Criminal Law Blog
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…
Fighting the Prosecutor on Just Punishment: Evidence on Sentencing and Probation After a Conviction in Texas
For many people, maybe because it seems like it in so many TV shows, criminal trials are one big event. It’s exciting and fast-paced, where the attorneys roam the courtrooms, there’s very little paperwork, and there are lots of people going up to the witness stand for short stints. In reality, things are different. Two…
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….
Police in Dallas – Fort Worth Get Papers Graded: Low Crime Clearance Rates for North Texas
Today, the video of a South Carolina police officer shooting a man running away from a traffic stop has gone viral, and the officer has been arrested for murder. If you haven’t seen the footage, you can watch it on YouTube (it’s pretty graphic). For more videos of excessive force by law enforcement around the…
Fentanyl and Heroin Here in Dallas: Dangers of Arrest and More
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is sold under a variety of names including Actiq, Duragesic, Haldid, Matrifen, and Onsolis. It’s been around for over 20 years as a prescription paid med. Beginning in the 1990s, it was becoming so popular among physicians that they were prescribing not just fentanyl in pill form but also…
Dallas D.A. Forfeiture Funds: The Temptation of All That Stuff and the Craig Watkins Scandal
Here in Dallas, more and more people are aware of how government authorities have been seizing property from people without sufficient judicial process and keeping those assets for their own uses. This is good because forfeiture is a big problem that not enough folk realize exists. We’ve been discussing this problem — the problem of…
Synthetic Drugs Law: Will New Texas Law Succeed in Outlawing Spice, K2, and Other Synthetic Highs?
Here in Texas, law enforcement and the Texas Legislature are trying hard to keep up with the growing market for synthetic marijuana and designer drugs that are being sold all around the state in shops as well as online on legal web sites. Synthetic marijuana, for example, is sold as an easy to get alternative…
Juvenile Heroin Arrests: When Your Child is Busted for Heroin in Texas
Some may be shocked to think that there are active heroin users here in Texas, especially here in the Dallas – Fort Worth area, that are minors or juveniles and kids under the age of 18 years. The general public (and potential jurors) may not understand that heroin use isn’t like it was in years…
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…
