Thursday, April 14, 2011

Boise Divorce Attorney - Boise Family Law Lawyers - Boise Custody Attorneys - Uniform Child Custody

If you have a divorce or custody issue and need to speak to a Boise Divorce Attorney or Custody Attorney or have other Family Law issues, please call (208) 472-2383.

As a Boise Divorce Attorney I often get calls from parents who live out of state and whose children have been moved to Idaho by the other parent.  What if anything can they do to have their custody case heard in the jurisdiction where the child originally resided?  Alternatively, I get calls about people who have an existing child custody order from another jurisdiction who now live in Idaho and want to know what, if anything, they can do to enforce the order in Idaho.

The Idaho Code deals with these two situations with something known as the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.  Unlike the divorce situation, where you can get a divorce after being in Idaho for 6 weeks, for a custody action the state of Idaho must be the child's home state for at least six months in order to bring a custody action here.  So the way that this applies to the first question is this:  if parent A moves to Idaho and resides here for six months, that parent can bring a custody action in the state of Idaho that will be binding on parent B, unless parent B has already, brought a custody action in the state where they resided as a family.  If there is an emergency situation, such as immediate harm to the child or the child has been abandoned, an Idaho Court can intercede and hear the case prior to 6 months.  If there is no other state that has issued a custody order, the Idaho Court order will stay in effect until a court with more appropriate jurisdiction hears the case.

The second situation deals with modification of an existing order.  If state 1 has issued a custody order and both parent A and parent B no longer live in state 1 and it no longer is the appropriate jurisdiction to bring a custody action, if the child has lived in Idaho for 6 months or longer, an Idaho Court can modify an existing decree from the original state that will be binding on both parents.

The Uniform Child Custody Act can cause some minor complications when it comes to getting a divorce in Idaho if you have just moved here from out of state and you have children.  As mentioned above, you can get a divorce after being here for only 6 weeks.  If you have children in this situation, you can still file for divorce in Idaho, but the custody issues will not be heard.  They will either be heard in the child's home state or you will have to wait 6 months to have them addressed in Idaho.

If you have a divorce or a custody issue, or any other family law issue and need to speak to a Boise Divorce Attorney, please call, (208) 472-2383.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Boise Criminal Lawyers - Boise DUI Attorneys - DUI Stops, Traffic Stops Around Boise

To speak with one of our Boise Criminal Lawyers or Boise DUI Attorneys, please call (208) 472-2383.  We always offer a free consultation.

I don't know if you have noticed, but driving around Boise in the past few weeks I have seen several motorcycle police and patrol cars setting up shop with their speed detectors, pulling people over right and left.

Today's paper explained the plethora of Idaho Law Enforcement on the roads.  Between 6 a.m. Friday morning and 6 a.m. Monday morning Boise Police, Idaho State Police and Ada County Sheriff's Deputies made 34 DUI arrests.  The Statesman makes a rhetorical statement when it says that the Boise Police don't really know why there were so many DUI arrests over the weekend.  Can you say police presence in a police DUI sting?

For the past two weeks there have been so many Boise Police roaming the streets that it isn't hard to believe that there were that many DUI arrests.  Though the paper doesn't say, as a Boise Criminal Lawyer, I wonder how many people were ticketed for speeding or ticketed for other traffic violations during that same period.

People often ask Boise DUI Attorneys or Boise Criminal Lawyers if the Boise Police have a quota to meet for issuing traffic violations.  While the police department denies that a quota system exists, one has to ask why at the end of each quarter there is so much police presence if it isn't for quota purposes.  Another question that both Boise Criminal Lawyers and Boise DUI Attorneys frequently get in conjunction with the question of quotas is, "isn't that entrapment?"

While I don't necessarily think it is fair to lay in wait, it isn't entrapment.  The crime of entrapment has to include getting you to do something that you weren't inclined to do and then catch you doing it.  If no one made you speed or suggested that driving under the influence was a good idea, you have not been entrapped. 

If you were one of the unfortunate 34 who were arrested for DUI or one of the countless others who were sabotaged by police hiding in the grass, or behind corners or buildings, and you need to speak to a Boise DUI Attorney or a Boise Criminal Lawyer, please call (208) 472-2383.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Boise Criminal Lawyer - Idaho Underage Drinking, Possession and Providing Alcohol to a Minor

Boise Criminal Lawyer, call (208) 472-2383 for a free consultation - Idaho Criminal Defense.

Recently the Boise Police set up a sting to catch businesses and individuals selling alcohol to minors.  The Boise Police were fairly successful in the attempts to stop the provision of alcohol to under age individuals.

After the sting, I got lots of calls asking what the penalty was for this type of crime.  Criminal attorneys see these types of crime all the time and they know that there are actually different charges involved and different penalties depending upon who is charged.

Firstly, if an individual provides or sells alcohol to a minor the penalty for a first time charge is between $500-$1000 fine and up to 1 year in jail.  For a second time offense the individual charged will be fined between $1000-$2000 and can receive up to a year in jail.

The next type of crime that I often see as a Boise Criminal Lawyer is the penalty that is placed upon a business.  This is an administrative crime.  The penalty as to the business, whether it is a small business or a large business is a $1,000 fine and a 10 day liquor license suspension.  If there is another charge within three years there is either a 15 day liquor license suspension and a $1,500 fine or a 30 day license suspension.  If the business is charged a third time within 3 years they will receive a 180 day liquor license suspension.

These fines can be and are intended to be harsh.  It is a means to deter the sale of alcohol to minors.  The penalty, however, does not seem to be fair in regard to size of the company.  If a large grocer sells alcohol to a minor, a $1,000 fine and a 10 day liquor license suspension may not cause great harm in regard to their revenue.  If, however, a small business, like a Mom and Pop store has the misfortune to have an employee who fails to ID a customer, that type of license suspension may have a huge impact on their revenue.

Perhaps Idaho should rethink its laws regarding selling alcohol to a minor.  I am not suggesting that it be allowed but perhaps they should adopt a law such as the one that exists in Florida.  Florida requires that the sale of any alcohol be accompanied by proof of age with a valid ID.  If you cannot produce a valid ID then you don't get any alcohol.  If the minor has a fake ID, then it is the minor who is charged and penalized for having a fake ID.

If you need to speak with a Boise Criminal Lawyer, please call (208) 472-2383.  We always offer a free initial consultation.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Boise Divorce Attorney - Idaho Family Law Lawyers - Custody Issues in Idaho

To speak to Boise Divorce Attorney or to one of our Idaho Family Law Lawyers, please call (208) 472-2383 for a free consultation.


As a Boise Divorce Attorney one of the biggest issues I get calls about, aside from divorce is custody.  People are very concerned about getting custody of their children, and rightly so.  There is no magic formula but there are very specific criteria that judges in Idaho look at to determine what is in the best interest of the children.


The Idaho Domestic relations statute outlines how custody should be determined.    These include the wishes of the parents and the children, the stability and character of the parents, continuity as to school and neighborhood and the status quo.  By status quo I mean who has historically been the primary care taker of the child and who has historically been the one providing the day to day care for the child.


It used to be in Ada County that the Idaho judges would order a home study before any custody determination was made.  The lawyers would agree on who would do the study and the parties would split the cost equally.  It is rare that judges in Ada County do that any more.  Now they rely more on the factors outlined in the Idaho Code and upon evidence and testimony presented by the Boise Custody Attorneys.  That is not to say that home studies no longer exist.  Other counties, such as Canyon County still rely on them to help judges make a custody decision.


If you have a divorce or custody issue and need to speak to a Boise Divorce Attorney, please call (208) 472-2383

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Boise Divorce Attorney - Boise Family Law Lawyers - Divorce, Custody, Boise, Idaho

Boise Divorce Attorney, Custody Lawyer, Idaho Family Law Lawyers, Attorneys, divorce, custody, visitation, child support and modification call (208) 472-2383.

Having practiced law as a Boise Divorce Attorney for nearly 18 years, I have often marveled at the twists and turns divorce and custody battles take.  You just never know.  Occasionally, a Boise divorce attorney can peg which cases will settle or a custody lawyer will nail the custody and visitation schedule on the head making everyone happy, but that generally is not the case.

Every divorce or custody dispute has a life of its own.  In some divorce cases, the parties, through their divorce attorneys, fight over every last piece of property, categorizing and re-categorizing, off-setting and balancing.  In some custody cases, the custody lawyers struggle to find the balance that each party is looking for.

As a Boise Divorce Attorney I have had cases where in the beginning they looked like a stipulation would work for the parties, saving each side money, only to rapidly deteriorate into a full on custody or divorce battle.  Likewise, as a Boise Divorce Attorney I have had cases where in the beginning I thought that we were in for the long haul, that no one would agree and that no one would settle on what was in the best interest of the child, only to have these cases negotiated and settled in record time.

My point in telling you this is that every Boise Divorce Attorney is asked at the beginning of a divorce or custody modification how long it will take to get the divorce or the modification.  And, you know what?  You just never know.  You can guess and speculate, but you just never know. Statistics give a a glimpse at how long.  The average time to complete a divorce in Ada County is nearly 230 days.  In Canyon County the average time is 58 days.

If you need to speak to a Boise Divorce Attorney or an
Idaho Custody Lawyer, please call (208) 472-2383

Boise Criminal Lawyers - Idaho DUI Charge Against Out of State Residents - What Can You Do

As a Boise Criminal Lawyer I get calls with the following scenario.  Joe Q. Public happened to be in Boise or in Idaho for the weekend to visit friends.  He had a great time but ended up drinking too much and got pulled over for a DUI.  The calls are often similar.  They need to talk to a Boise Criminal Attorney because they have no plans on ever returning to Boise and they can't take time off from work to fly back and forth for a DUI trial.  What can Boise Criminal Lawyers do for them?

Rule 43  of the Idaho Criminal Rules allows a defendant charged with a misdemeanor to motion the court, through a criminal attorney and ask to be excused from personally appearing for any stage of the proceedings against them.  The defendant must sign an affidavit explaining the situation and fully authorize their criminal lawyer to make all decisions for them, including a guilty plea.

The Rule 43 exception only works if the case is a misdemeanor.  If you are being charged with a third time DUI or an excessive DUI or any other felony you must be present in Idaho for all court appearances.

If you need to speak to a Boise Criminal Lawyer concerning a DUI or any other crime in Idaho, please call (208) 472-2383