Category Archives: Orwellian Threats to Rights
Year in Review: Things for Dallas to Consider From a Criminal Defense Perspective
How Dangerous is It to Live or Work in Dallas County? Here we are at the end of another year. Let’s take a minute and consider where things stand as we enter 2016, from a North Texas Criminal Defense perspective: 1. Dallas County Is Really, Really Dangerous As reported by Grits for Breakfast this week,…
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Former Dallas Criminal Judge Etta Mullin Gets Bigger Discipline After She Appeals Public Admonition by Judicial Commission
Around the hallways of the Dallas County Courthouse, you can hear many a war story about appearing in the courtroom of Dallas County Criminal Court No. 5 when the Honorable Etta Mullin presided on its bench. If you didn’t have your own personal experience to share, there were lots of criminal defense lawyers (and other…
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Waco Justice? 100 Days After Twin Peaks Biker Arrests, Things Look Fishy to Criminal Defense
Today, the Dallas Morning News published an editorial calling for the end of the gag order down in Waco which prevents law enforcement and state authorities — much less anyone else — from revealing information about the May 17, 2015 shootout involving lots of bikers and motorcycle club members at the Twin Peaks restaurant in…
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District Attorneys Keep Doing Bad Things: More Texas Prosecutorial Misconduct Stories
The problem of prosecutors doing bad things like hiding evidence and introducing unreliable (or false) testimony isn’t getting better. Recently, the Daily Beast published an expose on prosecutorial misconduct in the United States, labeling the problem a national epidemic. You can read their take on things in the article written by Jay Michaelson and published…
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Bite Mark Evidence Isn’t Reliable But It’s Still Used Against Defendants in Texas
Lots of criminal defense attorneys have their fingers crossed here in Texas, hoping that sooner rather than later everyone is going to acknowledge and understand that bite mark evidence isn’t worthy of respect much less use in a criminal case where someone’s freedom is in jeopardy. For many years, defense lawyers have recognized that evidence…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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….
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10 Questions to Ask Before you Hire a Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer
Top 5 Mistakes in Defending a Texas Criminal Case
