Category Archives: Orwellian Threats to Rights

Police That Lie: More on the Secret Texas District Attorney Lists of Police Officers Not Trustworthy to Take the Witness Stand

Prosecutors have lists of the names of police officers and deputy sheriffs that they don’t trust to take the witness stand — did you know these lists existed?  Do you think that every police officer is honest and trustworthy to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on the stand? Brady…


Structuring and Dennis Hastert: Is This Case Setting a Precedent for Prosecutorial Overreach of Your Rights?

Yesterday, Dennis Hastert pled not guilty to criminal charges that were filed against him on May 28, 2015, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No. 15-CR-315. Read the Indictment which was placed into my Digital Library for further reference here: Counts in the Indictment: What’s…


Open Carry of Handguns in Texas: Get Ready

You may assume that it’s not allowed anywhere in the United States for an ordinary citizen to carry their gun openly in public display, but you’re wrong if you do. It’s not. In fact, it’s strange but true that until this month Texas (that’s right, Texas!) was one of only a few states (the others…


Update on Law of Asset Forfeitures: Federal and Texas – Are You Any Safer?

As the general public becomes more and more aware, and more and more shocked, over police forfeiture actions – where private property is taken by law enforcement regardless of whether or not the owner has been involved in a crime, much less convicted, there’s been talk about changing forfeiture laws at both the federal and…


When The Police Stop You: the Law and Your Need for a Zealous Defense Lawyer

The death of Freddie Gray while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department continues to be big news here in Dallas and the rest of the country: this week, the six police officers who were arrested in connection with what the medical examiner ruled a homicide of Freddie Gray are quickly beginning their defense….


Stingray Use by Feds and Local Police is Growing: Are You Being Monitored?

Police officers and law enforcement agencies are limited by the federal constitution as well as federal and state laws in what they can do. They are not supposed to snoop on citizens or eavesdrop on people unless they’ve got specific legal authorization to do so. . . The problem is — as any experienced criminal…


Police Who Lie On the Witness Stand: Did You Know Prosecutors Keep Lists of Their Names?

It wasn’t until 1963 that the U.S. Supreme Court forced prosecutors to do the right thing and share all the facts about a case with defense lawyers before they tried someone for a serious crime and tried to get a conviction. In the case of Brady v. Maryland, John Brady had been convicted of murder…


Child Porn Charges: Busted By FBI Computer Surveillance and Now, Private Web Hackers on Social Media

Federal authorities in North Texas and the Dallas – Fort Worth metro area are working very hard it seems at investigating and charging people with child pornography sex crime charges. .   Recent Computer-Related Federal Child Porn Charges Consider the following five examples of news releases from the local FBI (Dallas) office and the U.S….


False Arrests From Flawed Cocaine Detection Kit: the NIK 6500 is Bad News for Texas

Cocaine possession is a serious felony and law enforcement in North Texas takes this crime very seriously.  In the past, it took awhile for police to charge someone officially with having cocaine because it took some time for the lab to verify that the white powder taken into evidence was indeed an illegal, controlled substance….


Texas Police Can Get Your Phone Records From Phone Company Without a Warrant: Ford v. State

This week, there’s lots of concern about cell phone security and phone privacy rights. Why? Thousands of celebrity nude photos have been posted online by a hacker for all to see (with the promise of more to come). Now the FBI has begun investigating how the cell phone pix were stolen (hacked) from private accounts…