Category Archives: DA Watch
For Decades, Feds (DOJ, FBI) Knew Forensic Evidence Was Unreliable But Said Nothing to Defense: How Many Innocents Behind Bars, How Many Have Been Wrongfully Executed?
This week, a Washington Post investigation is spreading like wildfire over the web and it’s getting lots of people talking. People like Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, who was on television this week here in Dallas to answer some questions about what the Post has revealed (watch him on video here). You can read the…
Texas Judge Finds Probable Cause that Texas DA Illegally Withheld Evidence in Murder Trial of Michael Morton
We’ve been monitoring the case of Michael Morton – an innocent man who had been convicted of murder long ago in Williamson County. For all the details on what happened to Mr. Morton, check out our post from last month, which delves into the allegations of bad acts by the prosecutor at Morton’s criminal trial….
Dallas DA Ignores Criminal Court Judge’s Orders to Reveal Dallas Police Officers’ Criminal Histories to Defense Attorneys
When police officers take the witness stand, do jurors assume that these members of law enforcement have no criminal record? Most people would probably answer that question “yes,” but whether or not we should all assume that someone in uniform has no criminal history is the real question. Because here in Dallas County, there is…
Texas’ “No Refusal” DWI Campaign In National Spotlight As People Start to Realize It’s Violating Constitutional Civil Rights
Texas criminal defense attorneys hopefully will find a benefit from the growing national media attention to the state’s No Refusal campaigns that attempt to target drunk driving dangers but in doing so, endanger basic civil rights – something that every American should know. When rights are taken from you, there’s usually no advance invitation sent…
Suspicious Ray Gricar Actions as D.A. Investigating Penn State Child Abuse Makes Me Think Gricar Is Alive and Well, and the FBI Does Too
Ray Gricar is a name that most people recognize now, as the Penn State scandal just keeps getting bigger. It’s Ray Gricar’s story that I want to discuss, but first things first. Right now, this Pennsylvania DA is talked about like he’s dead, maybe a good guy who got assassinated; assistant football coach Mike McQueary…
Texas Prosecutors Come Under Increased Scrunity in Texas: Hank Skinner Stay Within Weeks of Michael Morton Release
Hank Skinner is still alive today thanks to a last minute stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals – and it’s still open for debate whether or not his requests will be granted for DNA evidence to be tested. (For details on Hank Skinner’s case, check out our earlier posts here and here.)…
Texas DA Reported to Trade Cash for Freedom or Light Sentences. Lotsa Cash.
Texas District Attorney Lynda Kaye Russell, the head prosecutor for Shelby County, Texas, apparently is in big, big trouble if a news report from the Associated Press, which is being picked up all over the country, is accurate. Where’s Shelby County? It’s near the Texas – Louisiana border (you may recognize the area as Center,…
Texas Judge Suzanne Wooten Still Facing Felony Bribery Charges – But the FBI Investigation May Point Fingers at Her Prosecutors, Stay Tuned
Texas Judge Suzanne Wooten’s predicament — being indicted on 6 counts of bribery while presiding over a Collin County judicial bench — was something that we first discussed last October, when Judge Wooten’s attorneys were arguing this was all politically motivated hogwash while the prosecutor, then District Attorney John Roach, claimed his offices were merely…
Innocence Project Finds Another Innocent Man Convicted of Murder in Texas but Loses Fight to Boot Prosecutor for Bias
For the past 24 years, a man named Michael Morton has sat in a Texas prison cell after being arrested, tried, and convicted of his wife Christine’s homicide. According to the Innocence Project, Mr. Morton was wrongfully convicted, he is innocent of murdering his wife, and the prosecution shouldn’t be trusted to do the right…
Who Will Bring Texas Prosecutor James Elliott to Justice In the Delma Banks Case? He’s Retrying a 30 Yr Old Death Penalty Case Despite US Supreme Ct Rebuke
In 2004, Texas Death Row inmate Delma Banks’ case came before the United States Supreme Court, where the Highest Court in the Land found that prosecutors had done very bad things — they had suppressed evidence, they had hidden their own mistakes, etc. — and because of this, Banks’ case was overturned. Read the U.S….
