Category Archives: Crime

Crime, General Legal, Opinion

Hacked, Cloned, Spoofed and Phished…

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The internet is truly the wild west of modern day society. Social media, electronic communications and instant access have made daily life easier and more painful!

Hacked= use a computer to gain unauthorized access to data in a system.

Cloned=cloning  the process of copying the contents of one computer hard drive to another disk or to an “image” file. 

Spoofed= Spoofing is a type of scam in which a criminal disguises an email address, display name, phone number, text message, or website URL to convince a target that they are interacting with a known, trusted source. Spoofing often involves changing just one letter, number, or symbol of the communication so that it looks valid at a quick glance. For example, you could receive an email that appears to be from Netflix using the fake domain name “netffix.com.”

Phishing= the fraudulent practice of sending emails or other messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

I have been a victim twice in the last 6-months!

6 months ago my Facebook was hacked. The hacker, from exotic Thailand, began attempting to login multiple times and then managed to change the recovery email to their own. Facebook, clearly confused that I may be in Thailand, allowed my new friend access and allowed them to be me! They immediately sent 100s of friend requests and did mainly other mildly annoying things, but no real damage. Or so I thought…

It turns out what the hacker was doing was buying ads for some dumb game/virus scam. Even after I was able to recover my account I was unaware that my Thai-buddy purchased Facebook ads with my credit!

Facebook sent me a notice of how my ad campaign was going. I advised Facebook that I had no such campaign. Turns out I had 3! One active and 2 in the hopper. I was able to end the current ad and delete the future ads, with minimal actual out of pocket expense to me. When I reported this to Facebook, they stated they reviewed the campaign and it all looked legit so I could not get my money back. Whomp-whomp.

However, I was able to regain control, detach a payment source and ultimately minimize the harm. It wasn’t super easy or straight forward and I felt as if Facebook thought I was up to something as opposed to the Thai-user.

Well, this week, my email account was hacked. This time my friend traveled to Lagos, Nigeria. They began login attempts at 6 in the morning and gained access at 2 in the afternoon. Now why Outlook doesn’t think every attempt to login to my email from Nigeria isn’t suspect is beyond me. A review of “My Activity” shows numerous logins from good ‘ol Madison, Mississippi for years and then a few hours later Nigeria!

Outlook’s assumption? I must be in Nigeria and need access. And I forgot my long-in and password… The Nigerian interloper gained access for a few minutes, sent out 180 emails with an attachment that looked like a Word download of a Bed Bath and Beyond Coupon and I immediately started getting calls, texts, and emails asking “Is this legit?“

As I responded as fast I could “No!” The hacker was responding “Yes. Please download.” !!! The hacker then started deleting my sent mail so I could not warn all persons it was sent to. I was finally able to wrestle back my email and changed the credentials to a password no human can ever remember…

This hack made less sense to me, but it turns out they targeted a law firm in the hopes of getting access to the lawyer’s trust/escrow account. They failed. This time.

Just for fun, the Hacker also implemented a “Rule” within my Email that rerouted all incoming messages to a subfolder that was previously never used. It took an expert diagnosis to solve that conundrum and the explanation of why incoming messages were rerouted was so that I would quit responding to persons that it was a scam.

This was also during the Snowapocolpyse of 2024. Perfect timing.

So what are the takeaways? Have some good antivirus software on your computer. Have some good passwords that are hard to guess. Have a recovery email go somewhere that you will have access to it. Get a credit card that is exclusively for online purchases. Get a bank account, again, solely for online activity. This will not prevent any hacking, but it will minimize the damage.

Matthew Thompson is a family law attorney in Mississippi and cautions you to be careful with downloads, uploads and computer users from Thailand and Nigeria.

Appeal, Child Custody, Child Support, Crime, divorce, General Legal, Opinion

What Can You Do When the Judge Violates the Law?

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Judges swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, to follow the law, and apply it without prejudice or bias. Most do this very difficult task with tact and professionalism. Some do not. The Code of Judicial Conduct is intended to establish standards for ethical conduct
of judges.

So what do you do when your Judge violates the law? Sometimes it’s a judgment call and not a violation of the law. In these circumstances you can file a Motion for New Trial and/or an Appeal.

But what about when the judge clearly violates the law? Can you sue the Judge? Usually, no. Judges enjoy what is known as Judicial Immunity that protects them from civil liability for violating the law. If the actions are criminal there could be penalties, but typically not for civil violations.

What else can be done? Contact Mississippi Judicial Performance. Judicial performance is an entity created by the Mississippi Constitution that seeks;

To enforce the standards of judicial conduct,
To inquire into judicial liability and conduct,
To protect the public from judicial misconduct and disabled judges, and
To protect the judiciary from unfounded allegations.


All proceedings before the Commission are of a civil nature, not criminal, as the​ purpose of the Commission is to be rehabilitative and educational as well as disciplinary.

Judicial Complaint Form

Any citizen, litigant, attorney, law enforcement official, judge, public official, or other individual who has knowledge of possible judicial misconduct may file a complaint with the Commission. Complaints may also be filed anonymously. Additionally, the Commission may file a complaint on its own motion based upon matters it learns of in other ways, such as from mass media and information obtained during the course of an investigation.

All complaints must be submitted to the Commission in writing. The Commission does not accept oral complaints. You may use a complaint form or write a letter to the Commission. A complaint form filed with the Commission should be typewritten or printed so that it is easily readable.

Matthew Thompson is an attorney in Mississippi and knows most Judges try to do it right…

Child Custody, Child Support, Crime, General Legal

TN Law Makes DUI Driver of Fatal Wreck Pay Child Support

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“Ethan’s, Hailey’s, and Bentley’s Law“1 requires a sentencing court to order a defendant who has been convicted of vehicular homicide due to intoxication, and in which the victim of the offense was the parent of a minor child, to pay restitution in the form of child maintenance to each of the victim’s children until each child reaches 18 years of age and has graduated from high school.

Cecilia Williams , grandmother of, Bentley Williams, 5, and Mason Williams, 3, is raising her grandchildren after their parents were killed April 13, 2021, in a drunk-driving accident in Missouri.

Since her family members’ deaths, Williams has worked to get legislation called Bentley’s Law passed in Tennessee and several other states, including attempts in Missouri, that requires those convicted of driving while intoxicated to pay compensation to families affected by a drunk-driving death.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill on May 25, 2022.

Along with Tennessee, Bentley’s Law has also been introduced in Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, Alabama, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Vermont, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Kansas, Arkansas, Delaware, Wisconsin, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Texas and Utah have stated plans to introduce similar laws during 2023 sessions.

David G. Thurby, 26, of Fenton, TN was charged and convicted of three counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal accident in Byrnes Mill, Missouri.

After the fatal accident on April 13, 2021, Thurby was arrested and told a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper that before the crash, he had seven shots of Crown and water, and a preliminary breath test showed Thurby’s blood-alcohol content was .192 percent, more than twice the legal limit, according to the probable-cause statement in the case.

A jury found Thurby guilty following a trial in front of Jefferson County Circuit Judge Victor Melenbrink.

In March, Judge Melenbrink sentenced Thurby to four years in prison on each of the three counts. Two of the counts are to be served consecutively with the other to be served concurrently, meaning Thurby is to serve eight years in prison.

Williams has set up a Facebook group called “Bentley’s Law” to share updates about the law’s progress in each state.

Matthew Thompson is Child Support lawyer in Mississippi and supports a law such as this in Mississippi.

  1. The law is named after children whose parents were killed in crashes caused by drunk drivers.
Crime, General Legal, humor

Legal Citation of the Decade: Madison the City, an Old Scandal and FOUL language…

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A recent decision ended the litigation between the Estate of Mark Mayfield vs. The City of Madison. It was a sordid affair involving the Cochran nursing home scandal, a hotly contested U.S. Senate race, a tragic death and multiple twists that prove time and again that truth is stranger than fiction.

You can read the full Order here and see a myriad of comments from legal scholars that post to the Blog; Jackson Jambalaya…

Today’s post just focuses on one quote from Federal Judge, Carlton Reeves’s Opinion.

“At the third and final step, the Mayfields must come forward with evidence that a jury could use to conclude that the City’s probable cause was, for lack of a better term, bullshit. See generally HARRYG. FRANKFURT, ON BULLSHIT (2005) (attempting to define the term). The questions at step three are supposed to be tailored to the particular circumstances of the case…”

“…In this case, the framework suggests that we should ask a series of questions. Did the investigation follow the evidence to its targets, or did the police “round up the usual suspects? ”Was there anything unusual about the timing or the manner of the City’s investigation? Is there any other case where the City Attorney met with the District Attorney and the investigators everyday to discuss charges and be involved in how those charges would proceed? Were persons who engaged in similar conduct also arrested, or were they let off the hook because of more agreeable political beliefs? See Nieves, 139 S. Ct. at 1727.An examination of the evidence adduced in this case satisfactorily answers these questions. Instead of rounding up the most vocal McDaniel supporters, City investigators followed the evidence from Kelly to Mary to Mayfield. The police were given free rein to conduct their investigation as they saw fit, without direction from the Mayor, a Cochran supporter. There is no evidence that before the Rose Cochran incident, the City of Madison was itching for an excuse to go after McDaniel supporters. And there is no evidence of differential treatment of McDaniel and Cochran supporters. As an example, there is no evidence that Cochran supporters entered a McDaniel relative’s home in Madison, after which the City refused to prosecute them.”

It’s not often you see Bullsh*t attempt to be defined in a judicial opinion.

Matthew Thompson is a civil litigation/family law attorney and “LOL-ed” when reading this Opinion.

A Picture is Worth a Decillion Words…Mississippi Politics; Cochran vs. McDaniel
A Picture is Worth a Decillion Words…Mississippi Politics; Cochran vs. McDaniel
Crime, divorce, General Legal

Divorce Court vs. Criminal Court

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Sometimes divorcing parties act like criminals, but Divorce Court is NOT Criminal Court (typically).

Divorce court, a.k.a. Chancery Court, is a civil court. The Court’s function is to legally divorce parties that are entitled to be divorced and divide property. The Court has the authority to deal with and punish conduct that is violative of its Orders or disruptive conduct that occurs directly in its presence. Other than those instances it is not a punitive Court. You typically are not punished for marital fault…

Criminal court, which can be Circuit, County, Municipal, or Justice, among others, can punish. These Courts have prosecutors whose job is to prove the accused committed a crime/violated a law. The Judge or a jury determines if the matter was proven and a punishment, including; incarceration, fines, and other remedies.

However, sometimes these can relate or overlap. Conduct that could serve as grounds for divorce, such as domestic violence, is also a crime. The Court’s are independent of one another and you can be punished in Criminal Court and divorced in Chancery Court over the same facts.

Interestingly, your right to plead the fifth, invoking the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution can be done in both Courts. While it cannot be used against you in Criminal Court, it can be used to make an adverse inference in Chancery Court. So, if you are accused of adultery/habitual fornication in Criminal Court, which IS a crime in Mississippi, you may invoke the fifth and the prosecutor must prove a violation of the law by beyond a reasonable doubt, however in Divorce Court, while you may invoke the fifth, the Court can treat that as an adverse inference/admission and could find such to be enough to rise to clear and convincing evidence of adultery. Confused yet?

Divorce Court and Criminal Court are different animals, with different standards and different outcomes. However, all are serious and your rights may be infringed if the Court determines they should be.

Matthew Thompson is a Divorce Court lawyer and encourages those charged with a crime to confer with an experienced Criminal Defense attorney.

Crime, divorce, humor

Man Robs Bank Hoping to Get Sent to Prison to Escape Wife, Sentenced to House Arrest.

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Kansas City, Kansas. John Ripple walked into a bank and handed the teller a note demanding cash and stating he had a gun. The teller handed over $2,924.00. Ripple then sat in the lobby for police to arrive.

Ripple surrendered. Upon his arrest, he told investigators that he wrote the note in front of his wife, telling her he’d rather be in in jail than live with her.

Prior to sentencing, Ripple sought leniency as he was facing up to 37 months in prison. Ripple cited his recent heart surgery and depression, causing him to not “be himself.” Interestingly, the bank vice president and teller also supported a lesser sentence.

In a twist of fate, the Court sentenced Ripple to 6-months of home confinement. Sentencing him to the fate he was seeking to escape. There has been no update as to whether he was seeking post-conviction relief for cruel and unusual punishment, being forced to live with your spouse.

Matthew Thompson is a divorce attorney in Mississippi and reminds you there are easier ways than robbing a bank to get divorced.

http://www.BowTieLawyer.ms (601)850-8000

Crime, divorce, General Legal

16 questions used to ID domestic abuse victims likely to be killed

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Research has found that men who choked their partners were 10 times more likely to eventually kill them.

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A CBS News article reported that the Oklahoma City Police Department is among the forces using the 16-question checklist, which is designed to help officers identify victims who are likely to be killed.

By answering the below questions, the more times a victim answers “Yes” to the questions, the more likely domestic violence may lead to a victim’s death. The checklist will be used across the state of Oklahoma. Authorities in Maryland say fatalities have dropped 30 percent since they started using it.

 

Below are the 16 questions contained in the “Domestic Violence Risk Assessment” checklist:

1. Has he/she ever used a weapon against you/threatened you with a weapon?

2. Has he/she ever threatened to kill you or your children?

3. Do you think he/she might try to kill you?

4. Does he/she have a gun or can he/she get one easily?

5. Has he/she ever tried to choke you?

6. Is he/she violent or constantly jealous or does he/she control most of your daily activities?

7. Does he/she follow or spy on you or leave threatening messages?

8. Have you left him/her or separated after living together or being married?

9. Is he/she unemployed?

10. Has he/she ever tried to kill himself/herself?

11. Do you have a child/children together?

12. Do you have a child that he/she knows is not his/hers?

13. Has he/she been physical toward the child(ren) in a way that concerns you?

14. Does he/she have an alcohol/substance abuse problem?

15. Has he/she interfered with a 911 call?

16. Is there anything else that worries you about your safety?

 

If you are in Mississippi and need help please do one or all of the following by contacting the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence;

If you are in danger, call 911.

If you need immediate assistance after hours: Call 1-800-799-SAFE(7233).

Local to the metro area may call 601-981-9196

If you wish to be connected with someone in your area regarding domestic violence, volunteering or making a donation, call 1-800-898-3234.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in Mississippi and encourages victims of domestic violence to have an emergency plan and seek immediate help.

Child Custody, Crime, divorce, General Legal

Don’t take your Gun to Court.

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The Mississippi Supreme Court has reversed a Lowndes County Chancery Court Judge’s Order which essentially banned firearms from all areas of the courthouse.

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The Judge- by Taurus, a revolver capable of firing a .45 long colt or .410 shotgun shell. It is legal for Judges to carry guns, even on the bench in Mississippi.

This is somewhat controversially in light of several recent MS law clarifications on where one could and could not carry a firearm. A resident of the local community challenged the Court Order, alleging it contradicted state statutory law which limited broader restrictions to the wisdom of the legislature.

The law currently provides that if you have a concealed carry license and enhanced carry license endorsement you may carry in most public places, including Courthouses, so long as it is not in the Courtroom while Court is in session.

The Family law judges thought that did not go far enough and entered an Order, declaring the entire Courthouse a Courtroom, effectively banning firearms from the entire building.

The challenge was successful in having the Judge’s Order reversed. The Mississippi Supreme Court declared the Order an unconstitutional infringement on the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms.

“One of the clearest delegations of legislative power in our Constitution is found in
Article 3, Section 12. It provides: “The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in
defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but the Legislature may regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons.” (Emphasis in original.) Without equivocation, the Legislature is the branch of government that the citizens of Mississippi chose to regulate or forbid concealed weapons.”

Justice Mike Randolph, Mississippi Supreme Court

The Lowndes County Chancellors have filed for a Rehearing and made several compelling arguments on why the Mississippi Supreme Court may have gotten this one wrong. Stay tuned for more.

Also, you may be wondering why the title says Don’t take your Gun to the Courthouse, even though the Supreme Court says you can, well, it’s just good advice.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law attorney, gun enthusiast and practices in Lowndes Chancery Court and does not think family law litigants having guns at all times is a great idea.

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