Monthly Archives August 2021

DC STALKING STATUTE & FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTION

The DC Court of Appeals in Mashaud v. Boone decided on August 12, 2021, addressed and analyzed the First Amendment defense against the DC Stalking Statute. Factually, the trial court had entered a civil protection order (CPO) against appellant Mashaud based on evidence at trial establishing that the appellant had stalked Boone by sending emails, and Facebook messages to Boone’s coworkers, family, and friends revealing that Boone had engaged in an extramarital affair with his wife. Mashuad on appeal essentially argued that his conduct and technically the speech was protected by the First Amendment. The DC Stalking Statute in relevant
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TAX LIABILITIES AND CONSIDERATIONS IN DISTRIBUTION OF MARITAL ASSETS

The Court of Appeals in Leftwich v. Leftwich, considered and incorporated parties’ tax liabilities in distribution of marital assets and during the divorce proceedings. Specifically, the trial court had issued a conditional order in the distribution of martial assets phase in effect conditioning receipt of certain martial property to the wife only after she had signed two years of tax returns jointly with her husband in order to reap the tax benefits of joint filing.  Essentially requiring wife to file joint amended tax returns for two previous years. The Court of Appeals ruled that the order although conditional to be
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