Category Archives: Orwellian Threats to Rights
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…
Federal Prosecutor Powers: Is the FBI Recording Your Conversation Down at the Courthouse?
There are more criminal cases filed in state courts here in Dallas and North Texas than in the federal system, and there are a number of reasons for this. However, the power of the federal system and the impact of federal practices and federal court cases upon state and local criminal systems cannot be underestimated….
Prosecutorial Misconduct: How Bad Is It? Dallas Chief Investigator Pleads Guilty to Taking Bribe
Prosecutors are the attorneys who earn their salary by working for the government in enforcing criminal laws in the criminal justice system. They are supposed to be interested in justice, not personal career wins or financial gain. That’s not the reality today — prosecutorial misconduct is a catch phrase that is trending. We’ve written about…
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,…
Do You Have Any Privacy From the Police in Texas? Laredo vs. Dallas
If you watched the CBS crime show “Hawaii Five-O” last week, you saw the elite police squad use a device that allowed them to see through the walls of a building and view not only the location of the kidnapping victim but also the location and movements of her captors. The gizmo read the heat…
Forfeiture Funds are Back as Equitable Sharing Program Gears Up in Dallas County and State of Texas
Back in March, the Department of Justice issued a news release that had to have been met with lots of joy in law enforcement offices all over the State of Texas: the “Equitable Sharing Program” was back, effective immediately! Both the March 28, 2016 Letter Sent by the Department of Justice to State, Local, and…
Privacy of Your Smart Phone: Police Search and Seizure and Apple’s Fight Against the FBI
There is a huge privacy fight going on this month up in Washington regarding privacy and your smart phone, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wants access to all the data that is setting encrypted on the iPhone taken by the local police in the aftermath of the San Bernardino shootings. Some may argue…
Prosecutorial Misconduct in Texas Murder Trials: Prosecutors Fighting Against Misconduct Allegations
Prosecutors in Texas doing bad things is a serious problem – and one that is slow to be corrected. We’ve discussed this issue in case after case, coming from all parts of the state, for several years now. For past examples, read our posts including: August 2015: District Attorneys Keep Doing Bad Things: More Texas…
