Category Archives: Search and Seizures
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….
Holder’s New Limits on Asset Forfeiture: Big Deal.
Last Friday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder revealed new federal limits on asset forfeiture, possibly due to the growing public awareness and criminal defense outcry concerning the shocking ways in which local police departments and various state agencies have been profiting through the seizure of private property without bothering to arrest the property owner. Literally…
Heroin Arrests in Dallas and North Texas: Billboards, Big Brother, and Civil Rights in Heroin Cases
In George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, Oceania was ruled by a character called “Big Brother,” who oversaw the ruling government that held total control over the citizens “for its own sake.” (If you read this back in high school, this is where you probably learned about the “totalitarian” form of government.) Orwell wrote of every…
Texas Police Excessive Force: Concern Isn’t Just the Police Officer, It’s the Entire Police Department
For the past two nights, there has been rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, in the aftermath of the grand jury determination not to bring charges against a police officer who used lethal force. That’s Missouri; what about police and lethal force here in Dallas and North Texas? Good question. 1. Dallas Web Site: Police Department’s Lethal…
Dallas County Opens Digital Crime Lab: DA Snoops Your Cell Phone
There was an important news update out of Craig Watkins’ office that may have been overshadowed yesterday, what with all the November 2014 Election coverage and the scoop that Watkins lost his job to Republican challenger Susan Hawk. After all, there’s lots to ponder in Dallas criminal justice circles about what Hawk’s transition into the…
Will Media Coverage Finally Stop Government From Grabbing Your Property in Forfeiture?
Finally, the public is waking up to the wrong that is civil forfeiture laws – something that we’ve been monitoring here since April 2010. There’s still lots to be done, but there is reason to be optimistic that the government’s ability to grab your property without any criminal wrongdoing even being alleged on your part…
More Texas DWI Convictions Will Be Overturned Because of Warrantless Blood Draws
Over in Tyler, somebody had a very good day recently – specifically, Samuel Gentry who saw his lawyer win a DWI appeal before the Tyler Court of Appeals and get his 3d DWI conviction overturned along with the Life Sentence he was serving. Warrantless Blood Draw in DWI Case What happened? The police…
Supreme Court Says No to Police: Cops Cannot Search Cell Phones Without a Warrant
This morning, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Riley v. California (joined with United States v. Wurie), two cases we’ve been monitoring for a long while now. This is very big deal for all Americans and very good news for anyone arrested in the United States with their cell phone in their…
Lessons of The Gas Pipe Bust: Traffic Stop Leads to Major Synthetic Marijuana Bust and Big Federal Forfeiture Grab
It all began with a simple traffic stop back on December 4, 2013. That’s when a Denton County Deputy Sheriff pulled over a Ford pickup truck and asked the driver if he could search the vehicle. The driver said okay, and the Deputy Sheriff discovered stuff used to grow marijuana, as well as marijuana residue…
Seal Broken by Judge Today and Now We Know How The Police Are Eavesdropping on Public With Stingray Devices
For a long while, criminal defense lawyers along with civil rights activists as well as citizens who have been arrested by law enforcement in Police Departments all over the country have known that police have been using new technology to eavesdrop on phone calls and text messages. That’s not news. It’s been a real big…
