Idaho Law Blog
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Sentencing Held for Fatal DUI Crash in Canyon County District Court
Jeffery Hiscox, a 19 year-old from Boise was killed in August when the vehicle in which he was a passenger was struck by a drunk driver, Orion Blumenfeld of Nampa. Blumenfeld hit the vehicle when its driver was attempting to turn onto Locust Lane. Hiscox was taken to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center where he died.
The ruling by Third Judicial District Judge Meienhofer includes 180 days of jail time of which 170 days are suspended, two years of supervised probation, $500 fine and suspension of his driver’s license for 180 days. Additionally, Blumenfeld cannot refuse a breathalyzer test, have any illegal substances or new crimes, given 50 hours of community service and must not consume alcohol in the next two years.
In 2015, the Idaho State Police made 1,089 arrests for DUIs, local agencies made 6,298 arrests for a total of 7,387 DUI arrests. The highest percentages of arrests were those in the 24 year-old to 29 year-old age range. 87 fatalities occurred in 2015 from drunk or impaired driving crashes. The Office of Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration remind motorists to drive sober. If you have been drinking, leave your car parked and find an alternative method of transportation to arrive home safely and to protect other motorists.
Infectious Disease Claims are Tough
On October 8, 2012, Richard Job, M.D. was working as an internal medicine doctor and primary care physician for DRNE Clinic/Heritage Health. On June 17, 2013 Dr. Job presented to Dr. Patrick Mullen complaining of sudden onset right thumb pain. Eventually, the infection was determined to be caused by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. When asked as to a possible source of the infection, Dr. Job told Dr. Mullen that the only thing that came to mind was that his cat had scratched him on his right hand a few weeks previous. The infection spread throughout the claimant’s body.
The widely disseminated MRSA infection had by the time of the hearing resulted in numerous surgeries including multiple hand and wrist, surgeries to clean out the infection, multiple surgeries to Dr. Job’s back and shoulder, and the removal of Dr. Job’s previously installed artificial hip joint. Dr. Job was placed on IV antibiotics for suppressive therapy of his incurable MRSA infection and will remain so for the rest of his life. Dr. Job also had suffered two strokes that were arguably related to his MRSA infection. Strokes left him unable to effectively communicate. In fact, Dr. Job was not even able to attend the hearing in the matter due to his health condition, including a second stroke. But, through his attorney Steven Nemec, Dr. Job had hired a number of physicians to testify in his behalf.
ESPA Ground Water Management Area
By T.J. Budge
The Director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources recently issued an Order Designating the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Ground Water Management Area (“ESPA GWMA”) on November 2, 2016. The Director said his objective in forming the ESPA GWMA is to “bring all of the water users into the fold – cities, water districts and others – who may be affecting aquifer levels through their consumptive use.” (IDWR Press Release No. 2016-18.)
The formation of the ESPA GWMA comes on the heels of the monumental ESPA Settlement Agreement between the Surface Water Coalition (SWC) and Idaho Ground Water Appropriators, Inc. (IGWA). That Agreement resolved more than a decade of contentious litigation between surface water and groundwater users by requiring groundwater users to reduce their water use in order to achieve an agreed-upon aquifer recovery goal for the ESPA. However, about ten percent of the groundwater users who divert water from the ESPA are not represented by IGWA and are not participating in recovering the ESPA. The designation of the ESPA GWMA is designed to require these outliers to contribute toward efforts to recover the aquifer.
Homestead Allowance in Second Marriages
In second marriages, when one or both spouses have children from a previous marriage, it is common for husband or wife to draft their estate planning documents in a way to ensure that their children from the previous marriage will inherit. One way to accomplish this desire is to devise all community property to the new spouse and all separate property to the children from the previous marriage. However, if this is not done properly, the surviving spouse may be able to swoop in under the homestead allowance and take the separate property that was meant to go to the deceased spouse’s children from the previous marriage.
Idaho Code § 15-2-402 states that:
“The homestead allowance is exempt from and has priority over all claims against the estate…The homestead allowance is in addition to any share passing to the surviving spouse…by the will of the decedent unless otherwise provided in the will, or by intestate succession, or by way of elective share. The amount of the homestead allowance shall be fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)…The right to a homestead allowance is determined as follows:
Idaho Worker’s Compensation Insurance Companies Still Under the Microscope
In October of 2006 the Claimant, Thomas C. Millard, fell 25’ on to a cement pad and injured his back, left leg, neck and shoulder. As a result of the accident the Claimant also suffered a serious brain injury.
As a part of his treatment the Claimant in 2012 and 2013 had injections completed by his doctor Vikas Garg, M.D. Claimant also received physical therapy treatments in 2011.
Employee v. Independent Contractor Under Idaho Law
There is a difference between an employee and an independent contractor under both federal and state law. Under applicable laws, an employee qualifies for protection and is guaranteed a certain minimum wage and possibly overtime pay. On the other hand, an independent contractor does not enjoy these protections but is entitled to receive the terms and conditions of his contractual agreement. The reason for this is that the independent contractor is in a position to negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract, including how, when, and how much they will be paid. One of the main questions I am asked by my clients is whether a person is an independent contract or an employee.
An independent contractor is a person who retains control of the job that is to be done. The best example that can be given is that of building a house. In this scenario there is usually a general contractor who agrees with the home buyer to build a certain home, in a certain location within a certain amount of time. This general contractor often hires subcontractors to complete specific types of jobs on the home such as installation of the plumbing or the electrical wires. A subcontractor is nothing more than an independent contractor.
Records To Be Kept By Employers
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards for employment subject to its provisions. Unless exempt, covered employees must be paid at least the minimum wage and not less than one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for overtime hours worked. To compute which employees are entitled to receive these benefits, every covered employer must keep certain records for each non-exempt worker.
THE SPECIFIC RECORDS TO BE KEPT
Fatality on Westbound I-84 Near Broadway in Ada County
The Idaho State Police (ISP) reports that a two-vehicle crash occurred Thursday, November 10, 2016 on westbound I-84 at milepost 56 near Broadway Avenue. A 24 year-old man, Matthew Martin from Ontario, Oregon was traveling in the westbound lane in a 2016 Toyota Corolla when he lost control of his vehicle and struck the guard rail. Martin’s vehicle came to rest in the center lane of travel. Martin was struck by a 2012 Freightliner commercial vehicle driven by Justin Dennis of Caldwell while he was standing next to his vehicle in the traffic lane.
Martin was transported by ambulance to St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise where he later died of his injuries. The lanes of travel on I-84 were blocked for approximately 5 ½ hours while law enforcement and emergency personnel investigated the accident scene.
An accident can become worse by actions taken immediately following a crash. Always keep safety in mind to prevent additional accidents or injuries. If possible, after a crash, pull over to a safe spot out of the lanes of traffic. If you are not able to do so, alert other drivers of the accident using your hazard lights or use cones or flares to direct traffic away from your disabled vehicle. It is advisable to have an emergency kit in your vehicle at all times with items such as flares, cones, warning triangles, flashlight or other types of useful equipment.
When is the Right Time in Life to Update My Estate Planning?
The estate planning blogs that we have posted on our website mainly talk about the importance and reasons why you should complete your own personal estate planning. I do have a number of clients who have their estate planning done. When this occurs, many of them come to me and ask me about when it would be important for them to update their estate planning. I explain to my clients that there are several major life changes that could occur that are a good reason to pull out their estate planning documents and decide if changes need to be made. Here is a list of these major life changes:
1. DEATH OF A PERSON