State looks into unit to investigate financial crimes against elderly

The New Hampshire Department of Justice is seeking to relaunch a two-person unit dedicated to prosecuting and investigating financial crimes against the elderly.

The Executive Council will vote today whether to accept and authorize the federal grant funding of $255,800, which would cover salaries of a lawyer and victim advocate, training and travel.

“This grant really does allow us to provide leadership in an area that is going to be (one) you see more and more of as the years go on,” said Jim Boffetti, who heads the Department of Justice consumer protection bureau.

The Department of Justice’s elder unit closed up seven years ago when the grant funding its operations ran out, Boffetti said. Cases of elder abuse are on the rise, he said, both in the state and nationwide.

A new state law that took effect last year criminalizes the financial exploitation of an elderly or impaired adult.

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State looks into unit to investigate financial crimes against elderly

Tennessee State Senator Wants Judicial Discipline Panel to Investigate Nashville Judges

State Sen. Randy McNally has asked the Board of Judicial Conduct to investigate whether two Nashville judges had “too close a relationship” with a lawyer involved in getting a client released from jail without spending a 12-hour “cooling off” period he was charged with domestic assault.

 The Oak Ridge Republican said he was inspired to send a letter to the BJC by newspaper reports of General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland moving to promptly release Nashville contractor David Chase when Chase was charged with assaulting his girlfriend, whereupon Chase returned to the woman’s home and brutally beat her again, authorities allege.

Current state law allows a judge to order someone charged with domestic violence to spend 12 hours in jail as a “cooling off” period before release. But Moreland waived the requirement at the request of Chase’s attorney, Brian Lewis. Another judge, Night Commissioner Thomas Nelson, waived the 12-hour rule after Chase’s second arrest.

The Tennessean reported that Lewis and his wife had donated $3,000 to Moreland’s re-election campaign last November. Moreland also told the newspaper the two were close friends and had vacationed together.

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Senator Wants Judicial Discipline Panel to Investigate Nashville Judges