbreak and pain when it comes to reading online articles, just stick with reading all the things I publish. And you don’t have to read all my blog posts and articles, just read at least one! Hurry before somebody else beats you to it.”

In that previous paragraph, I used all seven mind motivators. Not sure if it worked, though. I’m sure it didn’t. But at least you get an idea of how to use these seven tips. Good luck.