Orange County Computer Lawyer Blog

Huntington Beach Police Department Considers Facebook Name and Shame DUI Tactics

Following in the footsteps of several police departments around the country that have experimented with the use of social media to name and shame persons charged with DUI, the Huntington Beach Police Department is also considering posting these names on its Facebook page. Attorneys at the Police Department are currently looking at the legalities of posting names of persons suspected of DUI on the Facebook page. Until recently, the Police Department was posting these names in the Huntington Beach Independent newspaper. That newspaper recently stopped publishing those names.

Since the Huntington Beach Independent stopped publishing names, the Department says it’s been on the lookout for a new way to publicize these arrests. There’s no mention of what would happen to persons who are charged with DUI, and have charges dropped. These people would still have their names mentioned on the Facebook page, with all the humiliation and shame to go with it.

The city wants to use tactics that are not entirely unfamiliar to Los Angeles DUI lawyers. Elsewhere in the country, aggressive prosecutors and police departments have been posting names of persons charged with DUI on Facebook, Twitter and on websites. Huntington Beach Police Department officials insist that there is a need for such extreme measures in the city. They point to a growing number of DUI accidents in Huntington Beach. According to officials, the city has one of the highest DUI accident rates for its size in the state.  31% of all traffic accident fatalities in Huntington Beach can be traced to drunk driving.  Police here have also become tougher on drinking establishments.  In recent months, they have banned alcohol-related games like beer pong, at several establishments.

Posted in Criminal Defense, Misc | No Comments »

Military Service Does Not Protect Immigrant Vets from Deportation

Immigrant veterans can often be shocked to find that their years of military service count for nothing when they are convicted of crimes included in the deportation list.  Recent laws have expanded the list of crimes that can make an immigrant eligible for deportation.  Unfortunately, because of lack of support when they return home from military service, many immigrants may find themselves committing offenses and minor crimes that can make them eligible for deportation.  Their military service unfortunately, may not prevent deportation.

That situation could soon change.  More and more immigration attorneys around the country are placing pressure on immigration authorities to amend laws to make it easier for immigrants who have served in the armed forces to be eligible for permanent residency.  Ironically, the laws seem to differentiate between an immigrant who survives his service, and one who dies on duty.  A serviceman who dies on duty is automatically made an American citizen and buried with full military honors.  However, there are no such benefits for veterans who survive their military service.

Authorities don’t track the number of immigrant vets who have been deported from the US, but estimates place the figure as being in the thousands.  Thousands more are believed to be in line for deportation, and are in detention centers.

The issue of immigrants serving in the military and the kind of future that awaits them after they leave has remained under the radar, almost lost in all the hysteria over anchor babies.  These men and women may have been born outside the United States, but did not hesitate to step up when asked to defend this country in hostile foreign lands.  At the very least, they deserve permanent residency status and all the benefits that come with it.

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Hospitals Now Look to Formula One Pit Crews to Enhance Safety

Hospitals around the world are now experimenting with the split-second precision of Formula One pit crews to enhance patient safety and streamline the handoff of patients for surgery to recovery.

Anyone, including Arizona hospital malpractice lawyers, who has watched a Formula One race has wondered at the manner in which pit crew members manage to get a car fueled and have the tires changed within a few seconds, with no negative impact on driver safety.  Hospitals are learning the ropes of this split-second position and timing.  Hospitals are mainly focusing on the use of briefings and checklists in order to prevent errors, and the use of technology to transfer important information and to analyze data later.

Hospitals in at least a dozen countries are putting these learning processes into effect.  A Formula One racetrack runs on a highly precise system of checklists and procedures, in which every person involved has a specific task to perform, and performs it well and on time.  No matter how advanced the hospital, there is no such comparable system in place in the American healthcare industry.

That’s why there is this huge interest in learning how to replicate what Formula One pit crews do, and transfer it into a hospital setting.  In the US, the University of California San Francisco Medical Center’s pediatric intensive care unit already has techniques that makes use of Formula One pit crew systems to improve handoff of a patient.  A system like this is already in place in the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, and it has been credited with reducing omission of critical information rates and the incidence of technical errors by as much as 67%.

Besides technical accuracy and precision, there are other important lessons that hospitals can take away from Formula One pit crews.  For example, there is the way that the driver is constantly aware of the situation around him.  He knows what each member of the pit crew is supposed to do, and when they are done.  The driver never pulls away before he is completely sure that everyone has finished their task.  Getting everyone in an operating room or an intensive care unit to be on the same page in this exact same manner is what hospitals are aiming at.

Posted in Medical Malpractice | No Comments »

Spinal Injury from Pole Dancing Illustrates Risks of Following Fads

Injuries caused from pole dancing are not unheard of, and are the reason why experts suggest training under a supervised pole dancing instructor.  The safety aspects of this activity are once again in the spotlight after a tragic incident in the UK that left a young woman with a spinal cord injury after a freak accident while pole dancing.

The woman, Debbie Plowman suffered a fall as she was pole dancing at her class.  She was dangling by her leg just a foot above the ground, when she fell.  She was rushed to the hospital.  She broke her neck and sustained serious damage to the spinal cord.  Doctors say it could be three years before they can make any prognosis about her condition.  She has been left paralyzed.  The only way she can communicate with her loved ones and the world is through eye movements, which are tracked by a computer that interprets them.

Plowman is the mother of two children who are two years old and three years old.  She had been taking pole dancing exercise lessons for about two years before the accident.

This incident occurred in the UK, but in the US, pole dancing is an even bigger craze than it is across the pond.  There have been celebrities that have praised its virtues as a form of exercise, and a means of building better body image and self-esteem.  Thousands of classes have sprung up across the country, many of them being conducted by people ill-equipped to do so.

Pole dancing isn’t all about acting sultry.  There’s plenty of body technique involved, and there are a number of precautions that must be followed before you begin exercises.  It’s important to keep your hands dry by using chalk powder.  Besides, not just any pole will do.  For instance, California spine injury lawyers don’t recommend using portable poles that you can use at home.  These polls can be unstable, and can cause injuries.  Don’t even think about joining a pole dancing class that does not have qualified and certified instructors with years of pole dancing experience and an appreciation for safety.

Posted in Personal Injury | No Comments »

Ferrari Recalling 458 Italia Cars Worldwide Because of Fire Risk

Eric Clapton is just one of more than 1,200 Ferrari Italia 458 owners around the world who are likely to get a phone call from the Italian carmaker over the next couple of weeks, announcing a recall.  Ferrari has announced that it will be recalling its 458 Italia supercars from around the world because of a fire risk.

Ferrari has received reports of fires destroying cars from around the world, including the US, Switzerland, China and France.  According to the company, an investigation has revealed that adhesive used in the manufacture of the supercars, is prone to overheating.  In extreme cases, this overheating can be severe enough to cause a fire.  There have been no reports of any accidents or injuries as a result of the fires.  Ferrari owners have reported fires that, in some cases, have completely destroyed their cars.

Ferrari will modify more than 1,200 of these supercars, and the adhesive used in the wheel assemblies will be changed.  Owners who had their cars destroyed by the fire will receive a new model in its place.  Ferrari has taken no chances with brand value.  It has dispatched an engineer to every location in the world where fires have occurred to determine the cause of the fire.

There have been reports of at least five fires involving the super luxury Ferrari 458.  Engineers will replace the glue with metal fasteners.  All in all, the repairs should be just a half a day’s job.

Less privileged buyers may snicker at a $250,000 car being burned to cinders.  However, California product liability lawyers know that auto fire hazards are no laughing matter.  The Ferrari recall comes just a few days after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation into gas tank fire hazards in the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV’s.

Posted in Product Liability | No Comments »

Police Department Posts DUI Arrest Names and Mug Shots on Facebook

It isn’t unheard of for law enforcement agencies to use Twitter and Facebook to broadcast their activities, and in California, the Huntington Beach PD is considering naming DUI suspects on its website.  However, a New Jersey police department went one step further by using its Facebook page to post the names and mug shots of people arrested for DUI.  Fortunately, the department has now taken down this page, while it considers the legalities involved.

The Evesham Township Police Department Facebook page has been around for about six months now, but the department only recently began posting DUI arrest information.  According to the folks at the PD, this was done to put a face and a name to these arrests, and provide the public important information.  It wasn’t just Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers who found this completely inappropriate and highly objectionable.  Several legal experts have also spoken about such postings being bad policy, and not entirely appropriate for a Police Department.

The ETPD has now taken down the page, while it weighs in on whether this is legal at all.  It seems to DUI lawyers in Los Angeles that the authorities here should have considered the legalities of this before posting the mug shots online.

There are definitely privacy concerns here.  Facebook allows pictures to be tagged by your friends, and the potential for humiliation, embarrassment and long-term damage from having people tagging these photographs, is immense.  There is also one tiny point that the ETPD seems to have forgotten.  Persons whose photographs are posted on the Facebook page, have only been arrested for DUI, and have not been convicted.

Unfortunately, social media has made it possible for law enforcement agencies to rush to judgment and announce punishments, even before a person has been convicted for an offense.  Just a few months back, a prosecutor in Texas who began a practice of posting the names of persons arrested for DUI on his Twitter feed.  These are dangerous trends, and while criminal defense attorneys in Los Angeles will have no problem with law enforcement agencies using social media sites to enhance their activities, they must object when these activities interfere with citizens’ rights to due process.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Did Lou Gehrig have a Brain Injury – Not Lou Gehrig’s Disease?

A new study indicates that the death of athletes diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease may actually have been triggered by concussions and brain injuries.  What Los Angeles brain injury lawyers will find even more surprising, is that researchers believe even Gehrig himself might not have had the disease famously named after him.

The research was conducted by doctors at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Massachusetts and the Boston University School of Medicine.  According to them, markings on the spinal cords of two baseball players and one boxer diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, indicate that they did not have the disease at all.  They, in fact, had a different disease triggered by mild brain injuries like concussions that ate away at the central nervous system in a manner similar to that experienced by persons suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease.  It’s the reason why the researchers believe it is likely that Lou Gehrig did not suffer from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at all.

Gehrig suffered consistent concussions over the years, and insisted on playing even through these, a factor that could have contributed to impact on the central nervous system, because of brain trauma.  According to the doctors, these findings establish a connection between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the kind of injuries that result from rough contact sports.  Proving this relationship further is going to be tough.  Persons who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis don’t typically have an autopsy performed on them, which makes it hard to probe this link.

According to the ALS Association, approximately 30,000 people in the country currently suffer from ALS, a disease that results in the quick and consistent atrophy of all voluntary muscle control.  Besides Gehrig who was the disease’s most famous face, there are other famous patients, like Stephen Hawking whose brain remains active years after his muscles have wasted.

The study is one more reason why the NFL and high schools and colleges across the country must take concussions very seriously.

Posted in Personal Injury | No Comments »

Alabama Man Charged with Lawnmower DUI

Here’s something that Alabama DUI criminal defense lawyers don’t come across every day.  Alabama state troopers this weekend arrested a man in Slocomb for riding a lawnmower under the influence.

41-year-old James Calhoun was riding his Yard Man lawnmower, and it stopped on State Highway 52.  A state trooper on the highway noticed that other motorists seem to be swerving to avoid something ahead.  The trooper drove closer to get a better look, and found Calhoun driving a lawnmower on the highway.

The trooper suspected that Calhoun was intoxicated, and he was taken into custody.  A blood-alcohol test showed a account of .17, more than twice the .08 allowed under Alabama law.  He has been charged with driving under the influence and driving with a revoked license as well as an open container violation.

Alabama troopers are not exactly unfamiliar with persons driving unusual vehicles under the influence.  They have in the past found persons driving golf carts while drunk, besides the usual cars, trucks and motorcycles.  This one is bound to generate a few chuckles at the Slocomb Police Department for a few months come.

Across the country, law enforcement officers have come across even stranger models of intoxicated transportation.  Perhaps the weirdest DUI offender of them all was pulled over in Minnesota in 2008 after he was found riding his motorized La-Z-Boy recliner.  62-year-old Dennis Anderson drank about nine beers at the bar and left the bar on his motorized recliner.  His blood alcohol level was .29 when he crashed his recliner into a parked vehicle.

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

Facebook and Twitter Could Ruin Your California Employee Discrimination Claim

More and more employees are finding out that pouring their heart out on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or any other social networking medium, could prove very costly when they file sexual harassment, gender discrimination or any other employment-related lawsuits.

Corporate employment and labor lawyers are getting extremely Net savvy.  They know there is a wealth of information to be found on Facebook and Twitter, and to some extent, MySpace.  When these lawyers receive an employee complaint about sexual harassment, wrongful termination, gender discrimination or any other employment complaint, one of the first things that these lawyers will do is look up the employee’s Facebook page.  Not every post on your Facebook wall will provide a juicy nugget that the company’s attorney can then use against you.  However, the chances are high that if you’ve been facing a tough time at work, you are likely to vent online on Facebook or tweet a caustic message about your employer to all your followers.

California employment lawyers would warn employees who are preparing to file a claim against their employer, to tread cautiously.   Corporate and labor lawyers have very successfully used Facebook wall posts and Twitter status updates against employees.  Any posts that you make against your employer, talking of revenge of retaliation, or any other outpourings of an emotional mind, will be lapped up by the company’s attorneys.  These messages will be printed and presented when it’s time to hear your claim.  You can expect your employer’s attorneys to try to make friends with your friends, in order to gain access to any messages or posts by you.

Just about anything you post online, including Facebook wall posts, Twitter status updates, messages, forum posts, replies, retweets of Twitter tweets, and images that you post could turn up in an employment lawsuit.  It’s not just your presence on social networking sites that will come under the microscope.  If you blog, or have ever commented on someone else’s blog, you can expect these to also show on the opposing attorney’s computer screen.  Expect any tidbits of information, including any groups and forums that you have joined, videos that you upload, and even supposedly private direct messages that you’ve shared with other Facebook users, to become fair game in a lawsuit.  The other attorneys, with some effort, can gain access to all of these, spelling possible trouble for your claim.

Posted in Electronic Discovery, Employment Law, New Technology | No Comments »

Safety Device Could Make Table Saws Safer

A device that could allow the blade of a table saw to detect a human finger in its path could help prevent possibly hundreds of table saw-accident-related amputations every year.  However, the power tool industry hasn’t been overly enthusiastic about including this device in their tools.

The device has been developed by an entrepreneur Steve Gass, and is known as SawStop.  The device works through minute electrical currents on the blade and a computer-chip in the saw.  These electrical impulses can sense that there’s a human hand in its path.  Once a human hand detected, a safety brake is fired, and the blade comes to a stop in less than 3/1000th of a second.  The maximum damage that a person might experience with a saw equipped with SawStop is a scratch or a nick.  Without the safety device, the blade can easily slice through the person’s finger or hand, and probably through other fingers before the person even has time to realize what is happening.

The question is not about whether SawStop can prevent hundreds of table saw-related accidents every year.  The question is whether power tool manufacturers are willing to include this device, in order to protect their consumers.  Unfortunately, the industry has not been very willing to adapt this technology.  Gass has presented the device to most of the major tool manufacturers, and from most of them, the response been the same-they are not interested, because they’re not too sure how it will sell.

Table saw-related accidents injure thousands of people, including wood workers, carpenters and do-it-yourselfer’s every year.  There is a device out there that can eliminate hundreds of such accidents, but manufacturers won’t take steps to include these because of cost factors.  It is estimated that adding the feature to one table saw will increase the cost of the saw by up to $100.  To California product liability lawyers, it’s a small price to pay when you consider that thousands of people suffer varying degrees of amputations every year from these accidents.

Posted in New Technology | No Comments »