Progress Downtown
I’ve noticed a good deal of construction and improvement around downtown Rochester lately. Too often I think we tend to focus on the negative in our community rather than highlighting some of the good things we have going. As a small example, I have watched out of my office window over the last month or so as workers have painstakingly worked to restore the roof sections of the Academy Building on Fitzhugh Street. I took this picture today as work continued:
You can see the really cool copper accents, and the men in the picture have been painting that lighter section of the roof for most of today. When finished, the building will contain a mix of office and residential space. Here’s a short history of the building as well as some more information on the project.
Social Media and the Law
Check out this very interesting article from Gary Craig in today’s paper on how social media is being used by both prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Not to toot my own horn – oh nevermind, I’ll just toot it anyhow – I have been front and center in the use of social media on criminal cases since the days when MySpace was the dominant social networking site. A couple quick war stories:
Once I was working a murder case where the suspect had been on the run for the better part of a year. We kept tabs on his girlfriend’s MySpace page, and sure enough one day she posted a photo of her, him and their child – who was a toddler in the picture but an infant at the time of the murder. The photo was taken on the porch of his mother’s house and was clearly recent. A search warrant was obtained on this basis and the suspect was located hiding in the attic – with the TV on and his game of Madden on pause.
In another murder case, one of our main witnesses was refusing to cooperate and was likewise in hiding. Through his Facebook page, we created a fake profile of an, ahem, young lady and sent him a friend request. A few chat sessions and wall postings later, we conviced him to meet “the girl” at a motel. In the meantime we had secured a warrant for his arrest, and when he arrived at the motel he was apprehended. He went on to be a very good witness and very helpful and cooperative.
The point here is obvious – be very very careful about what you put out there on social media. And if you find yourself a suspect in a crime or under arrest, by all means do not talk about your case in any way shape or form on your Twitter feed or Facebook page. Nothing good can come of it.
Office Closed for Vacation
Please note that I am away on vacation from July 23rd to the 27th. The office is closed during this time. I will return on July 30th.
However, if you need emergency assistance during my time away please call the office number at 585-730-6280 and follow the instructions.
Check us out at Eagle Vale!
Check out the firm’s new sign at the par 3 5th hole at beautiful Eagle Vale Golf Club in Fairport!
A big thank you to Head PGA Professional Chris DeVincentis and Assistant Professional Jim Ryan for all of their help!
Lab Links
I thought it might be convenient to gather some of the recent material and reporting all in one place:
The IG’s report
Rachel Barnhart’s story last night on 13 featuring a witty and handsome local attorney (no, I don’t mean Parrinello):
The DA’s Office response today to that story
Gary Craig’s piece from today’s paper featuring the aforementioned daper attorney
Evan Dawson’s excellent piece with a personal take
Is the DA’s Office going to win the battle, but lose the war?
As just an aside, I took another look at the IG’s report today. This was the text of the letter that the lab director sent along with the samples returned to the police agencies:
“The Forensic Biology Section has retained evidence for possible DNA analysis from cases in which the statute of limitations has expired. In anticipation of our impending move to our new facility, we are issuing a ‘No Analysis’ report and the retained evidence will be returned to the submitting agency.
Should you consider the cases still active or feel that DNA analysis would provide additional information to other cases which are currently active (e.g. serial burglary), please feel to contact me or the DNA Technical Leader, Ellyn Colquhoun. We can then discuss and make arrangements for DNA analysis after we are established in the new facility.”
Is it me or is does that second paragraph put a bit of a different spin on things? You the reader can decide that on your own.