Category Archives: Arrest and Indictment

Debtor’s Prison for Misdemeanor Debts – Is City of Ferguson Making Money Off of Poor People?

Debtor’s prisons are not supposed to exist in the United States. You’re not supposed to be forced behind bars because you cannot pay a debt — that is the reason for federal bankruptcy laws, to help people in bad financial straits to work things out with their creditors and get a “fresh start.” Creditors can…


Lots of Heroin Arrests Will Be Happening Here in Texas As Feds, Locals Target Growing Heroin Market

A couple of weeks ago, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was visiting the regional FBI office in Boston and while he was there, he held a little press conference. And what was a big topic on the mind of the Top Man at the FBI? Well, in what isn’t a big…


Trusting Prosecutors With Forensic Lab Evidence? Consider Harris County District Attorney: Notices Sent of 100s of Wrongful Convictions

Here in Dallas County, the District Attorney’s Office is getting its very own forensics evidence lab set up smack dab in the courthouse. So convenient, right? We’ve posted on this development here (read the post) and others have voiced their concern over having the prosecutor so very-very-close to the evidence lab. Well, here’s more to ponder…


Dallas County Opens Digital Crime Lab: DA Snoops Your Cell Phone

There was an important news update out of Craig Watkins’ office that may have been overshadowed yesterday, what with all the November 2014 Election coverage and the scoop that Watkins lost his job to Republican challenger Susan Hawk. After all, there’s lots to ponder in Dallas criminal justice circles about what Hawk’s transition into the…


Texas Millionaire John Goodman Retrial For Drunk Driving Vehicular Manslaughter: Lessons in Zealous Criminal Defense

This story starts in February 2010 over in Florida, in a town about the same distance north of Miami as Austin is to San Antonio. John Goodman, a Texas native and heir to a huge family fortune built by his daddy down in Houston, was driving his convertible Bentley extremely fast when he crashed into…


Dallas County Marijuana Arrests: In 2015, Dallas Police Not Busting for Pot

Dallas police officers stop people for being high or possessing pot all the time; often, these encounters result in arrests that are not based upon serious felony charges leading to significant jail time upon conviction. Lots are misdemeanor charges. Bottom line, many of the marijuana arrests in our area are for relatively small amounts of…


Dallas Ebola Victim: No Evidence of Intent to Deceive; DA Assault Charges Were Wacky

Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan died early this morning at Texas Presbyterian Hospital here in Dallas, where he had been quarantined and isolated from all human contact for the past 14 days.  It’s sad to think that Thomas Duncan died alone. Our sincerest condolences to his family and loved ones who are grieving their loss…


More Texas DWI Convictions Will Be Overturned Because of Warrantless Blood Draws

Over in Tyler, somebody had a very good day recently – specifically, Samuel Gentry who saw his lawyer win a DWI appeal before the Tyler Court of Appeals and get his 3d DWI conviction overturned along with the Life Sentence he was serving.     Warrantless Blood Draw in DWI Case What happened? The police…


Ray Rice and When Couples Get Violent: Felony Charges in Dating and Marriage

Things exploded on the web this week when TMZ.com published a video caught by a hotel elevator cam of NFL star Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens punching his fiance (now his wife) Janay Palmer so hard that she fell unconscious to the floor of the elevator. Things only got worse as the video shows…


Texas Police Can Get Your Phone Records From Phone Company Without a Warrant: Ford v. State

This week, there’s lots of concern about cell phone security and phone privacy rights. Why? Thousands of celebrity nude photos have been posted online by a hacker for all to see (with the promise of more to come). Now the FBI has begun investigating how the cell phone pix were stolen (hacked) from private accounts…