Category Archives: Arrest and Indictment
Police Brutality in Texas? Robert Tolan Wins as 1983 Excessive Force Case Returned to Trial by US Supreme Court
Robert Tolan fights for justice. How many other Texans have 1983 excessive force cases against police officers that they are afraid to file? Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court reversed the decision of our own Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appellate court that grades the papers of federal criminal trial courts…
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Money Laundering Arrests Very Common – Sometimes in Surprising Situations
Watch any of the popular crime shows and you’ll think that money laundering involves huge amounts of cash, usually stacks of dollar bills bound together in plastic – with the good guys finding the stash in the back of the bad guys’ van, or condo, or plane. There’s probably some shoot out, maybe an explosion…
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Shaken Baby Death Case: Deferred Adjudication in Potter County, Amarillo, Texas
Mr. Lowe’s client was charged with Injury to a Child, Serious Bodily Injury, a second degree felony in Potter County, Amarillo, Texas. The Potter County District Attorney’s office accused Mr. Lowe’s client of causing the injuries that led to a 2 year old child’s death and faced up to 20 years in the penitentiary….
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Navarette v. California: Supreme Court Okays Anonymous Tip for Traffic Stop — We’ve All Lost Something Today
Back in January, we warned about what happened today: the United States Supreme Court has okayed police pulling people over to search their vehicles based upon an anonymous tip in the case of Navarette v. California. In February, we were still reeling from the SCOTUS decision in Fernandez, where they found it legally permissible and…
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Client Communications With Criminal Defense Lawyers – Keeping Your Lawyer and Client Communications Safe From Eavesdroppers and Hackers
This week, the director of the National Security Agency responded to the demand letter sent by the American Bar Association (see details on the ABA letter including its full text here) and what Director General Keith Alexander had in reply shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone: the NSA has told the ABA not to worry,…
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Privacy of Lawyer-Client Communications In Danger: The Growing Need for Greater Protections of Communications Between Attorney and Client
A couple of weeks ago, the American Bar Association (ABA) wrote the National Security Agency (NSA) about several concerns that lawyers all over the United States have (regardless of whether or not they are members of the ABA) regarding news that the NSA collecting confidential communications between an American law firm and its client, with…
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The Power of the Police to Search Your Home and Property: 2 New High Court Opinions On When Police Can Search Without a Warrant in Texas
It seems like there are weekly, if not daily, news stories covering excessive force or unwarranted use of police power by law enforcement officers around the country and it is only through the criminal justice system – particularly criminal defense fights and judicial reasoning and opinion – that people can find justice from overzealous police…
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U.S. Supreme Court Will Make Big Decisions on Your Privacy Rights from Police this Year: the Boundaries of Law Enforcement Intrusion
Yesterday’s State of the Union address is still the talk of many today, with many discussing the extent of the executive branch’s power and exactly what “checks and balances” means. However, for many criminal defense practitioners there’s more to be considered in 2014 than what the President or Congress may be doing up in Washington,…
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SECOND CHANCES: HOW TO GET RID OF YOUR TEXAS CRIMINAL RECORD
You Can Clean Up Your Texas Criminal History Through Expungement (Destruction) or Nondisclosure (Sealing) of Texas Criminal Records Police officers arrest people all the time; it doesn’t mean that everyone arrested is guilty of a crime. An arrest is not a conviction. Nevertheless, for anyone who has been arrested, their future has been forever changed…
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Texas Police Interrogations: Constitutional Protections Exist, Do You Know Your Rights Should Police Question You?
Police interrogations happen all the time here in Dallas, and over in Fort Worth as well as the rest of Texas and around the country. Texas law enforcement officers (troopers, police officers, deputies) arrest people then interrogate them and take people into interrogation rooms for questioning as part of crime investigation routinely. These actions are…
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