Category Archives: InDepth Articles
Health Care Fraud Arrests for Violation of Federal False Claims Act: Criminal Defense Overview
Schemes to take government money through nefarious means are far from new. Over 150 years ago, as the Civil War was raging in this country, Congress passed its initial landmark false claims law “…in the wake of a spate of frauds upon the government.” United States v. Bramblett, 348 U.S. 503, 504, 75 S. Ct. 504,…
Share ThisRead More
Texas Health Care Fraud Arrests: The Physician Self-Referral Law aka Stark Law, a Criminal Defense Overview
Health care is an almost incomprehensibly big business in this country. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), spending in the U.S. health care industry accounts for almost a fifth (19.7%) of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with $4.1 Trillion (yes, trillion) spent in health care during the calendar year 2020 alone….
Share ThisRead More
Texas Physicians’ Risk of Arrest: Criminal Defense Overview of Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS)
All physicians understand that practicing medicine in Texas today involves continuing, widespread governmental oversight at every level, including extensive regulation by the federal government through a variety of federal statutes. Failure to comply can have devastating results. Doctors, clinicians, hospital administrators, and others can face damage to their professional and personal reputations with even the…
Share ThisRead More
Online Sex Crimes: Prostitution over the Web is Illegal in Texas
Internet prostitution is a very (VERY) lucrative enterprise here in Texas. Consider this: in 2019, criminal justice research studies estimated that 80% of the illegal prostitution industry in this country was conducted over the internet. Why? There are many reasons. Pimps and traffickers are reported to prefer online prostitution because it is harder for them…
Share ThisRead More
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…
Share ThisRead More
Texas Continuous Violence Against the Family: TPC §25.11
On September 1, 2019, prosecutors in the State of Texas were given greater power to charge and convict individuals based upon allegations of domestic violence when HB1661 became law. In the House Committee Report, lawmakers explained the purpose of the new legislation as follows: “It has been noted that prosecutors are unable to pursue charges…
Share ThisRead More
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…
Share ThisRead More
Child Sex Trafficking Arrest in Texas: Criminal Defense Overview
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) defines Child Sex Trafficking as “… a form of child abuse that occurs when a child under 18 is advertised, solicited or exploited through a commercial sex act. A commercial sex act is any sex act where something of value – such as money, drugs or a place to stay…
Share ThisRead More
Intoxication Manslaughter: Texas Penal Code §49.08
It is undisputed that intoxicated drivers can be dangerous and deadly hazards behind the wheel. In fact, Drunk While Intoxicated (“DWI”) accidents are reported to be the cause of someone dying every nine (9) hours and six (6) minutes in the Lone Star State, according to August 2021 statistics provided by the Texas Department of…
Share ThisRead More
Manslaughter: When Killing Someone Does Not Mean Murder – Texas Penal Code §19.04
Tragedies happen every day here in Texas, where someone dies because of the actions or failures to act of another person. Sometimes, these deaths are criminally culpable and sometimes they are not. It is when someone dies because of another person’s intentional, knowing, or reckless action or as a result of their criminal negligence that…
Share ThisRead More
10 Questions to Ask Before you Hire a Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer
Top 5 Mistakes in Defending a Texas Criminal Case
