Already, it is known that there are photographs on that home PC that are pornographic: images of the Wylie police officer having sex with an unidentified woman; a nude woman posing with his Wylie Police Department badge, the list goes on.

How did this discovered?

Seems that someone took images from the Wylie cop’s home computer and sent them to everyone on his email address list, including someone at the Wylie Police Department’s Powers That Be.  That happened Monday night.  Not clear how fast the Texas Rangers were called but it’s Wednesday morning and they’re definitely on the job.  (As are the Garland Police Department since the officer resides in Garland, and therefore that may be where crimes actually occurred.)

Why are the Rangers jumping in so fast?  Seems some of these images aren’t just pornographic — they are CHILD pornography.

Within 48 hours of the mass email mailing, the Wylie officer was suspended by the Wylie Police Department and while they were at it, the Wylie Police Department also placed two employees on leave that are shown in these photos:  a female dispatcher and another department employee.

Lewd Behavior is a Misdemeanor and Child Pornography is a Felony

It’s serious enough for a Texas police officer to be engaged in pornography on his home computer: that can constitute the crime of lewd behavior under the Texas Penal Code, but to have child pornography on his PC is shocking.  After all, not only are police officers under oath to protect and serve, they are also well aware of the crimes defined by statutes in this state, no excuses here:

Texas Penal Code Section 21.07: PUBLIC LEWDNESS

a) A person commits an offense if he knowingly engages in any of the following acts in a public place or, if not in a public place, he is reckless about whether another is present who will be offended or alarmed by his:

(1)  act of sexual intercourse;

(2)  act of deviate sexual intercourse;

(3)  act of sexual contact; or

(4)  act involving contact between the person’s mouth or genitals and the anus or genitals of an animal or fowl.

(b)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

It is much more serious for this member of Texas law enforcement to be involved in child pornography; this is a felony in the Texas Penal Code (and may constitute a federal crime as well):

Texas Penal Code Sec. 43.26:  POSSESSION OR PROMOTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.

(a) A person commits an offense if:

(1) the person knowingly or intentionally possesses visual material that visually depicts a child younger than 18 years of age at the time the image of the child was made who is engaging in sexual conduct; and

(2) the person knows that the material depicts the child as described by Subdivision (1).

(b) In this section:

(1) “Promote” has the meaning assigned by Section 43.25.

(2) “Sexual conduct” has the meaning assigned by Section 43.25.

(3) “Visual material” means:

(A) any film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide or any photographic reproduction that contains or incorporates in any manner any film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide; or

(B) any disk, diskette, or other physical medium that allows an image to be displayed on a computer or other video screen and any image transmitted to a computer or other video screen by telephone line, cable, satellite transmission, or other method.

(c) The affirmative defenses provided by Section 43.25(f) also apply to a prosecution under this section.

(d) An offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the third degree.

(e) A person commits an offense if:

(1) the person knowingly or intentionally promotes or possesses with intent to promote material described by Subsection (a)(1); and

(2) the person knows that the material depicts the child as described by Subsection (a)(1).

(f) A person who possesses visual material that contains six or more identical visual depictions of a child as described by Subsection (a)(1) is presumed to possess the material with the intent to promote the material.

(g) An offense under Subsection (e) is a felony of the second degree.

Breath Tests for DWI Aren’t Reliable; BAT Vans Compound the Likelihood of Error

However, the use of roaming mobile breath test labs on Texas roadways is taking things to a higher level of threat.  These “BAT Vans” look like recreational vehicles with police department logos on the outside; on the inside, they are set up as laboratories with seats for medical technicians, cops, or nurses – as well as the lab equipment to perform drunk driving tests on the road.  To learn all about these vehicles, just visit the website for Brown Specialty Vehicles which makes and sells these things around the country.

It’s well known that these vans are conducting tests that can be flat out wrong.  Breath tests aren’t all that reliable, no matter how law enforcement pretends that they are.  However, the BAT Vans add another level of error to the whole thing:  seems the vans themselves can mess with the test results, because of electrical issues and such.  For more on how these BAT Vans can taint test results, read this post by Grits for Breakfast.

HPD Crime Lab Tech Supervisors Quit Over BAT Van Problems

Or read the testimony from this past summer, when former Houston Police Department Crime Lab worker Amanda Culbertson testified under oath that she – along with TWO OTHER technical supervisors quit their jobs (in THIS ECONOMY) because no one was respecting their complaints about serious problems with the BAT vans and their Breathalyzer results.  Culbertson explained that there were electrical, mechanical and temperature issues which might influence the test results.

Back then, Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos issued a media statement in response to Culbertson’s testimony: “We sponsor the crime laboratory’s scientific evidence in our prosecutions. Accordingly, we have a responsibility to ensure that the evidence was collected and analyzed properly.”

So did the Houston Police Department: “At this time, HPD is not aware of any tests being compromised due to temperatures within the BAT vans. We were alerted to past air conditioning problems within the BAT vans and have worked to correct the issue by installing rear air conditioning units in the vans. Additionally, all officers operating the BAT vans have been trained on the proper procedures to allow for air conditioners to work properly. Vans not kept at the proper temperature settings do not cause the instruments to give false readings. Instead, the instruments would not give a reading at all, thus preventing any invalid tests.”

The BAT Vans Controversy in DWI Cases – Harris County District Attorney in the Hot Seat as DA’s Office May Face Criminal Charges

Those statements may come back to haunt them now.  First, a Harris County judge heard a challenge to a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) conviction and agreed with the defense attorney.  The judge overturned the DWI conviction because it had been based upon a BAT van lab result – and the judge found that both the Houston Police Department and the Harris County District Attorney did not reveal information about these BAT Vans to the defense.

Seems that the District Attorney’s Office and the Houston cops knew about the problems with these BAT vans and they didn’t bother telling anyone.  Like the defendant in the drunk driving case where the BAT Van was being used to convict him of driving drunk.

What made the Houston criminal court judge think there was a secret about the BAT Vans that the police and the prosecutors both knew about?  Well, seems there were emails.  And apparently other legal documents.

Grand Jury Probe Into Harris County District Attorney and HPD

A grand jury investigation began.  A special prosecutor was appointed.  And yes, the grand jury is investigating possible criminal acts by the District Attorney’s Office of Harris County.

Things got messy fast.  By November, two of the top deputies in the DA’s Office and two court reporters were subpoenaed before the Grand Jury to explain how secret grand jury testimony transcripts somehow got into their hands.

Here’s the deal: instead of hiding all this stuff, if there is a problem with the BAT Vans then the District Attorney’s Office is legally required to reveal the problem.  Their goal is suppose to be justice after all, not a winning conviction record.

The question soon became not IF there was a shared secret, but when did the police and the DA know about the BAT Van problems.  Which is why this week, Houston District Attorney Pat Lycos had to appear before the Harris County Grand Jury to testify about when she knew and what she knew about these BAT vans.

There’s more than one serious issue here.  Sneaky circumvention of a defendant’s right to a fair trial, sure.  Ignoring the oath to seek justice, sure.  However, there’s one more thing that should be important to all of us:  law enforcement has RVs roaming around, pulling people over for breath tests that are known to give flaky results … and that’s been okay over in Houston, apparently.  Couple that with the growing popularity of the 24/7 No Refusal campaigns, and you have to wonder about how endangered our due process rights are these days.

Houston Police Officer Shoots Man to Death on Christmas Night – Witnesses Tell Different Story From Official Police Version

In Houston, a news story is bubbling up about a Houston police officer that is on administrative leave while the Powers that Be investigate how and why Curtis Hampton — a veteran Houston cop, with 13 years on the force — shot a man to death on the side of the road on Christmas Night (December 26).   Seems that the man was speeding along in his car, crashed into another vehicle, and then plowed into a ditch.  The official report out of Houston is that there was a struggle between the man and the cop as the man was being escorted to the patrol car, and the gun was used because the officer “feared for his life.”

However, there were witnesses to the killing – people who initially became interested in what was happening because they heard the car crash – and they are reporting that the officer overreacted.  No big fight, no imminent threat of harm.

Corpus Christi Killing by Cop’s Gun Getting National Attention

The national news is monitoring a story out of Corpus Christi, where a police officer took his pistol and hunted down his common law wife – finding her huddling inside a closet at her mother’s home – shooting her to death.  Seems the officer was employed by the police department of Alice, Texas, and instead of going to work his shift that Monday morning, Jose Gonzales III opted to dress in his Alice Police Department uniform, arm himself both with Alice Police Department pistols and rifles and then start his trek to track down his estranged wife.  Leslie Morin was shot multiple times in front of her mother and her children by the Alice cop.

Then, Officer Gonzales went back home, taking his son with him.  Around an hour later, he was arrested without incident.

Last Night, Dallas Cop Shoots and Kills Passenger in Car

Here in Dallas, on December 28, 2011, a man was shot to death by a Dallas Police Officer as he sat in a car. According to the Dallas cop, the shooting was necessary because the passenger was reaching for a pistol, there in the car, so the police officer feared for his life and shot the passenger. Details are still coming out, but it seems that a neighbor called the cops because of a “suspicious vehicle” parked in the area, and when the police officer pulled up to check out the car, the shooting occurred.

When rights are taken from you, there’s usually no advance invitation sent – the quieter the grab, the better.  Which is why we’ve been monitoring the No Refusal campaign here and why it’s good to see the national media taking note of what is happening here in Texas.

In this week’s Wall Street Journal, there is a lengthy discussion of Texas’ “no refusal” campaign, which the WSJ has labelled a “blood-test policy.” Included in the WSJ article is an overview of how No Refusal campaigns are getting to be as popular as the Kardashians here in Texas as well as gaining in popularity in other states, like Florida and Louisiana and Illinois.

Over at Fox News, there’s also some media coverage of Texas’ No Refusal campaign.   Included there, some discussion of the basic constitutional issues that the No Refusal campaign brings with it.

Here in Dallas,  people are taking notice.  In D Magazine’s FrontBurner column this past Tuesday, Michael Mooney pondered what the No Refusal campaign really means to everyone, and ends his article with the realization that allowing the police power to take your blood out of your body AGAINST YOUR WILL is “terrifying.”

That’s right, Mr. Mooney – it is terrifying.  People need to get what is going on here.

Texas DWI No Refusal Campaign Violates Constitutional Rights.

Let’s consider what is happening down in San Antonio because we know that Dallas and Fort Worth and Houston and every other district attorney in this state is watching San Antonio’s head prosecutor Susan Reed to see how well her No Refusal prototype works out.   Reed has implemented a No Refusal Campaign in Bexar County not just for holidays or three-day weekends, but every single day of the week.

In Bexar County right now, the No Refusal Campaign is in place 24/7/365.  It’s been okayed and funded by the State of Texas’ Department of Transportation grant of $1.4 million, by the way.

This means that any person who is pulled over by law enforcment in the San Antonio area can be forced to have their blood drawn – and the traditional hurdle of having a hearing or some kind of argument against that search and seizure is out the window as judges are on standby to rubber stamp search warrants allowing the blood to be drawn.

It’s a standardized procedure in the Alamo City right now.  Get pulled over, and refuse to take a breath test, and the San Antonio law enforcement will put you in their vehicle and drive you down to the nearest magistrate’s office.  There’s a judge at the ready to sign a search warrant to allow the blood to be taken from you, and that warrant gets signed.  (Where are your arguments before that judge? Good question.)

Next,  the blood is taken by a nurse and then it gets taken over to the medical examiner so the blood alcohol content can be determined in the examiner’s crime lab.  If the BAC meets or exceeds the legal limit for intoxication, then you’re arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.

However, this should not be the whole story.  Consider these unknowns:

• We are not aware of how many times those warrants are requested and not signed.  (If there’s ever a refusal.)
• No reports on how often the tests come back with results that show the BAC has not met the legal limits.  (Think about that one.)
• No reports on whether or not certain cops are doing this more often than others.  (These campaigns give cops lots of power, don’t they?)
• No reports on whether or not certain classes of folk are getting pulled over more often than others. (If you are African American, are you more likely to be stopped?)

The federal constitution protects against unreasonable search and seizure.  It also protects our due process rights.  Police powers must be monitored and curtailed in order for freedom to be maintained.

For more information, consider:

Ten Things To Know In Case Your Car Is Pulled Over in Texas

What Is Legal Intoxication in Texas

Defenses to Blood Samples (Contamination, Legal Blood vs Medical Blood,  Impact of Medications, etc.)

What Happened to Houston Police Officer Matthew Calley?

Former cop Matthew Calley pled guilty to theft and misappropriations of funds, two felony counts, back in March 2011.  Once caught, Calley didn’t fight much: maybe he figured his time was up, since the record reveals that the Houston police officer had been skimming case from his local police officers’ union for the past 7 years.

He had easy access.  Calley served on the board of directors for the Houston Police Officers’ Union, where he had authority to withdraw  funds that were being set aside to help his fellow officers and union members.

Over $400,000 was taken from a single HPOU account, established for scholarships and to help out law enforcement officers in financial emergencies.  All that money came from donations – from Average Joes, from local businesses.  The rest of the theft was from the union’s PAC account (political action committee).

It’s a lot of money:  $656,000 was taken by Houston police officer Matthew Calley from the till of the Houston Police Officers’ Union.

At the end of the day, Calley was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison on his two felony counts, to be served concurrently.  And the money?  It’s gone — no one is expecting Calley to provide restitution, no one is expecting that money to be recovered.  Seems he gambled it away.

Calley’s Not the Only Cop Facing Theft Charges In Houston – Two Other Police Officers Charged With Stealing From the Houston Police Officers’ Union

The story’s not over with Calley’s sentencing.  Nope.  Seems the Harris County District Attorney’s Office only got wind of Calley’s bad acts after TWO of his compadres at the Houston Police Officers Union were arrested — that’s right, arrested for theft from the very same organization.

One of these evildoers, Houston police officer and HPOU official Ronald Martin, has already been sentenced to 10 years probation and he’s ordered to provide restitution to the Union of $40,000.00.  Martin pled guilty last February.

The other alleged evildoer is Martin’s daughter’s ex-husband, Jeffrey Larson.  Fellow Houston cop and union honcho Larson got busted with his ex-father-in-law back in 2008 for misapplication of fiduciary property, and he’s set for trial.

Consider this:  just last week, we posted about the situation involving the Aransas Pass Police Department being investigated by the Texas Rangers after Martin Ortiz ended up comatose in a Corpus Christi hospital after being beaten by an Aransas Pass law enforcement officer as Mr. Ortiz was riding his bicycle home, in his own neighborhood.  (For details on that incident, read “Texas Rangers Investigating Another Case of Police Brutality and Excessive Force.“)

This week, we’re learning about folk coming forward to accuse this same police department of planting drugs on a suspect – as well as using a Taser and beating a man before learning that the victim of their physical attack was not even the man that they were looking for.

Imagine: you’re at work, and suddenly the cops burst in and use a stungun on you and then beat you there on the floor.  That’s what is being alleged happened to Kasey Staley.

According to Velma Freeman, who owns and operates Freeman’s A/C Supply there in Aransas Pass (Google Street View here), back in June 2011 several Aransas Pass police officers came to her shop asking to see a man named “Keith,” who was a suspect in some crime.

There was no “Keith” there, but this didn’t stop the cops.  According to Ms. Freeman’s eyewitness account, these law enforcment officers (who we all know have sworn to protect and serve) picked out Kasey Staley, 21, as he was there working on the job and went after him.

According to reports, Kasey Staley was (1) stun-gunned; (2) beaten; and (3) arrested, all the while being totally innocent since the cops had the wrong guy here.  Kasey was not the illusive “Keith” the police were looking for in their fevered hunt.

Things were very bad for Kasey Staley at this point.  You’re working, the cops bust in, and suddenly you’ve been shocked with a Taser and beaten and then arrested.   Worst work day ever, right?

Nope.  It got worse for Kasey Staley.  Six different affidavits have been signed (by Kasey’s employer, Ms. Freeman, his ex-wife Kayla, and four other eyewitnesses) that after all this, the Aransas Pass cops then planted drugs on Staley, as he sat there in handcuffs.

No One’s Listening to these Witnesses in Aransas Pass

This shocking story just gets more bizarre.  It seems that these six people not only took the time and trouble to make these sworn, written statements of what happened, they took them to the Aransas Pass Powers That Be to get justice.  And got zip.

So, now the local media is involved and two local television stations are covering the story, KZTV10 and KRISTV.  One can hope that both the Texas Rangers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are busy investigating things down at the Aransas Pass Police Department.

Meanwhile, the Aransas Pass Police Department finally got around to talking with the press; in response to media requests to explain what happened, what did the APPD representative say?  “Prove it,” is what Captain Roberto Gonzales told the Corpus Christi reporters; the Aransas Pass Police Department isn’t even opening up an internal investigation.

That’s right.  Prove it. Texas Rangers, your move.

Lots of Strange Things Gone On This Summer in Laredo. And By Strange, We Mean Illegal

Laredo must be an interesting place this summer, right? Feds roaming around looking for evildoing. Military helicopters from Mexico landing on U.S. airstrips by mistake. Mexican troops crossing the Tex-Mex border bridge into Laredo by mistake.

Bribing the Deputy Was Smooth Sailing Until the Guy Turned FBI Informant

Deputy Constable Garcia had been on the take for awhile, it seems. He would pocket cash in exchange for providing police protection to vehicles carrying cocaine across the border, from Mexico into the United States, through the Laredo crossing point. It was sort of routine, apparently, for Garcia and things were smooth enough for him until the guy who paid him for the help turned federal informant.

Feds Set Up Sting to Catch the Deputy

After the informant gave up Garcia to the feds, the games began. According to the grand jury indictment, Garcia was caught after he took $500 to protect a vehicle that he thought was moving cocaine through Laredo, though it reality the car was carrying fake drugs.

He did this twice.

During the sting, Garcia was allegedly asked to check out the license plate of a car that was worrisome to the informant, and sure enough, Garcia jumped onto his official police database where he confirmed it might be a federal agency vehicle.

After playing with the deputy like a cat plays with a mouse, the feds busted him and took their case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Laredo Grand Jury. End of story for Eduardo Garcia.

Webb County Deputy Faces 3 Counts of Extortion, 1 Count of Unauthorized Access

Eduardo Garcia had been a member of law enforcement since 1993. He spent many years driving a prison transport van.

Now, he faces 3 counts of extortion under color of official right and 1 count of unauthorized access to protected computer information — and the high probability that he’ll soon be riding in the back of that prison van he drove for so many years.

Evidence tampering is a felony.  It carries not only the possibility of a monetary fine, but incarceration between 2 and 10 years in a Texas prison.

Police Chief Resigns, Turns Himself In to Authorities

Chief Jeremiah Shults promptly resigned, and turned himself into authorities on November 1st, where his stay was brief as the ex-Chief was summarily released on $10,000 bond. Afterwards, Shults focused his efforts on defending himself in a criminal trial that concluded this past April.

The jury didn’t fully see things Shults’ way, and returned a verdict of guilty to Shults having moved beer cans at the scene of an accident, which constituted tampering with evidence. However, after hours of deliberation, the jury did not find the ex-Chief moved the seat of the vehicle in question and acquitted him on the second count of evidence tampering.

After Jury Verdict of Guilty, ex-Chief Chooses Judge for Sentencing – Gets Jail Time, Probation, and Fine

The ex-Chief chose to have the judge impose sentence instead of the jury, and last week Jeremiah Shults stood in a Marlin, Texas, courtroom to face a Falls County District Judge who sentenced the former top cop to 10 years probation and 180 hours of community service, as well as a fine of $2500.00.

So, the Falls County Judge tossed the book at the ex-Police Chief, and then gave him probation — with some taste of jail time now: Shults has also been ordered to serve 120 days in jail on weekends.

Which means that if the ex-Police Chief keeps his nose clean for the next decade by not violating probation, he’ll only have to be behind bars every weekend for the next 15 months. Why did the judge do this? The weekend jail time lets Shults keep his current job, providing for his family as a computer tech.

However, in the tradition of Texas doing everything bigger and better, over this Fourth of July holiday weekend, the Great State of Texas will make the record books as having the biggest No Refusal campaign that the country has ever seen – and the first such state-wide campaign in history.

Texas has asked for, and received, federal monies to help pay for this 2011 No Refusal onslaught.

As of today, there are around 200 different Texas law enforcement agencies that will be participating. They will have extra officers on the roads, eyeballing traffic for suspicious drivers: those driving aggressively, people who are speeding, or any cars weaving between lanes as well as any other signs that someone might be driving drunk.

It won’t just be over the usual three day holiday weekend, either. The 2011 No Refusal Campaign, hosted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, covers Friday, July 1, 2011 (6 pm) through Tuesday, July 5, 2011 (6 am).

During the No Refusal campaign, the police officer will be asking for a blood test, none of the usual breath tests on a machine or the old school field sobriety tests. Those suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol will be arrested there on the road for suspicion of DWI, and taken to the local police station. Judges will be setting there, at the station, ready to sign the necessary search warrant needed to take the blood for the blood test. A nurse will be there, too, all ready to take the blood from the citizen.

For example, the Irving Police Department already has its North Police Station prepared for this holiday weekend’s No Refusal Campaign.

What Should You Do If You are Arrested for DWI Based on a No Refusal Campaign Blood Test?

Forget the arguments about civil liberties, Big Brother, and the like.  Those arguments are there, but practically speaking, if you get pulled over during No Refusal Weekend, and your blood tests over the legal limit, do you have any defense left to a DWI charge here in Texas?   Maybe so.

Blood tests are not inviolate, and there have been successful legal challenges to them, specifically, as well as to the protocols and procedures of the particular event.  For details on legal defenses to DWI blood tests, read the resources section of the Lowe web site.

Never has it been more important to get a criminal defense attorney on your side as soon as possible as it is now, with these expedited No Refusal proceedings.  If you get pulled over, get a lawyer fast.

Quite the story, the finding of a mass grave site, and within minutes it seemed the national media were close on the heels of the police officers, heading down to Liberty County, Texas, expecting to find a gruesome and very big news story.

Except there was nothing there and it turns out that all this energy had been expended on a tip the local cops got from a psychic.  Yes, that’s right: a psychic.

Maybe you remember the “breaking news” stories and Twitter trends back on June 7, 2011, when all of a sudden, all sorts of law enforcement officials were racing to a ranch house outside of Hardin, Texas, because it was said to be the site were dozens of bodies had been buried. There were flashing lights and sirens and helicopters. Flustered, excited news reports. It was a Big Deal.

Psychic Egg on Their Faces

Problem was, there weren’t any bodies to be found. Zip. Nada. So, picture all those official folk on a hot June day in Texas, standing under the oak trees in the farmhouse’s front yard, taking off their hats to wipe their brows and ask each other what the heck happened here.

Truth will out and soon, there it was for all the nation to chuckle about: seems all this activity was started by a tip to the local sheriff’s department by a woman who said was a psychic. Well, she did know something about the interior of the home ….and to be fair, there was the smell of decomp (turned out to be meat rotting in a broken freezer) and some blood (fisticuffs from a couple weeks back between two drunks).

The British press labeled it the “wierdest news story of the year so far.” More great press for Texas.

Today, we’ve learned that the psychic isn’t going to be charged with any crime. Seems the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department (the ones who took her call) has determined that since the psychic did not act with malice or criminal intent, she won’t be arrested for anything.

However, it’s probably safe to say that the next time that the Liberty County Sheriff calls the FBI or the Texas Rangers for help, there’s gonna be lots of questions asked before anyone jumps into their vehicle to rush down to Hardin, Texas, again.

No need for a psychic to predict that one.