Child Pornography

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Does putting an illegal image in a shared folder on LimeWire or 360Share constitute “distribution” of child pornography if there is no proof anyone actually downloaded the image? No, according to a new decision in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In United States v. David George Husmann, the appellate court reversed …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has written to the mayor and other city officials advising them that an investigation has revealed systematic tolerance of abuse of adolescent inmates on Rikers Island. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara concluded that “adolescent inmates at Rikers are not adequately protected from …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma In a case recently decided in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Scott Kopstein went to trial after engaging with an undercover officer on the internet and, thinking she was twelve years old, sending her child pornography. He did not really deny the substance of the charges, but he argued entrapment — …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma At last, some good news for the thousands of people in federal prison for drug crimes who are ready to get on with their lives. The United States Sentencing Commission today voted to make the two-level reduction for narcotics offenses retroactive — in other words, people who have already been sentenced for drug crimes …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma One month after Albany County passed its anti-cyberbullying law, an anonymous teenager obligingly posted “Cohoes Flame” — a Facebook page of photos of his classmates along with crude “descriptions of their alleged sexual practices and predilections, sexual partners and other types of personal information.” An investigation revealed the teen’s identity; he was arrested and charged …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma We have written before about how sex offender registration rules routinely lead to defendants being unfairly assessed as moderate- to high-risk offenders. Now, unhappily, the Court of Appeals, which is New York’s highest court, has embraced the harsher — if not more irrational and emotionally charged — approach to these cases, permitting courts …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma The Honorable Harold Baer, who passed away earlier this week, was one of the legendary judges deciding cases in federal court in Manhattan. A stalwart for civil liberties who landed in the middle of contentious political battles, he was also quick witted and plainspoken in court. Though I only appeared before him …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma In general, federal authorities interview people after their arrests without recording. We advise our clients to invoke their Miranda rights and refuse to make any statements until consulting with an attorney. Experience shows that statements made by defendants when they are first arrested — they are frightened, their guard is down, they …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Antonio Yarbough, just three months out of prison for a triple homicide he did not commit, paid his respects to the murder victims on Mother’s Day. As reported in the New York Daily News, Tony laid two bouquets on the graves of his mom, Annie Yarbough, and his sister, Chavonn Barnes, at a …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Studies show that first-time child pornography offenders are among the least likely convicts to recidivate. Nonetheless, since 2008, New York courts presume that child porn offenders present at least a moderate risk of re-offense for purposes of sex offender registration. This presumption comes from the dubious, overly literal proposition that the children victimized in …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma The death of Al Feldstein is a major cultural event. His sensibility, if not his work itself, helped inspire me to become a journalist and then a lawyer. While Mad Magazine was a wonderful achievement, the bigger story is Feldstein’s socially conscious and horrifying writing for Shock Suspenstories and the other EC “New …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals, asserts that 4.1% of the people now on death row would be exonerated if they stayed on death row indefinitely. There have, in fact, been 143 death row exonerations since 1973, when …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Federal law provides that people who are convicted of possession or distribution child pornography must pay restitution to the victims depicted in the images. The goal of restitution generally is to make up for the harm suffered by the victim. Courts have struggled with what that means in the child pornography context, …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma “Amy,” the victim of child pornography who sought restitution in the Paroline case decided by the Supreme Court today made a statement through her lawyers that was picked up by the Washington Post. Not surprisingly, she was disappointed in the ruling, suggesting that it would force her and others abused in the …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Many people have asked us how they can help Antonio Yarbough, who was freed two months ago after serving 22 years in prison for a triple homicide that he did not commit. Tony just moved into a small apartment in Queens. He lacks everything from toothpaste to trousers. Former intern Martha Lineberger, Esq. …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Minnesota State football coach Todd Hoffner will get his job back and is looking to protect his privacy after a judge dismissed child pornography charges against him. Although it is not crystal clear what happened, it looks like overzealous human resources officials from the university found images and videos of Hoffner’s children on a …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma The U.S. Sentencing Commission announced today that it will lower the sentences calculated under the Sentencing Guidelines for possession, distribution and importation of illegal drugs. The new drug sentencing guidelineswill have far-reaching consequences, affecting thousands of cases in the federal system. It means that the Guidelines sentence — no longer mandatory on …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma The ZMO Law PLLC is delighted to announce that Sharlene Morris, Esq. has joined the firm as an associate attorney. Ms. Morris is a graduate of the George Washington University School of Law, where she was a member of the The George Washington Journal of Energy and Environmental Law, and a leader …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Child pornography is typically distributed in some of the shadier parts of the Internet. One common way to get child pornography is through peer-to-peer file sharing programs like Limewire and Gigatribe. These programs allow users to share their material with each other directly rather than through a central public server. But using …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma The story of Zachary Warren in yesterday’s New York Times is a cautionary tale of modern complex investigations. Mr. Warren is a 29-year-old former federal appellate law clerk and graduate of Georgetown Law School. After graduating from Stanford he knew he wanted to go to law school. But first he took a …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Earlier this month, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals breathed new life into the “ancient” and “arcane” writ of error coram nobis. The ultimate remedy-of-last-resort, a writ of error of coram nobis is warranted only when the petitioner is not in custody, rendering the more-familiar writ of habeas corpus unavailable as a remedy. As expounded by …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Please check out the re-design of our Sex Crimes Advocacy website. The site contains detailed information on federal and New York State sex crimes including child pornography, sex offender registration and other important issues.  Please let us know what you think of the new design and what additional information you might find …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Antonio Yarbough discussed his exoneration after 22 years in prison on WPIX Channel 11’s morning news program. He was accompanied by attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma who talked about the five-year legal battle to prove that he did not kill his mother, sister and sister’s twelve-year-old friend. For more information on the case, click …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Twenty one years, seven months and nineteen days after Tony Yarbough and Sharrif Wilson were taken into custody for a brutal triple homicide, they walked out of a Brooklyn courtroom today, cleared of the murders of Tony’s family. Justice Raymond Guzman granted our unopposed motion to vacate the verdicts under Criminal Procedure …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma On June 18, 1992, 18-year-old Tony Yarbough came home to find his family murdered. Through a series of systemic failures, he was wrongly convicted of this horrible crime. The real murderer, according to DNA evidence, went on to kill again seven years later. He has never been caught. A polygraph of Tony’s only accuser, …

By Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma It is now easy to find out population, race, gender and other statistics for the Bureau of Prisons at a glance by visiting BOP’s new “By the Numbers” webpage. The page also provides a snapshot of what federal crimes inmates are incarcerated for.  There are no big surprises there: drug offenses make …