Category Archives: Appeals

Loss Amounts in Federal Sentences: Calculating Economic and Financial Losses in Federal Felonies

Federal Sentencing Guideline 2B1.1 explains how to calculate monetary loss in a variety of crimes, such as tax evasion, structuring, wire fraud, money laundering, and mortgage fraud. Financial crimes prosecuted by the federal government usually involve a lot of money that builds into a large economic loss for its victims.  Criminal creativity being what it…


What is a Protective Sweep?

More on Police Entering and Searching Your Home without a Warrant Police officers cannot enter your home willy-nilly.  They have to get a judge’s okay that there is “probable cause” to come inside your place, documented in a “search warrant” signed by that judge which they show you when they come inside.  We’ve discussed various…


Prosecutorial Misconduct in Texas: Right Now, it’s an Appellate Fight

Prosecutorial misconduct isn’t going away.  It’s a very serious problem here in Texas.  And it’s been a huge evil lurking in our criminal justice system for many years. Why is it so wicked?  Because a prosecutor has so much control over what happens to an individual who has had their freedom taken from them by…


Getting Out of Jail in Texas on a Writ of Habeas Corpus

There’s more than one way to regain your freedom after an arrest here in Texas.  Under either federal or state law, you can challenge the legality of your situation – being held behind bars – by filing an application with the court for a “writ of habeas corpus.” What is a Writ of Habeas Corpus?…


Brendan Dassey Motion for Release from Jail During Appeal of Wrongful Conviction Ruling

The Motion to Release Brendan Dassey on his own recognizance (no bail bond) has been filed with the federal court that ruled he was the victim of a wrongful conviction.  Both the motion and its memorandum in support (which has all the legal arguments) have been placed in the Michael Lowe Digital Library. This supplements…


Why Brendan Dassey Can’t Get Out of Jail Even Though Federal Judge Overturned His Conviction

Federal Criminal Appeals: Lessons from Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” Brendan Dassey Case How can a judge overturn a conviction as being wrongful and unjust, and the defendant still remain behind bars? That’s what is happening in the Brendan Dassey case — and it’s a great lesson to all of us on how the criminal justice…