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INYOUR DEFENSE
OCTOBER 2021
757.852.3000 | LegalDefense.com
LESSONS FROM TRICK-OR-TREATING Be Careful What You Wish For
October has finally arrived, and I couldn’t be more excited. The festive atmosphere that comes with this time of year is difficult to match. Combine that with the Oktoberfest selection of beers, and you’ve got a recipe for a great holiday. While it’s fun to get dressed up in costumes and go to neighborhood parties, let’s not forget that Halloween is the favorite holiday of many children. It allows them to dress up as whatever they want, stay up past their bedtime, and most importantly, receive mountains of candy. Halloween also provides the perfect opportunity to teach your children some valuable lessons. I still have plenty of fond memories of my childhood adventures during Halloween. Back in the late ’70s, I decided I wanted to dress up as a hobo as I traveled the neighborhood searching for candy. My parents were eager to help with my costume and provided me with all the necessary accessories. I needed to look like I had been traveling along the railroads, thus they made my face look dirty, and I wore a beat- up old hat and jacket. I grabbed a stick and wrapped a handkerchief around it to make my bindle. I was ready to begin, but my dad had one other accessory to complete the costume. To give a sense of my costume’s realism, my dad provided me with a cigar. Being a child of 11 or 12, I thought this was the coolest thing in the world and even asked my dad to light it. Surprisingly, he obliged and lit the cigar before sending me on my way. As a kid with no knowledge of how to correctly smoke a cigar, I quickly inhaled more than I should have. After approximately 15 minutes, I came running home — green in the face. I got so sick that I couldn’t enjoy any of the candy I had collected. You may have heard how some parents back then made their kid smoke an entire pack of cigarettes if they caught them smoking. It’s definitely seen as a form of child abuse now, but it used to be a strong-handed way for your child to learn a lesson. I believe my dad was trying to teach me a lesson by lighting the cigar. It seemed like he was trying to show me that smoking was bad, and his method worked. It was many years before I tried a cigar again, and I stayed away from cigarettes altogether.
I feel as though I learned many lessons from this experience, but one of the most important was to be careful what you wish for because things are not always as fun as they outwardly appear. Walking around with that lit cigar may have looked cool at the time, but I certainly didn’t feel that way afterward. This story also exemplifies another lesson that is not too common these days. Too often, parents simply say no to their children, which prompts them to later explore curiosities outside a safe environment. Back in the day, parents were more likely to let their kids make mistakes and experience the consequences on their own. While I can’t say my dad’s lesson kept me away from smoking outright, it did help me become cautious of the dangers. I have since learned how to smoke a cigar and find them enjoyable from time to time. Without my Halloween adventure, there’s no telling if I would have started to smoke cigarettes or not. It’s important to talk to your kids about various scenarios, but sometimes, they have to learn the lesson on their own for it to really sink in. – Daniel J. Miller
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T hanks , B ud !
BASEBALL’S FORMER COMMISSIONER AND STREAMING TV
You don’t become America’s national pastime without learning how to adapt — and Major League Baseball (MLB) made the ultimate pivot. This October, MLB’s biggest stars and teams with the most wins all-time will take the field for the 2021 playoffs. The winners will be crowned champions of the world, but the league these champs call home already owns an equally prestigious title: the founders of streaming services. Their legendary reign started back in the early 2000s, when former MLB commissioner Bud Selig asked every team in the league to contribute $4 million for the creation of Baseball Advanced Media (BAM). At that time, the dot-com bubble had yet to burst, and Selig wanted America’s once favorite sport to “keep up with the times,” so to speak. BAM created a website for each team, but it soon took on other qualities that gave it an edge. The Hustle reports that BAM offered online video, multidevice watching services, and a large data and broadband structure before other major platforms even existed.
BAM became such a smashing success that it soon became BAMTech and started creating platforms for other popular sports leagues like World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the National Hockey League (NHL). (It even assisted HBO!) In 2017, one of the biggest players in movies, Disney, invested in BAMTech, claiming a majority stake, and began its transition into streaming services. Soon after, as The Hustle reported in July 2021, Disney announced Disney+, a streaming platform whose features were similar to that of Netflix and BAM. In March 2021, Disney+ hit more than 100 million users, making it a powerhouse in streaming — all created because of BAMTech. Today, BAM and BAMTech are credited with being on the forefront of streaming services and continue to hold a power position over streaming and within entertainment companies. “Media companies are not good at tech and really struggle with large scale,” says investment analyst Rich Greenfield in The Verge. “They don’t trust companies like Google or Amazon, who want to displace them. BAM is seen as friendly.”
C an I G et a D ismissed C harge E xpunged F rom M y R ecord ?
A FEW OBSTACLES STAND IN YOUR WAY
It’s a common misconception that dismissed charges fall off your criminal record. The unfortunate truth, however, is that many employers will still be able to see dismissed charges when they review your criminal record and will dismiss you as a candidate for the job before you get a chance to prove yourself. If you don’t want a criminal charge to appear on your record, then you’ll have to file to expunge that dismissed charge — but there are strict requirements for successfully doing so. First, the defense or the prosecution must dismiss the charge. Many times, the court will dismiss cases on first offender grounds. This means you agreed that the evidence presented in your case was enough to convict you, and that the case was later dismissed when you completed some sort of community service or rehabilitation program, for example.
Unfortunately, if this was what happened in your case, you are not entitled to have it expunged from your record.
Second, you must have no other criminal history. One fact you will need to convince the court of is that the dismissed charge still materially affects you. If you have other convictions on your record, the courts will often rule that expunging one charge probably won’t change your situation. Sure, employers wouldn’t be able to see that charge anymore, but they would still see any other convictions and toss out your application based on those charges. While the outlook for getting your dismissed case expunged might seem grim, don’t panic just yet. With the right attorney in your corner, you can still get a favorable outcome for your case. Call the Law Offices of Daniel J. Miller today at 757.892.5600 to see how we can help you make sure you get a fair shake on your next job application.
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Co-parenting comes with its own set of unique challenges, but those challenges are far from insurmountable, so long as you and your co- parent make a plan together. While the specifics of each co-parenting situation vary from family to family, anyone involved in co-parenting could benefit from following three general steps. Put your children’s needs first. While it might be tempting to put the best outcome for yourself first when you’re separating from an ex, the needs of your kids must come first. Where they live could affect them physically and emotionally. Which parent lives in their school attendance area? Will their age affect which parent they might spend more time with? Any good parenting plan starts by centering every question and answer on the well-being of your children. Create a plan that is specific yet flexible. Make sure you, your co-parent, and your kids know the schedule. Many parents opt for a 50/50 time split of some sort, rotating guardianship week to week, or maybe doing two days with one parent, two days 3 Steps to Making the Best Possible Parenting Plan
with the other, three days with the first, and then switching. At the same time, though, both parents should acknowledge that sometimes life happens, despite everyone following the plan. It’s important for all involved, especially the children, to realize that sometimes plans can shift and change unexpectedly. Make a communication plan specifically. Don’t wait to figure out how to best communicate updates about your kids’ and your schedules. Miscommunication is a prime breeding ground for arguments, so it’s best to make a plan for how you’ll stay in touch. Whether through a phone call, a text message, or a co- parenting app (you can choose from several), make sure that you, your co-parent, and your kids are all on the same page. All these steps and more can be discussed when you’re first laying out your separation agreement. For any questions on other considerations you should be making for the health of your children and your family, talk to our experienced legal team at the Law Offices of Daniel J. Miller at 757.517.2942.
OKTOBERFEST SOFTPRETZELS
SUDOKU
Inspired by Tasty.co
INGREDIENTS
• 1 1/2 cups warm water • 1 tbsp salt • 1 tbsp sugar • 1 packet active dry yeast • 4 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tbsp oil, divided • 2/3 cup baking soda • 2 eggs, beaten • Coarse salt, for sprinkling
DIRECTIONS
1. In a bowl, combine water, salt, and sugar. Add yeast and let rest for 5 minutes. Add flour and 2 tbsp oil, then mix thoroughly into a dough. 2. Remove the dough from the bowl. Coat bowl with remaining oil, then return the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and set it aside in a warm place for 1 hour. 3. Preheat oven to 450 F. 4. Cut dough into 8 pieces. Roll them into thin ropes, then twist ropes into pretzel shapes. 5. In a large pot, boil water. Add baking soda, then boil each pretzel for 1 minute, flipping halfway through. 6. Transfer pretzels to a baking sheet. Brush them with egg and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10–15 minutes. Enjoy!
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LESSONS FROM TRICK-OR-TREATING PAGE 1 HOW THE MLB HELPED CREATE DISNEY+ CAN I GET A DISMISSED CHARGE EXPUNGED FROM MY RECORD? PAGE 2 3 STEPS TO MAKING THE BEST POSSIBLE PARENTING PLAN OKTOBERFEST SOFT PRETZELS PAGE 3 CORN MAZES DATE BACK TO ANCIENT GREECE? PAGE 4 INSIDETHIS ISSUE
AHISTORICAL LOOKATTHISWACKYFALL TRADITION CORNMAZESDATEBACK TOANCIENTGREECE? Exploring a corn maze is a great way to get outside and enjoy the fall season with friends and family — but who came up with the idea of wandering around a corn field for fun? As it turns out, outdoor mazes are an ancient tradition, and the American corn maze of the ‘90s sprouted from the mazes of 17th-century European gardens. Don’t believe it? Here’s a quick tour of corn maze history.
The Minotaur and the Maze Have you heard of Theseus and the Minotaur? This ancient Greek legend tells the story of the hero Theseus, who ventured into an elaborate maze to kill the half-man, half-bull imprisoned there. The monstrous Minotaur was known to eat heroes, and the labyrinth was known to trap them, but Theseus managed to slay the Minotaur and find his way home with the help of a string that he unspooled as he walked. This story isn’t the first recorded example of a maze or labyrinth — according to the World History encyclopedia, “[L]abyrinths and labyrinthine symbols have been dated
to the Neolithic Age in regions as diverse as modern-day Turkey, Ireland, Greece, and India, among others” — but it’s perhaps the most famous ancient tale. If you’ve ever navigated a Halloween corn maze staffed by ghouls and ghosts, you can see the parallels! Garden Art to Get Lost In Mazes formed from bushes began popping up European gardens in the 17th century. They were a popular artistic feature of upper- class gardens in England, more for looking at than solving. One famous example is the half- mile-long Hampton Maze, which was planted in 1690 and still stands today.
The Corn Maze: An American Invention Garden mazes eventually hopped the pond to America but didn’t become interactive puzzles until Don Frantz, Creative Director of the American Maze Company, came on the scene. In 1993, Frantz created the “first ever cornfield maze for private and public entertainment” to attract college kids in Pennsylvania. Today, every small-town corn maze is a descendant of his “Amazing Maize Maze.” To learn more about that wacky history, visit AmericanMaze.com.
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