Category Archives: Orwellian Threats to Rights
Lineups and Showups: What They Are and Why They’re Challenged
Lineups and Showups Use Eyewitness Testimony to Identify Suspects Watch most any TV detective show and sooner or later, you’re going to see the police (and sometimes prosecutors, too) identify their Bad Guy with a lineup or showup. These are popular ways for TV police to have eyewitnesses point the finger at the bad guy. …
Out on Bail: Pre-Trial Conditions in Dallas, Fort Worth, and North Texas
We’ve discussed being detained versus being arrested, and the process of getting out of jail on bail if you are arrested here in Texas. Far too many people sit in jail here in Dallas, Fort Worth, and the rest of North Texas because they cannot make bail. That’s why there’s a big movement today for…
Arrested in Texas: Resisting Arrest, Evading Arrest, Detained Without Arrest
Once again, let’s all remind ourselves that the real world and what we watch on television are two very different things. Prosecutors don’t work crime scenes alongside the police officers, for instance. The attorneys are in court or in their offices, preparing for court. Maybe arrests would be different if they did. Lots of wacky…
Bail in Texas: What’s All This About Bail Reform? Can You Get Out of Jail?
Bail is not guaranteed to you in the constitution. It’s a process that has been created by legislatures and courts to help people get out of jail after they’ve been arrested. Defendants in Texas do not have a legal right to being released after arrest. Innocence doesn’t matter. Federal vs. Texas Bail Process Bail is…
How To Get Out of Jail on a Federal Charge: Federal Arrest, Bail, and PreTrial Detention
Let’s focus on the feds today. Arrests here in Dallas (or anywhere in Texas) can be based upon violations of either state law or federal law. (Sure, there are municipal ordinances and county regulations, too, but we’re going to include them under the general heading of state law, from which their power is derived.) So,…
False Confessions: Police Get Them, Prosecutors Use Them – Three Recent Examples and How to Protect Yourself
Let’s talk about Confessions. False confessions. Think about this: you’re tried — and convicted — of a very public crime, let’s say a homicide, and sent off to prison. Your lawyers keep working; the judge orders a retrial. Then, wham! The prosecutors in the case go before the judge and file their motion to dismiss…
Social Media Arrests: Criminal Charges Based On Content Itself – No Warrant Necessary
Law Enforcement Monitors Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Other Social Media for Investigation – and Now as Basis for Arrest Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Periscope, Instagram: what’s your social media preference? Odds are very high that you use some form of social media, no matter what your age, what kind of work you…
Immigration Holds in North Texas: Indefinite Stays and Dallas County Sheriff
There’s a reason that you get nervous when you see that police car in your rearview mirror: police officers have tremendous power in this country, and we all depend upon them to exercise that power (in legalese, their “police powers”) responsibly. Not that this gives many of us much comfort. DWI Held on Immigration Bond…
Forfeiture Victory for Police: They Can Seize and Keep Assets Even In an Illegal Search Says Texas Supreme Court
Texas law allows the police to take property from someone even if the property owner is never charged, much less convicted of a crime. This is called “civil forfeiture,” it’s allowed under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. arts. 59.01-.14 et seq., and we’ve discussed this several times before. Lots of people are against civil forfeiture…
Is There Chaos in the Dallas Criminal Justice System? Consider These Five News Stories in May 2016
Criminal defense lawyers tend to see the world a bit differently than most. Maybe that’s because we are privy to things that most of the general public is not and it skews our perspective. However, if anyone has been reading the news stories for the past three or four weeks coming out of Dallas County,…
