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Non Invasive Dermal Blood Alcohol Testing

Several  years ago, we brought your attention to a start up New Mexico company, Tru Touch Technologies,  busily developng a non invasive blood alcohol testing machine for use in the public (police) and private (airlines, drug testing centers… ) sectors. Tru Touch sensor operates by using infrared technology through the skin’s layers in testing for acohol and drugs in one’s system.

Update 2009:  they are operational and in use in many US and European companies/agencies.

The below, easy flow tutorial explains The Tru Touch sensor’s operating method and capabilities/uses.

http://trutouchtechnologies.com/CustomPage.aspx?page=Tech

Also, please watch  this short video, featuring Tru Touch’s CEO, my friend, Jim McNally:

A product whose time has come.

BNI Operatives: Street smart: web savvy.

As always,  be safe.

A Lawyer’s Personal Blog v. Rules of the Bar

We’ve posted several blogs that have addressed one’s public online presence (what we refer to as your “Netface”).  We’ve advised new bloggers to maintain their personal information (pics of the house, with the address clearly visible, phone numbers… ) off of the blogosphere.  We’ve cautioned job seekers with a wild frat/sorority past, captured on pics or video, to try to clean up that history. 

Recently, however, we came across a NYT article that outlined the outcome of a lawyer’s blog  rant regarding  a judge with whom he’d had an unpleasant (courtroom) encounter.  You are correct if, based on “rant”, you’ve presumed the blog was written in a very negative tone. 

The situation:  Sean Conway was steamed at a Fort Lauderdale judge, so he did what millions of angry people do these days: he blogged about her, saying she was an “Evil, Unfair Witch.”

But Mr. Conway is a lawyer. And unlike millions of other online hotheads, he found himself hauled up before the Florida bar, which in April issued a reprimand and a fine for his intemperate blog post.

Upshot:  In Mr. Conway’s case, the post that got him in trouble questioned the motives and competence of Judge Cheryl Aleman, and appeared on a rowdy blogcreated by a criminal defense lawyers’ group in Broward County.

All I had left were my words,” Mr. Conway said, adding that he decided to use the strongest ones he had.

Mr. Conway initially consented to a reprimand from the bar last year, but the State Supreme Court, which reviews such cases, demanded briefs on First Amendment issues. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida argued that Mr. Conway’s statements were protected speech that raised issues of legitimate public concern. Ultimately the court affirmed the disciplinary agreement and Mr. Conway paid $1,200.

Last word:   For his part, Mr. Conway noted that the judge he criticized was reprimanded last year by the Florida Supreme Court, which affirmed a state panel’s criticism of what it called an “arrogant, discourteous and impatient” manner with lawyers in another case. (Judge Aleman did not return calls seeking comment.) Mr. Conway said his practice was “probably enhanced by the experience” of going public.

But the State Supreme Court ultimately concluded that his online “personal attack” was “not uttered in an effort to expose a valid problem” with the judicial system. And so, the court concluded, the statements “fail as protected free speech under the First Amendment.”

Your call: ethical violation or execution of the blogger’s 1st Amendment right?

On a lighter note, a lawyer, who shall remain nameless, asked and received permission to delay a case based on a funeral.  Well, the funeral mention did appear on his Facebook page, so did the next days of relentless mojito-drinking, drunken binges…  Rule 1: Don’t “friend” the judge in your case (or your boss, in general) and Rule 2: Don’t status your night out in MePa, post your first skyjump lesson pics or poll your friends re: a sex change operation consideration on Twitter or Facebook when you are supposed to be grieving, sick or out of the country on a family emergency.

BNI Operatives; Street smart: Net savvy.

As always, be safe.

Familial DNA An Inadvertent Informant?

We hope you are enjoying this unofficial last weekend of the summer! 

labor day

 

 

 

 

 

Back on topic, we’ve been monitoring the development of a relatively new investigation tool  in law enforcement and litigation closely; that of prosecutors, the FBI and other investigative/authorized agencies using the DNA samplings of relatives to locate potential criminals/defendants.

In the majority of familial DNA usage cases,  the jurisdictional agency will run a suspect’s genetic material through the FBI’s 6 million+ DNA samples database.   States are scrambling to legislate procedure for this investigative tool.  The ABA cites California as having already set up familial DNA usage protocol.

In unusual cases, (see: NPR reports of matching familial DNA in capturing the BTK (Bind, Torture and Kill) murderer) normal, routine medical samples (in the BTK killer case, his daughter’s pap smear test) are being subpoenaed for testing within the FBI’s DNA database.

Furthering compounding the issue are potential situations of identical DNA, such as has occurred in the German case involving identical twins, ultimately released without being charged, as it could not be determined which brother had perpetrated a massive jewelry heist

Strap in tight.  It’s going to be a bumpy road, folks.

BNI Operatives: Street smart; Web Savvy.

Our wishes for a healthy, sane and relaxing Labor Day!

As always, be safe.

TIP OF THE WEEK FOR OUR SUBSCRIBED READERS:  How to confirm the death status of a subject, without his/her SSN.

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