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Murder victim’s dad urges GPS tracking bill
Mar 6th
By FREESIA SINGNGAM
STAFF WRITER
HARTFORD — Students from the University of Hartford, family members and several others spent a cold Valentine’s Day morning on the steps of the state Capitol building to remember Tiana Notice, who was brutally murdered in front of her Plainville apartment a year ago. The group was also there to send a clear message — more action is needed to prevent women like Tiana from being attacked or killed by those who are supposed to love them.
Attendees including Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Speaker of the House Chris Donovan, representatives from the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Tiana Angelique Notice Foundation, supported GPS tracking of domestic violence offenders.
Tiana Notice, 25, was stabbed outside her apartment and later died Feb. 14, 2009. In a 911 call to police, she said her ex-boyfriend had stabbed her.
At the time, she had a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, James Carter II, and she had just spoken to police earlier that day because of alleged harassing e-mails from him. Carter is charged with murder and has plead not guilty.Carter is due back in New Britain Superior Court Feb. 25. He is being held on a $3 million bond for charges of murder, first-degree criminal trespassing and violating a restraining order. Carter will also appear in court for two other cases in which he is charged with violating a restraining order, second-degree harassment and interfering with an officer.
Tiana’s father, Alvin Notice, said his daughter’s death could have been prevented if Carter was tracked by a GPS monitoring system. He started to cry as he spoke to the crowd outside the Capitol Sunday.
“Tiana had an active restraining order throughout the time of her murder,” Alvin Notice said. He said a GPS tracking system would allow victims of domestic violence to know where the offenders are, and if they get close, the victims can find refuge.
“There’s no reason why we should be locking away the victims,” he said.
Alvin Notice, who is a co-founder of the Tiana Angelique Notice Foundation to prevent domestic violence and promote the GPS monitoring system, said he’s not speaking against battered women’s shelters — he just wants more done.
“I want Connecticut to be a place where a domestic violence offender would say, ‘I don’t want to be in this state,’” he said.
Blumenthal said the GPS monitoring system is already used for offenders of nonviolent crimes and called the proposed legislation for monitoring domestic violence offenders “an opportunity to use the same technology to save lives.”
Diane Rosenfeld, a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, said Massachusetts passed a GPS monitoring law in 2006, and since then there have been no violations from offenders wearing the tracking systems.
“Stop the question, ‘Why doesn’t she leave,’” Rosenfeld said. “She’s living in a jail. It’s Valentine’s Day and we should be celebrating love, and love shouldn’t hurt, like that sign says,” she added, pointing to one of the signs in the crowd.
State Rep. Kenneth Green, D-Hartford, said he doesn’t put a cost on the GPS monitoring system if it saves lives.
“We must stand up and do all that we can regardless of cost,” he said.
Harald Sandstrom, an associate professor of politics and government at the University of Hartford, taught Tiana and said she founded the university’s chapter of the Roosevelt Institute, a public policy think tank. At the time of her death, she was a graduate student there, pursuing a master’s in communications.
Many of the students and others carried signs that read “Love shouldn’t hurt” and “Domestic violence is a public issue not a social issue” and several speeches.
Nicole Suissa, president of the university’s Roosevelt Institute chapter, said she never met Tiana, but after reading about her and talking to those who know her, she saw a lot of herself in her.
Suissa, a sophomore politics and government major at the University of Hartford, said she and Tiana had a lot of the same ambitions. She also told a story of how her mother got out of an abusive relationship.
On behalf of the chapter that Tiana founded, Suissa said the Roosevelt Institute supports this bill for GPS monitoring.
Tiana’s sister, Natasha Smith, who is also a co-founder of the Tiana Angelique Notice Foundation, said Tiana would have wanted this bill to pass and would have been proud to see everyone gathered for the rally.
“Tiana had the same passion,” Smith said, referring to their involvement in civic engagement. She said this bill isn’t just for Tiana but for all women and children.
Freesia Singngam can be reached at fsingngam@centralctcommunications.com or 860-584-0501, ext. 7259.
State to expand tracking of parolees with GPS
Mar 5th
As state expands monitoring to paroled gang members, critics question cost, effectiveness of satellite tracking
CRIMEJanuary 24, 2010|By Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff WriterCalifornia will strap GPS anklets on 1,000 recently paroled gang members this year, state officials said, hoping to keep them out of trouble by limiting their movements while gathering intelligence in case they return to their old habits.
The move expands what is already the nation’s biggest Global Positioning System monitoring program of convicts, coming three years after voters required satellite tracking of more than 7,000 paroled sex offenders.
It also invites added scrutiny from critics of GPS monitoring, who contend that the technology has not been adequately studied in California to see if it cuts crime, lowers recidivism and justifies its cost: about $9,500 annually per parolee.
The gang program will not result in the early release of inmates. It will equip “the worst of the worst” recent parolees with GPS devices, said state Parole Administrator Denise Milano, replacing scattered pilot programs that have tracked as many as 160 gang members at a time.
Some parolees to East Bay
Fifty parole agents will handle caseloads of 20 gang members each, Milano said. The state has not yet decided which counties to choose, she said, although agents in Alameda County said they expected to handle at least one caseload.
“GPS use is something that’s here to stay,” said Gordon Hinkle, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which supervises 107,000 parolees. “We’ve never claimed GPS is going to be the answer to all of our problems, but it’s an additional tool we’ve found very useful.”
The state is hoping to exploit a technology that has revolutionized how people navigate everyday life. Particularly intriguing is the automation offered by GPS: Authorities can, for example, enforce a ban on convicts leaving their homes during certain hours by creating an electronic bubble. Breaching the bubble would activate an alert.
Dots on a map
The potency of GPS is eye-opening. Turn on a computer, as parole agent Brett Everidge did on a recent morning in Oakland, and there they are: 300 rapists, molesters and flashers in Alameda County represented by small dots on a map, or arrows if they’re on the move.
All the paroled sex offenders on Everidge’s screen were fitted with GPS anklets because of voters’ passage of Proposition 83 in 2006, which also barred the parolees from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park.
A fraudster billionaire faces low bail
Mar 4th
In what should come as a shock to no one, accused swindler Allen Stanford pleaded not guilty to fraud charges in Texas yesterday. The U.S. Magistrate judge who decided Stanford’s fate determined that a $100,000 cash deposit and a plan to pay $500,000 was enough for bail (although some outlets are reporting $2 million as the bail).
So Stanford was set to walk free last night — that is, until the government stepped in. Judge Frances Stacy then stayed the issuance of Stanford’s bond because the government feels that the oh-so honest businessman is a flight risk. It appears that a decision will come later today, as the judge put her order releasing Stanford on hold until 4:30 p.m.
Looking at the bail, the initial $100,000 cash deposit came with a stipulation — that the money come from Stanford’s inner circle. “He’ll be very motivated not to flee if he raises the money from friends and relatives,” Judge Stacy said. The judge also required him to get three co-signers on his bond, his father and “two wealthy family friends.” After bail is posted, Stanford must wear a GPS-monitoring device and will be released to the custody of his girlfriend.
At the trial, it was alleged that Stanford controlled a Swiss bank account, from which he withdrew nearly $100 million in the past year. And it’s come to light that pro golfer Vijay Singh had offered to sign for part of Stanford’s bail, but was denied because Singh, a citizen of Fiji and not the U.S., would have been on the hook if Stanford had fled.
Singh signed an endorsement deal with Stanford in January and has sported the Stanford logo on his clothing, even though he was receiving no further payment from the company. Singh’s management company, IMG, stated: “Vijay’s opinion is that Stanford has yet to be proven guilty and until then has chosen to act supportively.”
So Stanford can post bail as long as he wears a monitoring device, and shacks up with his girlfriend. I’m sure their apartment won’t resemble the Spartan digs many of us are used to — it will probably be closer in line to Bernie Madoff’s lavish digs, where he suffered through his own wrist-slap house arrest at the end of 2008.
Like Madoff, Stanford swindled clients out of billions of dollars, and his punishment is a drop in the bucket. If he does get hard time, he’ll likely serve it at a minimum-security prison. If Stanford is guilty, the punishment must fit the crime. There’s quite a lot of money at stake, and peoples’ homes. This crime isn’t a trifling matter. Yet it seems likely to be treated as such, given his low bail.
At least the government has decided to oppose the terms of the bail. So there’s still a chance that Stanford could be facing real punishment. But don’t hold your breath waiting for it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
By Mark Fightmaster
Financial Writer
Mark Fightmaster was drawn into the world of financial writing after a brief teaching career, and is currently a blogger for DailyFinance and BloggingStocks and a freelance financial analyst. Mark is truly in his element when examining the business of sports, but also enjoys tackling consumer concerns and breaking news.
Must wear a GPS monitoring device
Mar 4th
Lisa Ricardo, 38, of Raynham must wear a GPS monitoring device, surrender her passport, and not leave Massachusetts, attorney Raymond O’Hara said. Judge Vito A. Virzi also required she remain at home except to work, attend church, visit an attorney or doctor, or go shopping.
GPS can provide antidote to stalking
Mar 3rd
Commentary By Joyce King
Car owners with Global Positioning System (GPS) are feeling more secure these days that they will get to their destinations without getting lost. But the technology is also being used to provide real security for many people who otherwise might be in danger.
Currently, in 13 states, judges can require stalkers or abusive former spouses or companions — who are under restraining orders or as a condition for bail — to wear GPS devices to monitor their movements. Law enforcement officials are then alerted anytime the perpetrator goes near his victim.
Massachusetts’ program is in many respects similar to other programs. The cellphone-like device there costs about $8 per day to monitor. The offender — not taxpayers — foots the bill. Anytime that person enters a protected area, the victim also is notified by cellphone. Data are gathered at central locations by independent contractors.
Part of the GPS attraction is money. Locking someone up for a year in Massachusetts can cost up to $40,000, while GPS monitoring is about $3,400.
So why don’t more states have programs? Again, blame the economy. Slashed budgets have put strains on states that have considered GPS programs. That’s unfortunate. A recent Justice Department study found that more than 3 million adults reported being stalked in a 12-month period. The last major study was 11 years ago; it estimated that 1.4 million people had been stalked annually. That’s another reason why more states must address this growing threat.
While all 50 states have anti-stalking laws, those vary widely, and some are outdated. Michelle Garcia, director for the Stalking Resource Center, says if an agency has a Justice Department Violence Against Women grant, its officers are eligible for training and technical assistance with issues such as GPS monitoring. Garcia says, “Our mission … includes educating the public and enhancing the response to stalking.”
Garcia says the GPS program is an extremely useful tool but not a guarantee for victim safety. Large, rural areas tend to have spotty cellphone coverage. Even some buildings lose GPS signals. Also, civil liberties lawyers have expressed concerns that judges may have too much say over who will be monitored.
As the kinks get worked out, and as more agencies look at sharing information and updating officer training, expanding the use of GPS to monitor abusers and stalkers not only can provide vulnerable people with a sense of security, it could also save their lives.
Joyce King is a freelance writer in Dallas.
Posted at 12:16 AM/ET, June 26, 2009 in Criminal justice – Forum, Forum commentary,
Release from jail comes with conditions
Mar 2nd
| [February 17, 2010] |
Mankato man arrested in child porn sting: Release from jail comes with conditions
MANKATO, Feb 17, 2010 (The Free Press – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — An Internet investigation that allegedly found dozens of pictures showing pre- teen children involved in sexual acts has resulted in the arrest of a 19year- old Mankato man.
Zen Loren Albrecht was arrested at his mobile home in the 1000 block of Belle Avenue Friday after he gave investigators permission to search his computer. He appeared Tuesday in Blue Earth County District Court, where he learned he is facing 20 felony charges for collecting and disseminating child pornography.
Investigators had already searched another house in Mankato, owned by an Albrecht relative, and a house in Le Hillier, owned by another relative, before learning Zen Albrecht had moved to the High Ciara mobile home court in January. Zen Albrecht had been living with both relatives before he moved.
The investigation started in September after a Minneapolis police officer, who works closely with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, used special software to find the child pornography. He initially found a total of about 80 child pornography files, including pictures and at least one video, according to court records.
The titles of the files, shared through a peer- topeer networking system, included graphic descriptions of children in sexual situations.
With help from Charter Communications, the officer learned about 25 of the files were being stored on a computer at a Mankato residence and about 55 files were being stored on a computer in Le Hillier.
Charter Internet billing information led the task force investigator, as well as detectives from the Mankato Police Department and Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department, to the houses owned by Albrecht’s relatives. Both houses were searched Friday.
A computer was confiscated from a house on Olive Street in Le Hillier. When the detectives searched a house on Pleasant Street, however, they were told Albrecht had taken the computer to his mobile home.
An agent from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension also participated in the search. He was able to use a device to do preliminary searches on the computers, which allegedly showed they contained files that had been identified in previous investigations as child pornography.
Investigators were later told there were more than 100 pictures and more than 60 videos containing child pornography stored on the computers.
During his bail hearing Tuesday, Albrecht told Judge Kurt Johnson his only source of income was working as a substitute for someone who delivers newspapers.
Chris Rovney, assistant Blue Earth County attorney, requested that Albrecht be ordered to stay away from children and schools if he is released from jail. Johnson set Albrecht’s bail at $25,000 with those restrictions, as well as a requirements for GPS monitoring and no computer access, as conditions.
” The defendant is inimical to public safety and any release without those conditions would concern me,” Rovney said.
Ricardo out on bail
Mar 2nd
Posted Feb 17, 2010 @ 06:06 PM
SHREWSBURY —
The Raynham woman who allegedly attempted to help her brother clean up his Deerfield Road home after authorities say he murdered his wife was released on $20,000 cash bail last Wednesday.
Westborough District Court Judge Vito Virzi set bail for Lisa Ricardo, 38, at $20,000 during her arraignment last week. Virzi set several other conditions for Ricardo’s release, including remaining under house arrest, staying in Massachusetts, surrendering her passport and wearing a GPS monitoring device. Ricardo’s husband posted her bail, according to Westborough District Court records.
Ricardo was arrested Feb. 5 and is charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact and two counts of reckless endangerment of a child. Her brother, Keith Rosiello, 44, was arrested Feb. 4 and charged with the murder of Maureen Rosiello, 44.
Assistant District Attorney Anthony Marotta said during Ricardo’s arraignment she arrived at the Rosiellos’ home at 32 Deerfield Road on Feb. 3 and was present for some parts of an argument between the Rosiellos that resulted in Maureen Rosiello being injured.
Ricardo allegedly told police her brother attempted to force his wife into the bathroom against her will and later obstructed her airway in an effort to control her before returning her to the couch.
Her brother, she said, later approached her and said Maureen Rosiello “did not look good.”
Ricardo and Rosiello attempted four cycles of CPR to resuscitate her while monitoring her vital signs with a pulse oximeter, a device that measures the oxygen saturation of a patient’s blood. Both brother and sister work in a medical-device industry.
Ricardo also told police she and her brother cleared the victim’s airway of vomit and moved her back to the couch after they discovered a pulse. The two reportedly planned to stay awake throughout the night to monitor her condition, but Ricardo said they both fell asleep.
At 6 a.m. Ricardo said her brother woke her up and told her Maureen Rosiello was dead.
Neither Ricardo nor Rosiello called police until six hours after the victim’s death. The couple’s two children, ages 6 and 12, were at the home the night of the attack and Ricardo allegedly took the children to her home in Raynham. Virzi ordered her to stay away from the two children.
Marotta also said Ricardo helped her brother board up the windows and wash down the walls of the home before she left Feb. 5 at 12:15 p.m. Rosiello called police at about 12:45 p.m. to say he had been in a fight with his wife and she was not breathing.
Ricardo, who was being held at MCI-Framingham, is due back in Westborough District Court Feb. 22 for a pre-trial hearing. Keith Rosiello is due back in court the same day.
Bill would make GPS tracking possible in protective-order cases
Mar 1st
By ERIN JULIUS, The Herald-Mail
February 17, 2010
erinj@herald-mail.com
ANNAPOLIS — Washington County Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore on Wednesday attended a meeting of the Washington County delegation to the General Assembly in support of a bill that would implement a GPS tracking system pilot program for some who have not complied with protective orders.
Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, introduced a similar bill in the past.
Previous bills, and this one, could have applied to Douglas Pryor, who is serving life in prison without parole for killing Alison Munson and Smithsburg Police Officer Christopher Shane Nicholson on Dec. 19, 2007, Shank said.
Munson, the mother of Pryor’s children, was granted a protective order against Pryor weeks before her death.
The Washington County delegation voted unanimously Wednesday to introduce the bill. The entire delegation will act as the bill’s sponsor.
Sen. Alex X. Mooney, R-Washington/Frederick, did not attend the meeting.
State funds will not be used for the two-year pilot program, Mullendore said. His department will shoulder those costs not covered by fees paid by the respondent being monitored, he said.
The program would affect about 12 to 15 people a year in Washington County, Mullendore said.
Under the bill, respondents on pretrial release who face a charge of violating a protective order could be supervised by a GPS tracking device. Those who receive a suspended sentence for failing to comply with a protective order could also be put on the electronic monitoring.
Under the bill, the sheriff and administrative judge for Washington County District Court would have to submit a report on the pilot program at the end of the two-year period.
The most volatile time in domestic violence situations is when a protective order is in place, Mullendore said. Respondents who violate those orders have already shown themselves to be more dangerous than most, he said.
With the GPS tracking device, there would be an “exclusion zone” the respondent is not to enter. If the GPS device enters that zone, both the 911 center and victim would be notified, Mullendore said.
“Law enforcement would be dispatched immediately,” he said.
If the respondent should have to enter the exclusion zone for legitimate reasons, the respondent would have to notify the 911 center ahead of time, and law enforcement would be dispatched to ensure no violence occurred, Mullendore said.
Previous incarnations of the bill, introduced by Shank, would have required judges to consider a behavioral assessment — known as the lethality assessment — to determine whether those who have violated protective orders or domestic abusers who are released on bail should be required to wear the tracking device.
Language regarding the lethality assessment was removed from the bill, as the Washington County delegation will introduce it. In addition, instead of a statewide bill, it will now apply only to Washington County for the two-year pilot program.
The lethality assessment had been too controversial, Shank said.
“We have the technology that gives law enforcement and victims an opportunity to better respond to very deadly situations,” Shank said Wednesday.
GPS tracking possible in protective-order cases
Mar 1st
TMZ reports that Nancy Kerrigan’s brother Mark Kerrigan, will be allowed to live with his mother once he posts bails.
Mark Kerrigan is currently facing charges for assaulting his father, which ultimately ended in the death of 70-year-old Daniel Kerrigan. Although the D.A. objected , according to TMZ, the judge changed the terms of Kerrigan’s bail which goes as follows: Kerrigan must post a $10,000 bail in order to move back in with his mother.
“We’re told if Mark posts bail, he’ll have to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet and he can only leave the house for limited purposes. Mark will also have to stay sober, and submit to random drug and alcohol testing.” As of right now, no other details have been released regarding this case.
http://www.honeymag.com/2010/uncategorized/nancy-kerrigans-brother-mark-must-post-10000-bail/
Judge denies bail reduction of Salinas teen accused in fatal New Year’s Eve crash
Feb 28th
A Monterey County judge Thursday denied a request to reduce the bail of a Salinas teenager accused of driving drunk in a fatal crash early New Year’s Day.
Judge Timothy Roberts kept Alexander Gordon Winn’s bail at $100,000. Roberts had indicated in a previous hearing that he would consider reducing bail to $60,000 if GPS monitoring is obtained for Winn.
At Thursday’s hearing, the judge told Winn’s lawyer, Jim Dozier, that he did not think the monitoring system was sufficiently secured.
“You’re not telling me it’s lined up … ready to go,” Roberts said. “At this point, the court is going to deny the motion.”
Winn has pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence and driving under the influence causing bodily injury.
The incident
He was arrested soon after the 2002 Chevrolet Silverado he was driving crashed into an uphill embankment at 2:25 a.m. New Year’s Day. The crash occurred on Corral de Tierra Road just west of Underwood Road near Salinas.
Adam E. Arias, an 18-year-old Salinas High School alumnus who was riding in the truck, died at the scene. Janelle Powers, 18, another passenger, received a bruise on her forehead.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5, where a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.