Sgt. Josh Moulin: Computer Forensics and Child Exploitation

Sgt Moulin

 

Computer Forensics and Child Exploitation – From the Case Files of the Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force

Occasionally I will write about a case that I have investigated within our task force to provide some real life examples of how technology is used to commit crimes in our society.

In late 2005 the Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about a male in Central Point, Oregon who was in possession of child pornography. A screen name was provided with the report from NCMEC and by serving subpoenas to Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) I was able to determine the suspect’s true identity was that of a man named Mark Doty. Just after receiving this information, a completely different informant provided me with information about a man named Mark Doty in Central Point who was engaging in sexual intercourse with young boys at his home.

Between the two reports and other information gathered during our investigation enough probable cause was established to apply for a search warrant for Doty’s home and computer. During the spring of 2006 I wrote a search warrant and took it to a judge for review. The judge agreed that enough probable cause existed and granted the warrant.

Members of my task force as well as federal law enforcement agents executed the search warrant at Mr. Doty’s residence. When we served the warrant Doty was at home and I interviewed him about our investigation while other agents searched his home and seized evidence.

Several items of evidence were transported to our digital evidence forensics laboratory and over the next several months they were all analyzed. At the conclusion of the forensic examination evidence was found that Doty was possessing images depicting children involved in sexual abuse. It was also found that Doty was using Yahoo! Messenger to find young boys and compel them to perform sexual acts in front of a web camera. He did this by portraying himself to be a Police Officer and threatening police action against these boys if they did not do what he asked. Unfortunately, this tactic worked and several young boys did perform various sex acts for Doty.

On September 12th 2006 I arrested Doty on several felony charges for child pornography. In February of 2007 Mark Doty took his case to trial and was convicted on fourteen felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse and was sentenced to prison.

Mark Doty

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Chris Grabenstein: Forensics, Fire, and Wall Bangers

Chris Grabenstein

 

Chris Grabenstein did improvisational comedy (with Bruce Willis) in New York before James Patterson hired him at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency.

His Anthony Award-winning debut TILT A WHIRL (A John Ceepak mystery) was followed by MAD MOUSE, WHACK A MOLE and the just released HELL HOLE from St. Martin’s Minotaur.

Chris has also written two thrillers: SLAY RIDE and HELL FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

His “rip-roaring” Middle Grades ghost story THE CROSSROADS was published my Random House earlier this summer.

Fire Forensics

“Suppose I wanted to set a fire that would kill somebody trapped inside an abandoned amusement park ride,” I asked the fire captain. “What’d be the best way to do that?”

Chris and FDNY Captain Dave Morkal

Fortunately, the captain I was asking was Dave Morkal of the FDNY, one of my closest friends and a big inspiration for the character of John Ceepak. He was also my “fire forensics” technical adviser on HELL HOLE, my newest John Ceepak mystery.

 

When I was working on HELL HOLE, the fourth novel in the series, which was just published by St. Martin’s Minotaur, I thought it would be exciting to include a dramatic fire rescue scene.

When my wife and I do research (a.k.a “go on vacation”) down the Jersey Shore, we often spend time with Captain Morkal and his family. That means we also get to meet some of the other firefighters taking the same vacation weeks in the town of Beach Haven on New Jersey’s Long Beach Island or, as everybody calls it, LBI. (Yes, Beach Haven is the main inspiration for my fictional Sea Haven).

As it turns out, hundreds of New York firefighters head to LBI for a couple weeks every summer.

Good thing, too!

Danny and Ceepak need them.

In HELL HOLE, some extremely nasty characters want to “eliminate” my dynamic duo from their investigation of what everyone else assumes was a open and shut case of suicide. Ceepak and Danny beg to differ. They think it was murder.

In our discussions of arson, Captain Morkal told me about a very deadly trick: Firebugs ignite a roaring blaze high up in a structure with gasoline while simultaneously igniting a diesel fuel fire down below. The gas fire burns fast and gets everybody’s attention. The diesel starts slower but burns hotter. The fire department rushes in to extinguish the gas fire, the one everybody can see. While they’re upstairs fighting that fire, the diesel-fueled blaze down below kicks in and cuts off their exit, trapping the guys up high with no way out or back down.

So that’s what I had my bad guys did.

Fortunately, Captain Morkal also told me how skilled firefighters would attack the fire and how they would make sure they and those they rescued were able to get back out.

In the book, John Ceepak goes into the abandoned ride known as the Hell Hole when he hears a woman screaming for help and shouting “Fire!”

(The Hell Hole, by the way, is a ride very similar to the Rotor or Gravitron where the room spins around and around until centrifugal force glues you to the wall like a sock in the spin cycle. Then they drop the floor out from under your feet.)

Ceepak sends Danny off to call 9-1-1 because their cell phones were destroyed earlier in the day.

Fortunately, on his way to find a pay phone on the boardwalk, Danny encounters three vacationing members of the FDNY who immediately spring into action and improvise an ingenious firefighting solution.

Thanks to Captain Morkal’s expert advice on how to stage the rescue, the scene crackles with excitement.

I find talking with experts and learning how they really do their job to be one of the most fascinating and fun aspects of being an author. It also helps you get things right. And when you do that, the reader can truly get lost in your world.

If you don’t get the details right, you might frustrate your readers and have a wall banger on your hands.

What’s a wall banger?

That’s a book that gets thrown against the wall.

 

Please take a moment to visit Chris at www.chrisgrabenstein.com

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Yvonne Mason: Bounty Hunting in Hawaii

Yvonne Mason

Bounty Hunting in Hawaii

I know that all of you out there are wondering how Dog the Bounty Hunter is able to do his job. So, I did a bit of research on Bounty Hunting laws in Hawaii.

Apparently there are very few restrictions for the great state of Hawaii. There are lobbyists trying to get the legislature to make hunting laws more restrictive. Of course Dog is fighting that.

They can have a felony record, there appears to be no age restriction or any of the other laws on the books in the other 49 states. The way that Hawaii gets by with the hiring of felons in the bonding business is this:

There is a term called “respondeat superior” a key doctrine in the law of agency, which provides that a principal (employer) is responsible for the actions of his agent (employee) in the “course of employment” and this includes the typical independent contractor relationship which most recovery agents have with the client.

Thus, if a bounty hunter causes a liability, the bonding company for which the hunter works will be liable for the injuries as well. When it comes to light in court that the bondsman hired a felon, a jury will crucify everyone involved. It has happened on several occasions in the past.

If anything happens on Dog’s watch his wife Beth will be held liable.

There is a bill being discussed in the legislature would require that a person apply for a hunters license to be at least 21 years old, pass a state examination, have no felony or aggravated misdemeanor arrest record, have no conviction where a dangerous weapon was used and to also submit to a fingerprint and background check.

Duane (Dog) Chapman is fighting this bill. His contention is that even though he has a felony record, he has been on the right side of the law for over 20 years. He has received a pardon. He feels that his record should not prevent him from this line of work and he cites his 7,000 plus recovery record as his grounds. However, he has also stated he would be willing to help draft a bill which would give some restrictions because the current bill as it stands has to many restrictions

According to current state laws, “career criminals” are allowed to break down doors searching for their jumper. This statement was made in the bill which was introduced. But he agrees that before a hunter breaks down a door to a residence he must first have the suspect in sight.

Dog the Bounty Hunter also agreed that Hawaii needed to follow the example of the other states which requires training and identification for their hunters. But he said the law should bar a bonding agent or a hunter from carrying a firearm.

Duane Chapman uses the fact that he does not carry a firearm; he carries and uses mace which in his mind is a better weapon. He contends that if one needs to use a bullet one should call a cop.

Now in theory that is a wonderful idea. However, if a cop is on the scene and they are involved, then the hunter loses his bounty. If the jumper is placed in a squad car and carted off then hunter cannot collect his money.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but if I have to get close enough to spray mace then, I am opening myself up to a lot of potential problems.

If Duane Chapman lived in any of the other forty nine states he would not only not be allowed to carry a weapon, he could not even have one in his home. He could not become a licensed hunter.

Now the strange part of this is that a Bail Bondsman has to meet certain requirements before he can become a bonding agent. He has to be at least 18, not committed any act that is a ground for a licensure sanction, pay the applicable fees, pass a written test within two years of the license for which he has applied.

So the question begs to be asked, if the State of Hawaii has absolutely no restrictions on Hunters, what keeps just any one from trying to make a fast buck? What would keep even more convicted felons from applying at the local bondsman for a job? Or even just free lancing. The answer is nothing.

In order for me to be able to hunt I was checked out by every law enforcement agency out there. My fingerprints are on file with every agency as well.

I am required to carry a concealed weapons permit. And I have to obey the laws of the land in regard to the civil rights of my jumper and those whom I come in contact with.

I believe that some convicted felons can turn their life around and be productive. I have some reservations about felons chasing other felons.

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Weekend Road Trip: Virginia Beach Tuna Fishing

Virginia Beach Fishing

 

This weekend we’re fishing for tuna off the coast of Virginia Beach with Brian Lofland and a few of his friends.



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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

Deputy Sheriff Anthony Forgione, 33

Okaloosa County Florida Sheriffs Office

Deputy Forgione was shot and killed by a suspect who had escaped custody during a mental health evaluation.

Forgione leaves behind a wife and two young daughters.

Officer Andrew Widman, 30

 

Fort Myers Florida Police Department

Officer Widman was shot and killed while attempting to quell a domestic disturbance.

He leaves behind a wife and three children.

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Michelle Gagnon: Stranger Than Fiction

Michelle Gagnon

Michelle Gagnon is a former modern dancer, bartender, dog walker, model, personal trainer, and Russian supper club performer. Her debut thriller The Tunnels was an IMBA bestseller. Her next book, Boneyard, depicts a cat and mouse game between dueling serial killers. In her spare time she wrestles wildlife and sneaks into restaurant bathrooms.

Stranger than Fiction

I have a weakness for the bizarre. Over the years, I’ve filled a file with truth-is-stranger-than-fiction news clippings. Some of these items I work into my novels, the rest I save for my own personal edification. Many of these are brief dispatches from the AP wire, or one of the smaller local papers that tend to be a treasure-trove of the weird and curious. Here are a few recent favorites, along with commentary…

Church attendance down? Try combining religion with X-Games events:

July 21, 2008, Kokomo, Ind. (AP): Jeff Harlow, the senior pastor at Crossroads Community Church, broke his wrist when he lost control of the motorcycle at the start of Sunday’s second service, driving off a 5-foot platform and into the vacant first row of seats. He underwent surgery on the wrist Monday. Wife Becky Harlow said her husband had recently attended a motorcycle race in Buchanan, Mich.

“He had this idea that he would bring this bike out onstage and show people how the rider would become one with the bike.”

 

When you snooze, you really do lose…

July 21, 2008, Monroe, Wash. (AP): Police spokeswoman Debbie Willis says a break-in was discovered July 9 at a Fred Meyer department store northeast of Seattle.

Police followed a trail of cardboard and items from storage containers in a locked area behind the store that led to the two men. One was sleeping in a stolen hammock and the other on a pile of stolen pillows.

Police photographed the men before waking and arresting them. Willis says alcohol was involved.

And we thought the CSI Effect only applied to courtrooms…

July 16, 2008 Albuquerque, N.M. (AP): It looked like something out of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” And sure enough, it was. State police said Wednesday that they solved a mysterious eastern New Mexico shooting death that was similar to a shooting depicted in a 2003 “CSI” episode. In both cases a revolver was found tied to balloons in an apparent effort to make the weapon float away.

“We’re not saying it’s a copycat of the TV show,” state police Lt. Rick Anglada said. “We have no way to know he actually saw the episode. However, the lead agent kept hearing from people that there was a similar case from ‘CSI.'”

Hickman was last seen two days before his body was found. Investigators believe he filled the balloons with helium, tied the balloon bouquet to the weapon, then duct-taped his own mouth and shot himself in the back of the head.

Just imagine if Little Red Riding Hood’s Grandma had known jujitsu, there might have been a totally different outcome…

July 14, 2008: Stroudsburg, Pa. (AP): A 77-year-old grandmother was recovering at home after she pinned down a rabid fox that bit her and held it until help arrived. Avis Blakeslee was attacked as she tended to her petunias outside her Stroudsburg farmhouse. She said she pushed the animal to the ground after it bit her, and held its jaws shut with one arm as she flagged down a passing driver with the other.

I have a real soft spot for the Carmel Pine Cone, they run a weekly police log detailing everything that’s happened in the area in the past week, from lost wallets to barking dogs. Here’s a recent incident. I can just imagine calling 911 for this repeat offender…

July 11, 2008: Carmel Pine Cone: Carmel-by-the-Sea: Male reported that on June 23 at 2100 hours, he entered a Dolores Street restaurant with the intention of having Italian food. He changed his mind, and used the restroom before leaving. While he was leaving, the manager took him by the arm and accused him of never eating and only using the restroom. He was escorted outside and told to leave. Reporting party felt that he was mistreated. The officer spoke with the manager, who said that the RP came into the restaurant, went to the restroom and began to leave. Manager and RP argued for a bit, and the manager escorted him outside. Manager said that the restaurant has two restrooms for patrons only and that there is a public restroom in the adjacent Picadilly Park. Manager said that this wasn’t the first time this RP has done this.

And finally, my home town rag. This falls under the category, “only in San Francisco.” Wonder how Jerry Garcia would feel about this…

July 18, 2008, San Francisco Chronicle: Stannous Flouride was in a Haight Street store when a uniformed San Francisco police officer came in and asked for the smallest Grateful Dead sticker in stock. The shopper was looking for something tiny enough to affix to a gun.

So do you have any wacky true crime stories to share? Best one receives a signed edition of my first thriller THE TUNNELS. If you don’t win, console yourself by signing up for my newsletter at www.michellegagnon.com and I’ll toss your name in the hat for an Amazon Kindle, iPod Shuffle, Starbucks gift certificates, and other fabulous prizes.

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Kate Flora: Writing Cops Right

Kate Flora

Former attorney Kate Flora is the author of ten books. Her dynamic character, Thea Kozak, returns in 2008 in Stalking Death, from Jim Huang’s Crum Creek Press/The Mystery Company. Finding Amy: A True Story of Murder in Maine, co-written with a career police officer, was a 2007 Edgar nominee. The story was filmed for Court TV and Psychic Investigators. She has gone in a new direction with Playing God and the upcoming The Angel of Knowlton Park, gritty police procedurals from Five Star. She is currently researching a new true crime and plotting a light-hearted series. Flora’s stories have appeared in the Level Best anthologies, in Sisters on The Case, an anthology edited by Sara Paretsky, and in Per Se, an anthology of fiction. Flora teaches writing for Grub Street in Boston.

Writing Cops Right: Some basics for mystery writers

When it comes to police procedure, mystery readers are a sophisticated bunch. Meeting their expectations means we can’t just make it up. We have to do research. My own efforts to “get cops right” led me to the Portland, Maine police department, where my relationship with my “go to guy,” Deputy Chief Joe Loughlin, led to a 2 ½ year collaboration writing the true story of one of his murder cases, Finding Amy: A True Story of Murder in Maine.

The Maine Game Wardens who helped find Amy’s body sent me to talk with another police department about another body they found, and now I’m nose-deep in another true crime.

Along the way, my research into law enforcement has led me into some interesting situations. I took my local department’s RAD course. I learned to shoot a handgun in the basement of a police department, with bullets in my ears for protection because all the ear protectors were missing. I flagged down an unsuspecting police sergeant at my local gym to ask some questions, which led to a citizen’s police academy in another city. I took an interview and interrogation course along with a bunch of local cops and store security officers. And once, because I wanted to make my character’s experience feel really authentic, I asked my local police chief to arrest me. He did it by the book. So much so that later he e-mailed to ask if I was okay. I was. Shaken but okay. And I got nine pages of notes from the experience.

I’m probably the only suburban housewife on my block with her own bullet-proof vest and handcuffs. And likely the only one with a police officer’s hat hanging on a hook in the entry. I’m sure I’m the only person in the whole Commonwealth of Massachusetts with her own toy replica of a Miramichi, New Brunswick police car.

It’s always a learning process, and it can be daunting. But I try to get it right for my readers.

Here are some of the ways I’ve educated myself about writing cops.

Read. Read. Read.

Read Lee Lofland’s book, Police Procedure & Investigation.

Read Connie Fletcher’s books, What Cops Know and Breaking and Entering: Women Cops Talk about Life in the Ultimate Men’s Club.

 

Read Lt. Albert Joseph’s book, We Get Confessions.

Read David Simon’s Homicide. Cops read it. Cops like it. Cops quote it.

If you can stomach it, read, Practical Homicide Investigation.

Get yourself a criminalistics textbook.

Even though civilians love the stuff, don’t get your forensics or your procedure from CSI.

Hang Around with Cops

 

You can read books ‘til the cows come home, but there’s no substitute for the real thing. If you’re going to write cops, you’ll want to know how they talk to each other, how they pick real information out of what sounds like radio squawk to you. What kind of guns they carry and what all the rest of that stuff on their belt is and what it’s for. What they’re looking at that made them conduct a traffic stop and what they’re looking for once that car is stopped. And an observant writer is always looking for the small details. What kind of stuff is on the desk? The Three Stooges. What’s on the office bulletin boards? Pictures of cute puppies. What do they have in the trunk? Everything.

Take a Citizen’s Police Academy. You’ll get real cops telling you the rules they work by–criminal and Constitutional Law, the “use of force continuum,” when you can stop someone, search someone, search a car, etc. Learn how 911 works. The incredible dangers of traffic stops. You may even get to shoot a gun. You’ll also establish police contacts to answer your questions. If your department doesn’t offer one, find another which does, explain your interest, and ask if you can attend.

Go on a ride-along. Many police departments will allow citizens to ride with their officers on patrol. This is a wonderful opportunity to see their world from the inside and to ask your questions. Don’t be a pest. Don’t be a bore. Take your cues from the officer you’re riding with. Often the person you’re riding with considers it a burden to have you along. But if you show interest, most cops are pleased to have someone genuinely curious about what they do and are great at answering questions. You may find yourself seeing your town or city in a completely different light as you learn the history of the buildings on your route-as one officer told me, “that’s where we found the guy hanging in the basement, and over there is where the guy shot his girlfriend and then ran down that alley and shot himself.” And the people you pass on corners and stoops may also come with a history. You never know what you’ll encounter. Once I got to go on a stake-out and actually spotted the bad guys.

Develop your own police source. Ask friends, relatives and co-workers if they know any police officers who will to talk to you. If this doesn’t work, try calling the information officer at your local police department. Sometimes you may meet resistance, but usually, if you explain who you are and that you’re just trying to “get it right,” they are very helpful. And one contact usually leads to another, so you can find the detective, drug investigator, ballistician or computer forensics expert you need.

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Sergeant Josh Moulin: Digital Evidence Forensics

Sgt Josh Moulin

Sergeant Josh Moulin supervises the Central Point Police Department’s Technical Services Bureau and is the Commander of the Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force. He is one of approximately 470 Certified Forensic Computer Examiner’s worldwide and has been trained by a variety of organizations in digital evidence forensics. Sgt. Moulin has also been qualified as an expert witness in the area of computer forensics and frequently teaches law enforcement, prosecutors, and university students about digital evidence.

Beginning his public safety career in 1993, Josh started in the Fire/EMS field working an assortment of assignments including fire suppression, fire prevention, transport ambulance, and supervision. After eight years Josh left the fire service with the rank of Lieutenant and began his law enforcement career. As a Police Officer Josh has had the opportunity to work as a patrol officer, field training officer, officer in charge, arson investigator, detective, and sergeant.

For further information about the Central Point Police Department please visit www.cp-pd.com, and for the Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force visit www.hightechcops.com. To reach Sgt. Moulin you can e-mail him at joshm@hightechcops.com.

Digital Evidence Forensics

Computers and other digital evidence can contain a tremendous amount of information and evidence in a criminal investigation. Digital evidence is quite unique because it can be the fruit of a crime, the instrumentality used to commit a crime, or contain evidence of a crime that it had nothing to do with. With this information in mind, there is nearly always some nexus to justify analyzing digital media in almost any crime. I’ll explain further the examples I provided above.

Fruit of the crime – It is all too common to have computers, cell phones, digital cameras, camcorders, iPods, etc. stolen during a burglary, robbery or theft. When these devices are taken the criminals generally just start using them as their very own or sell them on eBay.

 

They might delete some of the files of the original owners, or format a hard drive but it has been my experience that usually they do not. The great thing about computer forensics is that even if they do delete files and format drives, we can generally recover those items.

Often our forensics lab receives stolen property and is asked to identify the original owners based on old information left on the devices. The device itself is fruit of the original crime and can help point investigators to the correct victim. It is also common to recover a large amount of stolen equipment from one suspect, but they are from multiple crimes. Using forensics to analyze all the evidence can help close several unsolved cases.

Instrumentality used to commit a crime

By far the most common reason to have a digital device sent to the forensics lab. This is when a suspect uses a computer or other device to perpetrate the crime. Some examples would be child exploitation/child pornography, ID theft, fraud, forgery, cyberbullying, hacking, terrorism, etc. When we receive devices under this umbrella we are typically asked to locate all evidence of the suspected crime as well as other criminal activity located on the media.

Containing evidence of a non high-tech crime

 

This is where a digital device contains evidence that can be of interest in a case, but doesn’t have anything directly to do with the original crime. Some examples of this could be pictures/video of the crime stored on a digital device, a diary, a blog entry, an e-mail, or the tower coordinates of a cellular phone at the time of a crime. One great example of this is an arson case I assisted with.

The suspect of this arson had allegedly burned down an ex-boyfriend’s house using a complex incendiary device. After some investigating it was determined that the suspect had no previous training in firefighting or anything else that would teach her how to build such a device. We were able to articulate in a search warrant that the most common place for a person to gain this knowledge is from the Internet. After checking whether or not the suspect had Internet access and a computer the search warrant was served and several computers were seized. During the forensic analysis an e-mail was found that contained information about the fire that only the arsonist would have known. This “smoking gun” (forgive the pun) along with other physical evidence was enough to get a conviction.

The e-mail was the only direct evidence linking the suspect to this particular fire.

Digital evidence forensics has played a major role in several high-profile cases ranging from the BTK Killer to Scott Peterson.

 

It is difficult to think of any crime that doesn’t have some connection to technology.


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Yvonne Mason: Bounty Hunting in North Carolina

Yvonne Mason

Bounty Hunting in the Great Southern State of North Carolina

This Monday I am discussing the great State of North Carolina’s Laws on Bounty Hunting.

Again I will begin with the statutes of the State. In North Carolina Hunters are called Bail Runners. They must be licensed NC Gen Stat 58-71-40. They must be over 18 years old with no felony convictions and a resident of the state. They must have necessary training and experience.NC Gen Stat 58-17-50. They have to take a mandatory 20 hours of education in order to procure a license. NC Gen Stat 58-71-71. They also must take a written examination NC Gen 58-71-70. They can only work for one bonding company at a time which is the same in Georgia. NC Gen Stat 58-71-65 (1996)

Now here comes the big one. Bondsmen and runners cannot enter the homes of third parties to apprehend a fugitive.

This statute was added because of the case of State v Mathis. 509 S.E. 2d 155 (N.C.1998)

The defendant William Tankersley,III signed a bond in the amount of 1,500.00 with Marie’s Bail Bonding Company. He had been charged with passing bad checks. When Mr. Tankersley failed to appear in court, a warrant was issued for his arrest. Two licensed bail bondsmen, Mathis and Williamson, were employed by Marie’s Bail Bonding Company on December 9, 1995 to find Mr. Tankersley and bring him into the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s office.

The two bondmen went to the sister-in-law of Mr. Tankersley, but he was not there. They then preceeded to his mother’s house which was listed as his place of residency. Tankersley’s mother Mrs. Susan Nelson had co-signed on the bond. Both Mrs. Nelson and her daughter Mrs. Noto had dealings with Marie’s Bail Bonding before.

The bond showed that the defendant Mr. Tankersley drove a white 1990 Mazda MX-6 and that Mrs. Nelson drove a blue 1990 Toyota Camry.

When the agents arrived at the residence they were told by Mrs. Noto that Tankersley was not at home. She alleged he had gone shopping with his mother in the white Mazda. She was asked if she had been contacted by the bonding agency and her reply was no. However, Tankersley had spoken to the bonding co. before he left the house. The house was watched for several hours and at around 6:47pm Mathis and Williamson were called and told that Mrs. Nelson had returned.

This is where it gets ugly. Mathis and Williamson returned to the residence and see the White Mazda in the driveway. Mathis went to the back door and Williamson to the front. When Mathis knocked on the back door Mrs. Nelson answered and stepped outside closing the glass storm door behind her.

Mathis identified himself showed her his license and explained he was there to pick up her son.

Mrs. Nelson stated her son was not home and refused to allow Mathis to enter the house. Mathis told her he knew her son was there because the Mazda was in the driveway. She shot back with the statement that the Mazda was no longer his car and he no longer drove it.

Mathis told Mrs. Nelson that if it would make her feel better she could call the police and that he was going into the residence. “I have a warrant and I am going to leave when I get my man.”

Mrs. Nelson blocked the door. Mathis began to open the door and she began striking him and yelling loudly. Mathis pushed the storm door against Mrs. Nelson pinning her against the exterior wall of the house. As he pushed in one direction she pushed in the other which caused the clips holding the glass in place to pop out damaging the door.

In the meantime Williamson the other runner was able to enter the house. Mrs. Nelson followed them into the house and called the cops. The cops came and ran the runners out of the house and told them as soon as an arrest was made they would call them to pick Tankersley up. No call was made. At 2:00am Mathis and Williamson went back to the house flagged down a cop and the jumper (Tankerlsey) was taken into custody.

Because of this case, Bail bondsmen and Runners can no longer enter the home of a third party. The courts concluded that a bondsman or a Runner cannot enter the home of a third party even if the defendant lives there. Even though Tankersley listed his mother’s house as his place of residency the courts stated that the bondsmen could not enter the house forcefully because the house was the primary residence of Mrs. Nelson and she refused to give permission.

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Weekend Road Trip: Newburyport, Massachusetts

Newburyport

 

Drive an hour north of Boston on I95, then turn right and head for the coast and you’ll end up in Newburyport. This is the area where we spend our weekends kayaking and browsing the beaches. In fact, I’m posting this blog from there. Now maybe you’ll see why I’m a little slow responding to questions from Friday through Sunday night.

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