I Jury and other cool legal apps

There are many apps out there designed to make your legal life easier. One such trial presentation tool that looks like it has real promise over the tried and true Post-It note method is i-Jury. i-Jury is almost like having facebook for your jury. You can input data from your juror questionnaire and give it a positive, negative or neutral rating. The app will generate bar chats based on the data to provide valuable trends in the juror pool. It is 14.99. A full review of the app is available here. For reviews of other useful legal apps, check out the ABA's Tech Show article that includes a recap of some of the more popular apps out there.

Products and services mentioned included case management software and workflow wizards; HotDocs and Pathagoras for document assembly; remote collection devices for electronically stored information; TextMap and LiveNote as transcript management software; TrialDirector for evidence presentation; whiteboard apps that allow drawing on a simulated canvas, and jury selection apps like iJury, Jury Duty and Jury Box.Products and services mentioned included case management software and workflow wizards; HotDocs and Pathagoras for document assembly; remote collection devices for electronically stored information; TextMap and LiveNote as transcript management software; TrialDirector for evidence presentation; whiteboard apps that allow drawing on a simulated canvas, and jury selection apps like iJury, Jury Duty and Jury Box.

TOR Website Indictments

The DEA released a press release in connection with USDOJ in California that it has indicted several people in the on-line TOR network controlled substances website. The operation, "Atom Bomb", included eight named and seven unnamed conspirators. The twelve count indictment charges that each of the defendants was a member of a conspiracy to distribute a variety of controlled substances worldwide through the use of online marketplaces that allowed independent sources of supply to anonymously advertise illegal drugs for sale to the public. The drug network, "The Farmer's Market", sold all types of controlled substances in all fifty states and twenty-four countries to over three thousand people(!) The "Farmer's Market" was running on the TOR network. TOR is described by the Government as follows:

According to the indictment, TOR is a circuit of encrypted connections through relays on the TOR network that can be downloaded on home computers. TOR allows websites and electronic mail communications to mask IP address information by spreading communications over a series of computers, or relays, located throughout the world.

TOR is described by itself as:

Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location. Tor works with many of your existing applications, including web browsers, instant messaging clients, remote login, and other applications based on the TCP protocol.

Of interest is the investigation issues presented in a federal investigation of this type. First reported on in Rolling Stone, TOR which was allegedly used to provide privacy for its users on the online drug market was operating "above the radar" but is designed to allow people to be on the internet without leaving trails like Hansel and Gretel. It will be interesting to see what develops...stay tuned.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Steve Jobs..."How To Live Before You Die"

Steve Jobs

Electronic Crime Scene Investigation

The National Institute of Justice has a number of publications that are handy for the criminal investigator. One particularly helpful publication is the guide pictured above: "Electronic Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for First Responders." The Guide sets out guidelines that should be followed by law enforcement and other investigators to protect, recognize, collect, and preserve electronic evidence at the scene. The guide can help one review whether law enforcement followed correct protocol in gathering data from a crime scene. It also provides tips for anyone, properly trained, to collect electronic evidence without corrupting the evidence. When in doubt, always have a mirror image prepared of computers or other media to preserve its original condition when seized.

Government Stretches Misdemeanor Computer Crime to Create Felony

Read More at NACDL
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers asked a federal appeals court Thursday to block the government's attempt to wrongly expand federal computer crime law, turning misdemeanor charges into felonies.

In an amicus brief filed in U.S. v. Cioni, EFF and NACDL argue that federal prosecutors abused computer crime law when they brought felony charges against Elaine Cioni for accessing others' email. Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a first-time unauthorized access offense is a typically a misdemeanor. But in Cioni's trial, the government pushed for felony convictions, claiming that the CFAA violations were in furtherance of violations of the Stored Communications Act (SCA). However, the acts that they claimed violated the SCA were identical to acts that violated the CFAA.

Must Haves

Think of the possibilities in investigations (and everywhere else). The I-Pad.