Tampa Bay, Florida could soon be the next community to have "no refusal" DUI checkpoints if Mothers Against Drunk Driving and its supporters are able to convince local leaders. A "no refusal" DUI checkpoint is the same as a normal checkpoint, except that a judge will be present on site in case any drivers refuse a breathalyzer test. After refusal, the judge will issue a warrant that allows the police to perform a blood test on-site. These checkpoints are already being implemented in several Florida counties and Hillsborough County MADD member Linda Unfried is working hard to bring it to the Tampa Bay area.

Local DUI lawyer Kevin Hayslett believes the mandatory blood test is a violation of constitutional rights and suggests that imposing them on people at the check point is disconcerting. Hayslett further suggests that these blood tests are particularly severe, explaining that it is the only misdemeanor offense "where the government can forcefully put a needle in your arm." However, Unfried contends that these checkpoints will be heavily advertised and that the primary goal is to deter drunk driving, not charge and convict more people of DUI's.

Supporters hope to see these checkpoints implemented as soon as October, though they still have quite a way to go before they are approved. If implemented, these "no refusal" checkpoints could set a precedent for other cities and states.

Watch the local coverage here

This post is published by Price Benowitz LLP. The law firm has offices in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Maryland DUI Lawyers and Virginia DUI Attorneys websites.

On December 22nd, a former Anne Arundel County police lieutenant was sentenced to prison after he was charged with exchanging sexually explicit photos and text messages with a sixteen-year-old girl. Forty-seven-year-old James Cifala of Edgewater was convicted on a single count of receiving child pornography.

The contact between Cifala and the then sixteen-year-old was allowable under state law, but prosecutable under federal law. Cifala met the girl in 2007 when she was fourteen-years-old, but told her that they would have to wait until she turned sixteen before having physical sexual relations. During the ensuing two years, Cifala and the victim used pre-paid cell phones and social networking sites to exchange messages, including over 1,300 messages exchanged between mid-August and early September of 2009. According to a plea arrangement in the case, Cifala and the victim had sex "several times" in a vacant house and in Cifala's truck.

At a hearing in US District Court, Cifala's Maryland criminal lawyer spoke of his client's decades of service to the community, calling the decision to engage in a sexual relationship with the teen "disastrously stupid."

"There is another side to him... Look at the good he has done for so many people... that is the side that defines him, not this stupid three-month decision."

While US District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake agreed that the period of time in which the two exchanged photos during the course of their relationship was brief, Cifala's actions, she said, were worthy of a strong sentence:

"I can't overlook that there was a relationship and contact before the victim was sixteen. It was a serious offense and a serious sanction is warranted."

Cifala was sentenced to five years in federal prison, with an additional fifteen years of supervised probation. He will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release.

This blog post is published by Price Benowitz LLP. Our attorneys in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia represent clients in DUI, criminal, personal injury, and immigration cases. For more information, please visit our Virginia Criminal Attorney and Washington DC Criminal Defense Lawyer websites.

One student was hospitalized and four more arrested after a "five-student brawl" erupted at Watkins Mill High School in Montgomery County. The two sixteen-year-olds and two seventeen-year-olds arrested by Montgomery County Police in connection with the incident were not identified because they are minors. At this time, it is not known whether the students who have been charged have been assigned or have retained Maryland criminal lawyers to face the second-degree assault counts with which all four have been charged.

Watkins Mill High School principal Scott Murphy said the fight was instigated by a "dirty look," around 9:30 a.m. on December 1st. In a letter to parents, Murphy called the incident an "aberration of behaviors normally exhibited" by students of Watkins Mill High School, a point he underscored to press when speaking about the fight:

"Sometimes I get concerned when one isolated incident crowds the perception or reality of what is really going on here," Murphy said. "The vast majority of our kids know to do the right thing- to talk to a trusted adult, or a parent or a school counselor."

No weapons were drawn during the skirmish, and a surveillance camera reportedly recorded the incident. The fifth student involved in the altercation, an eighteen-year-old, was not immediately arrested, but police say charges are pending and that they plan to release his name.

Two of the five students involved in the altercation earlier this month were involved in a similar incident back in October, and Montgomery County Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said that police are investigating whether the incident was gang-related. It was also reported that police were called to Watkins Mill High School 27 times during the 2009-2010 school year, for "serious incidents" including assaults, drugs or weapons on campus.

Price Benowitz LLP published this article. Our attorneys have offices in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. For more information about the firm, please visit the Virginia Criminal Attorney and Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer websites.

A Silver Spring man pled guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court late last month to a third-degree sexual offense charge for an incident involving an eleven-year-old girl from Long Branch last winter. Twenty-one-year-old Marcos Torres-Enriquez will be sentenced to five years in prison as the "least involved" of three men accused of crimes of a sexual nature against the child.

Torres-Enriquez's Maryland criminal attorney said the charges were punishable by up to ten years in prison, and that DNA evidence was only found against the other two men. He explained:

"[Law enforcement officials] did recover DNA with regards to the other two co-defendants, both in regards to DNA found on their person and in used condoms found at the scene, but there was no DNA found for Torres-Enriquez... His was the weakest case by far."

One of the other men charged in the case, thirty-one-year-old Melquicideck H. Sorto, pled guilty to rape back on September 13th of this year. Sorto was sentenced November 10th to ten years in prison, but a motion was filed on his behalf requesting Circuit Court Judge Eric M. Johnson reconsider the sentence.

A third man, thirty-nine-year-old Rogelio Mondragon, is currently being evaluated for mental fitness to stand trial. Court documents in the case indicate that Sorto and Mondragon encountered the victim at a gas station. The child first evaded the men, but later was found again by the pair at a park. She followed the men back to their apartment, where documents indicate Sorto and Mondragon raped her. Torres-Enriquez later returned home, encountering the victim and fondled but did not rape her.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has indicated that Torres-Enriquez is likely to be deported after his sentence is served, and that detainers have been placed on all three men. He is set to be sentenced in February of 2011 in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

This article is presented by Price Benowitz LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Virginia Criminal Lawyers and Washington DC Criminal Lawyer websites.

Prince George's County Councilwoman Marilynn Bland has been charged with assault after an employee of Prince George's County reported that she verbally attacked and shoved him. W. Randy Short said the incident occurred on November 17th, but he held off on pressing charges in hopes Bland would apologize for her alleged actions.

The charges were filed in District Court November 28th by Short, who serves as the executive director for the council's Youth Commission. In court papers, Short said the alleged assault occurred at the County Administration Building in Upper Marlboro, after he began a commission meeting to install new members.

Short says Bland became irate when he covened the 6:30 p.m. meeting prior to her arrival. He recounts:

"She grabbed me by my collar, screaming, yelling, cursing," Short said. "She was telling me, 'You're crazy'; 'How dare you start a meeting without me?'; 'Who do you think you are?'"

Short says Bland verbally assaulted him again later the same evening. Of the alleged assault, he added:

"You tell me if that's the kind of way that folks should treat people."

Bland, of Clinton, is was elected as Prince George's County Circuit Court Clerk, and is set to take office December 6th. Her chief of staff, David Billings, said Bland's staff had not been aware of the incident prior to the filing of criminal charges:

"We don't understand what is going on... I'm [Short's] immediate supervisor, and he has not come to us with anything."

Bland has been charged with second-degree assault, a charge that is punishable by up to a $2.500 fine and a maximum of ten years in prison. It was not known whether Bland has yet retained a Maryland criminal lawyer to fight the charge, and the incident is unrelated to an ongoing federal investigation into the county government.

This article is presented by Price Benowitz LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Maryland DUI Lawyer and Virginia Criminal Attorney websites.