Category Archives: Arrest and Indictment

Policy Changes in Charges, Pleas, and Sentencing for Federal Drug Crime Prosecutions: New AG Garland DOJ Directive

An internal memorandum from the Attorney General of the United States (“AG”) addressed to “all federal prosecutors” may not seem that powerful to some.  After all, it isn’t a new federal statute passed by Congress and it isn’t an Executive Order signed by the President.  Still, a single memo from the AG can cause major…


Bail after Federal Arrest in Texas and The Bail Reform Act of 1984

Bail after an arrest by federal law enforcement is very different than when someone enters the state criminal justice system.  Texas bail is allowed much more often than it is in federal court.  It’s not that bail is not routinely considered a part of federal matters.  News coverage is filled with federal bail stories. This…


Jalisco New Generation Cartel Arrests in Texas: 2023

The amount of law enforcement effort at every level (state, federal, international) to try and combat the growing global business empire of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is undeniably extreme and well-funded.  From a criminal defense perspective, few governmental efforts in recent memory have had this zeal and scope. In 2023, we should expect a…


New University of Chicago Study’s Shocking Revelations of Federal Bail Injustice: Systemic Errors and the “Culture of Detention”

Arrests are always serious. After all, individual freedom is taken away.  A permanent and public criminal record is created (or grows).  Careers can be lost, and relationships can end — just because of an arrest. Experienced criminal defense lawyers have seen all too often how “innocent until proven guilty” may not matter to supervisors, deans,…


The Importance of a Probable Cause Affidavit in Texas Criminal Defense

For the general public, learning about probable cause affidavits in criminal matters often comes from news stories of court orders sealing the affidavit from public view in high-profile cases.  Two recent examples:  first, the ongoing media coverage of a probable cause affidavit alleging criminal acts that led to a federal search warrant being issued of…


Texas Domestic Violence Charges: the New 2022 Federal Gun Ban

The tragic shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, claimed the lives of nineteen children and two adults.  For details, read the coverage series provided online by the Texas Tribune. Understandably this had a tremendous and shattering impact not only for the local community who suffered personal losses, but for…


How Criminal Charges Get Dropped in State and Federal Cases

Here in Texas, once someone is formally accused of a crime (under state or federal law) they enter our criminal justice system.  There are only so many ways they will be able to exit.  Dropped charges?  It is true that criminal charges can be made against an individual and later dropped.  It happens a lot…


Diversion Programs in Texas

In Texas, both the state and federal systems of criminal justice offer opportunities for individuals to be “diverted” from the standard route of conviction, sentencing, and imprisonment into any one of a number of alternatives.  Collectively, these are called “diversion programs.” They are voluntary: the state cannot force anyone to participate in them. What is…


Parental Kidnapping in Texas: When Taking Your Child is a Felony

Back in 1996, our Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex was the first place in the country to use a widespread broadcasting alert to help find missing children in a system that has come to be known around the world as the “AMBER Alert System.”  Today, phone notifications, flashing highway signs, and breaking news stories share information about…


Indecency with a Child Arrest in Texas 

In Texas, it is possible for the testimony of a minor to result in the conviction of an adult for a felony sex crime involving child sex abuse.  This can come with extended prison time as well as the serious social stigma for the accused (and his loved ones) that comes with being labelled as…