Motion to expand jurors’ background checks met with ACLU furor

If the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is granted its request for date of birth information on prospective jurors, and a criminal background check reveals an open warrant on one such juror, will an arrest follow? Will a deal be worked out?

“We’d be running a fugitive safe surrender program,” Superior Court Assignment Judge Patricia Costello said, answering her own question at Friday’s hearing on the motion in Newark.

What about the background check itself? Would it include searching for a prospective juror’s juvenile record or any criminal complaint that never led to arrest?

And at what point would the state conclude its background check?

Those were just a few of the many questions left unanswered during the hour-long hearing in which two assistant prosecutors argued in favor of the motion, with attorneys for the state public defender’s office, a defense lawyers association and the New Jersey chapter of the ACLU expressing their strong opposition.

Costello will issue a written ruling by Feb. 3.

Assistant prosecutors Howard Zuckerman and Sara Friedman told the judge they would agree to the court retaining juror birth date information only if the court ran the check itself then provided any resulting arrest and conviction records.

As it now stands in New Jersey, courts have birth date information on prospective jurors but are only obligated to provide the prosecution and defense with names, occupations and towns of residence.

In its brief requesting the expanded information, the prosecutor’s office cited three instances where jurors were found to have lied about being charged with a crime or having relatives who were charged with a crime.

The background checks were needed, Friedman argued, to avoid the potential of jury’s guilty verdict later being overturned because one of the deliberating jurors was found to have a criminal conviction.

Opposing the motion, Deputy Public Defender for Essex Michael Marucci said three incidents in five years does not constitute an overwhelming need for such change.

Marucci added he was concerned that the motion “was more of an idea than a specific plan.” He argued, too, that if Costello grants the motion, the defense should be entitled to the same information along with any subsequent background check findings.

Zuckerman said should his office be granted date of birth information, it would supply the defense with all relevant data from the background check but would not provide the actual birth dates. “We have concerns for the safety of jurors,” Zuckerman said. “We don’t want that information out there.”

Leslie Stolbof Sinemus, who is president of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey, called the motion an invasion of privacy. “Is it appropriate that jurors doing their civic duty are investigated like witnesses and defendants?” she asked in court during the hearing.

Arguing on behalf of jurors, ACLU attorney Alexander Shalom said the prosecutor’s office was “trying to bootstrap a problem of qualification with information they want to have.” Because prosecutors would be unwilling to provide the defense with the same information it is seeking from the court, Shalom told the judge, “we can sense there is a value in the raw data.”

For more New Jersey background check information, please visit http://www.a2zinvestigatigations.com

source:http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/motion_to_expand_jurors_backgr.html

Security Officials Ramp Up Surveillance For Super Bowl

“If somebody is thinking about committing a crime, they do see that we have eyes up there and we can see if they do anything and respond to it,” Homeland Security Chief Gary Koons said. “A lot of the cameras were purchased through Urban Area Security Intervention grants through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Over the last nine years, Indianapolis has used the grants to purchase cameras, bomb suits and other technologies to keep people safe.”The surveillance network will link in with cameras already installed around the Indiana War Memorial by a state agency that keeps watch on more than 24 acres of property and green space throughout downtown, RTV6′s Jack Rinehart reported.Brigadier Gen. Stewart Goodwin, of the Indiana War Memorial, said keeping tabs on downtown security will be just a click away for some officials.”If you had the right (Internet) address, you could set up a laptop anywhere and you could watch the camera from there,” Goodwin said.Indianapolis police, Homeland Security and FBI officials said they will monitor the camera network around the clock from two separate locations.”If something happens, they can pinpoint where you were, what happened, and that to me gives me more safety,” Goodwin said. “If you have security cameras and more of a police presence, it’s always good for the city. I always feel safe downtown.”Homeland Security officials said they will deploy cameras on moving vehicles, on helicopters and on pods that can be moved to different locations as needed so that fans can focus on having fun.”It’s probably going to be hard not to be on some type of camera while you’re downtown in the vicinity of the Super Bowl,” Goodwin said.

for more security and private investigator information, please visit

http://www.a2zinvestigations.com

source:http://www.theindychannel.com/news/30244695/detail.html

AshleyMadison.com Says Hispanics Are 'Fastest Growing Community When It Comes To Infidelity'

According to AshleyMadison.com, the Hispanic community is "the fastest growing community when it comes to infidelity."

In a press release sent by the self-described "largest dating site for married people", the company states that since launching the Spanish-language version of their website in 2009, 1.1 million Latinos have signed up, accounting for 31 percent of their total new membership.

The company further suggests that according to their data, "Hispanic members have affairs at the youngest age: Average age of 27 for women and 34 for men (compared to 33 for women and 40 for men in the general U.S. population)."

Considering the stereotype of Latinos as family-oriented and with conservative social values, this may come as a bit of a surprise.

In a 2010 review of General Social Survey data, one intrepid blogger took a look at the "relationship between ancestry and philandering in the U.S." The writer's analysis indicates that 19.6 percent of married Mexican men and 12.4 percent of married Mexican women have cheated on their spouses, whereas the rates for Americans (i.e. those who claim this as their only ethnicity) were 28.2 percent for married men and 15.5 percent for married women, indexing over 40 percent and 25 percent, respectively, versus the Mexican respondents.

Persons of the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) rated low for women, 10.9 percent, but quite high for men, at 38.5 percent.

While Hispanics are different from Mexicans or Iberians, and while perhaps presenting a bit of a statistical case for the machista reputation of Latino men, the findings possibly reinforce the stereotype that Hispanics are more socially conservative that the U.S. mainstream when it comes to this issue.

A separate finding reported by AshleyMadison.com in their press release corroborates this, somewhat, indicating that Hispanics who are cheating on their spouses "are choosing to have fewer partners: U.S. members average three affair partners per year; Hispanic members average only one affair partner per year."

However, in 2009, the National Institutes of Health published a report which showed that Latino youths are less apt to protect against sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy due to their focus "on the emotional and social repercussions of potentially revealing infidelity by advocating condom use than the physical repercussions of unsafe sex."

The findings suggest that this group, Latino youths, are promiscuous and prone to concealing their infidelity, behavior which could persist and lead to the kinds of findings noted by AshleyMadison.com.

So, the jury is still out. The people at AshleyMadison.com may be onto something, maybe they know what’s really going on behind the curtains of Latino marriages. To be sure, they recently announced they are accelerating the launch of their website for Mexico, hoping to launch by end of November.

for more information about infidelity of cheating spouse, please visit http://www.a2zinvestigations.com

source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/hispanic-infidelity_n_1086990.html

Big brother using more surveillance devices

Law enforcement agencies are using more surveillance devices as a part of their investigations, but these may not necessarily be increasing the number of arrests, according to the Attorney-General's Surveillance Devices Act 2004 annual report.

The report (PDF) stated that the Australian Federal Police had seen an increase of about 30 per cent in the number of surveillance device warrants, obtaining 406 warrants in the reporting period, up from 311 in the previous year. It is the main government agency that requests surveillance warrants aside from the Australian Crime Commission, which saw a 10 per cent decrease in warrants obtained from last year, down to 179 warrants from 199.

Overall, there was a 12.6 per cent increase in warrants issued over the previous year. These statistics, while they include NSW and Victorian Police, represent warrants at a federal level. State and territory law enforcement agencies have separate legislation to draw from, and are only included in the attorney-general's report during Commonwealth or joint investigations.

Warrants issued by law enforcement agencies.
(Credit: Attorney-General's Department, CC BY 3.0)

Although the annual report breaks warrants into categories of optical, listening, data, tracking and device retrieval, almost all warrants are listed as a combination of these. This makes it difficult to determine what type of surveillance that government agencies are using, or if there is a trend towards, for example, greater data surveillance over optical.

Warrants were also typically never refused. In the past three reporting periods, only two warrants were refused. In addition, no applications to extend warrants had been refused in the past three years.

In some cases, warrants aren't necessary. According to the report, optical surveillance devices can be used if they can be installed and retrieved without entering a premises or interfering with the interior of a vehicle without permission. Similarly, tracking devices can be installed on or under vehicles so long as they do not require entering a premises or interfering with the vehicle's interior.

Arrests, prosecutions and convictions resulting from surveillance.
(Credit: Attorney-General's Department, CC BY 3.0)

However, although the number of warrants has increased, the total number of arrests, prosecutions and convictions have not necessarily matched. Total arrests dropped by 29 per cent from 108 last year to 77, and prosecutions increased by 23 per cent from 44 to 54, while convictions dropped 38 per cent from 24 to 15.

The report did state that it is possible that the figures may be understated due to consequent arrests, prosecutions and convictions occurring in separate reporting periods, and that, in some cases, convictions are recorded without the need to provide information obtained through surveillance.

for more information about surveillance or any form of private investigation, please visit http://www.a2zinvestigations.com

source:http://www.zdnet.com.au/big-brother-using-more-surveillance-devices-339325377.htm

Scientologists target ‘South Park’ with Private Investigators

An episode of “South Park” from 2005 that parodied the Church of Scientology was so upsetting to leaders of the religious sect that it secretly investigated the show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, according to documents made public yesterday.

Private investigators for the church allegedly staked out the “South Park” offices, rifled through Stone’s and Parker’s trash, and even tried to recruit a mole to infiltrate the “South Park” team, former high-ranking Scientologist Mark Rathburn says. The goal, according to Rathburn, was to dig up dirt, which the church could use to pressure the show into not poking fun at the highly secretive sect popular with Hollywood stars such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

The Scientology investigator failed to dig up anything juicy enough, so they set their sights on actors John Stamos and Rebecca Romijn -- who were friends with Parker and Stone.

All of this was the result of a “South Park” episode, “Trapped in a Closet,” depicting Stan Marsh becoming a Scientologist because it was “fun and free.” On the show, he was discovered to be the reincarnation of the church’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

source:http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/scientologists_target_south_park_gBJ4Evi6sUxEtv8E90bY6N

for more information on surveillance and private investigators, please visit http://www.a2zinvestigations.com

Millions of Americans Under Electronic Surveillance with Smart Meters

Many electric companies have installed “Smart Meters” on homes all over the country, and they plan to do so on every house in America. Such meters track when you turn something on or off, and how many watts your appliances pull. Because they are radio transmitters, they then send the record over wireless networks that bounce from smart meter to smart meter to its final destination, a computer at the electric company.

The data they collect shows when you’re at home, sleeping, on vacation, or have visitors. They know when your turn on your computer, have a cake in the oven, of you may be running a business out of your home. In short, it gets inside your home and monitors your living patterns.

Such personal surveillance amounts to a warrantless search, a clear violation of our 4th Amendment rights. And it goes on continually, day after day.

Once the electric company receives the data, they store it and have the freedom to sell it to whomever it pleases or provide it to the police upon request. In fact, because smart meters are radio transmitters, anyone can intercept the data. In essence, you might as well be living in a glass house. I wonder whatever happened to the right to privacy the Supreme Court read into the 4th Amendment as the basis for Roe v. Wade.

You can tell if you have a smart meter on your home if you look at the meter and find that it has a “1-WATT” written on the label. In addition, it will say that it’s been licensed by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).

Currently, police in Texas, Ohio, British Columbia and other places, routinely use electronic data to find marijuana grow houses, enforce business licenses and other laws. Unusual power patterns get the attention of the electric company and the police consider it probable cause to raid a residence for a variety of violations.

If you don’t already have a smart meter and the electric company comes to your home to say they’d like to install a new meter, you don’t have to give your consent. They don’t tell you they’re installing a smart meter, yet if you give your consent, they consider that you have agreed to the surveillance device.

If you already have a smart meter on your house, you can send the electric company a certified letter requesting its immediate removal.

source: http://www.huliq.com/10280/millions-americans-under-electronic-surveillance-smart-meters

for more information about security and surveillance, contact A2Z Investigations or visit our website at www.a2zinvestigations.com

Infidelity: How To Cope With A Cheating Spouse

Infidelity in your fifties can be particularly unsettling and cause a whirl of emotions, says Sarah Cornwell. But you can move on and it can lead to positive change

Finding out that your partner is having an affair is devastating at any age, but if you’re in your fifties and you’ve been together for years the shock is seismic. Suddenly you’re forced to see the person you thought you knew in a totally new light.

“It makes you feel that all the certainties in the world are collapsing around you,” says Andrew G Marshall, one of the wisest and most experienced marital therapists in the business. “Even if you accept your own contribution towards the problem, the realisation that you get rewarded like this just because you took your eye off the ball not only undermines your trust in your partner but in the general sense that the world is a fair place.”

The fifties are a classic time for affairs. The sense of ‘Is that all there is?’ hangs heavy in the air and the kids are no longer the glue that binds couples together. But no matter how commonplace infidelity has become (it is estimated that 30 to 40 per cent of us will stray at some stage) it is always painful.

So how can you handle the emotional chaos of those first few weeks, when you can’t eat, your brain won’t stop and the only thing that gets you through the night is a hefty dose of Temazepam?

With any luck, at this stage in life, you’re able to overcome the initial impulse to reach for the nearest blade – tempting though it may be – or make off with the mistress’ kitten, like MP’s wife Christine Hemming. Rather than storming out, you’re more likely to take a considered view of what you really want.

“I had always assumed that if my husband was unfaithful I’d leave him,” says Anna, who discovered her husband’s two-year affair with a colleague three years ago. “But when it actually happened to me I reacted very differently, I think because I’d learned from previous crises in our relationship that impetuous gestures are usually counter-productive as well as hard to go back on. I thought very carefully about what was at stake.

“My initial instinct was to tell the whole world the gory details – his parents, our kids, the taxi driver, my hairdresser. I held back, and now I’m so relieved I did. We told the kids the bare minimum, and I found that it was better to talk to just one or two good friends, because otherwise I got too much conflicting advice.

“I remember times when it was a huge relief to be with people who didn’t know anything about the affair.”

Andrew Marshall’s book, How Can I Ever Trust You Again?, speaks to the partner who has had the affair as well as the one who discovered it. Marshall says the hardest thing about the immediate aftermath is learning to live with uncertainty. He urges couples to accept the complexity of their emotions.

“It’s normal to be filled with all sorts of contradictory feelings: love and hate, hope and despair, fear and relief. We don’t like living with ambivalence, and often push ourselves to come down on one side or the other, even if it makes things worse. And there is a tendency to think, I’m in so much pain we’ve got to solve this now. In fact, there is no ticking clock.”

It’s reassuring that 25 years spent counselling couples through the aftermath of affairs has convinced Marshall that, despite all the misery and pain, the soul-searching that follows can make those relationships that survive stronger and better.

“There are many positives: you and your partner will probably speak more to each other in five days than you have in five years. Affairs have the capacity to bring all the unburied bodies in your relationship to the surface. So you’re not just dealing with the affair itself, but also with the long-term issues that you ignored beforehand, which usually turn out to be not as big or as scary as you thought. And that, ultimately, must be a good thing.”

How to cope with the shock: Andrew Marshall’s tips

Resist the temptation to throw your partner out straight away. You need answers to your questions.

Equally, don’t forgive too soon. You can’t forgive until you know what’s happened and seen its full impact.

Don’t make major decisions when you’re in shock. Put off the decision to stay or go for as long as possible.

Tell your kids the absolute minimum: “We’re having problems and we’re sorting it out” is quite enough.

Don’t tell the world and his dog. What you need is a sensible friend who won’t tell you what to do, preferably someone who doesn’t know your partner well (and who hasn’t gone through a bitter divorce themselves).

Don’t go in for detective work. You’re not equipped to deal with evidence that is bound to be incredibly painful. The healing process starts when you give your partner the chance to tell you.

If you believe that your spouse is cheating, find out the real answers NOW, visit http://www.a2zinvestigations.com and we will get you the answers you deserve.

source:

http://www.high50.com/archives/family-relationships/infidelity-how-to-cope-with-a-cheating-spouse