Category Archives: Cop Watch

New Texas Open Carry Law: Gun Arrests and Weapons Charges in 2016

It’s only a matter of days until Texans will be able to carry firearms in a holster on their belt: the new Texas Open Carry Law goes into effect on January 1, 2016. However, lots of folk are confused about what this law will and will not allow them to do. They aren’t the only…


Year in Review: Things for Dallas to Consider From a Criminal Defense Perspective

How Dangerous is It to Live or Work in Dallas County? Here we are at the end of another year. Let’s take a minute and consider where things stand as we enter 2016, from a North Texas Criminal Defense perspective: 1. Dallas County Is Really, Really Dangerous As reported by Grits for Breakfast this week,…


Police Coming Into Texas Homes Without A Search Warrant

Search and Seizure: Police Entering Dorm Rooms, Apartments, Homes Our story begins a few weeks ago down near Austin, where Tori Thayer and Carly Christine were roommates sharing a home in Pflugerville (maybe you recognize Pflugerville as the place where lots of episodes of the TV show “Friday Night Lights” were filmed). It was three o’clock…


Fighting to Stop Asset Forefeiture by Police Isn’t That Easy

You know that the issue of asset forfeiture is a big deal in this country when it’s reported that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), FreedomWorks, Americans for Tax Reform, the Center for American Progress, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition — among others — have joined together in their efforts to stop the practice…


Waco Justice? 100 Days After Twin Peaks Biker Arrests, Things Look Fishy to Criminal Defense 

Today, the Dallas Morning News published an editorial calling for the end of the gag order down in Waco which prevents law enforcement and state authorities — much less anyone else — from revealing information about the May 17, 2015 shootout involving lots of bikers and motorcycle club members at the Twin Peaks restaurant in…


The Police and Your Phone: Invasion of Privacy by Police

Sure, people who are being investigated by law enforcement for committing crimes, as they are defined by state or federal law, need to know about their privacy rights — constitutionally protected privacy rights — and where the line is drawn between them and the police during that investigation. When is a search warrant required before…


4 Shocking Texas Traffic Stops: Current Texas Law For Arrest After Pulled Over by Police

Here in Dallas, and probably most of Texas, the death of Sandra Bland in a jail cell over in Waller County is a tragedy and a mystery — one that is still being investigated. It’s being reported that the 28-year-old woman from Chicago died by her own hand three days after she was arrested and…


Police That Lie: More on the Secret Texas District Attorney Lists of Police Officers Not Trustworthy to Take the Witness Stand

Prosecutors have lists of the names of police officers and deputy sheriffs that they don’t trust to take the witness stand — did you know these lists existed?  Do you think that every police officer is honest and trustworthy to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on the stand? Brady…


Update on Law of Asset Forfeitures: Federal and Texas – Are You Any Safer?

As the general public becomes more and more aware, and more and more shocked, over police forfeiture actions – where private property is taken by law enforcement regardless of whether or not the owner has been involved in a crime, much less convicted, there’s been talk about changing forfeiture laws at both the federal and…


When The Police Stop You: the Law and Your Need for a Zealous Defense Lawyer

The death of Freddie Gray while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department continues to be big news here in Dallas and the rest of the country: this week, the six police officers who were arrested in connection with what the medical examiner ruled a homicide of Freddie Gray are quickly beginning their defense….