Criminal Law Blog
Grand Jury in Texas: Defending Witnesses and Targets of Grand Jury Investigations
You read about grand juries all the time: just this month, there was national news coverage in the Tamir Rice case, because there was no indictment; the grand jury voted against it. Another example: in the Sandra Bland case, there was an indictment because the grand jury voted for it – after the grand jury…
2016 Texas Gun Laws: Obama Action, Open Carry: Know Your Gun Rights
Prediction: More Gun Arrests in Texas Over New Gun Laws In the first week of the new year, not only did the new Texas Open Carry Law become effective, but President Obama announced his latest executive actions for federal government gun control. Talk to people; read the news media; listen to the news releases from…
Prosecutorial Misconduct in Texas Alert: Ethical Rules Held to Have Broader Duty Than Brady to Turn Over Exculpatory Evidence to the Defense
Back in November 2014, a State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee ruled that a Denton County assistant district attorney named William (”Bill”) Schultz had violated the ethical rules that all Texas attorneys are sworn to uphold. Not only that, but more: he had committed a serious ethics violation and his unethical conduct deserved suspension from…
New Texas Open Carry Law: Gun Arrests and Weapons Charges in 2016
It’s only a matter of days until Texans will be able to carry firearms in a holster on their belt: the new Texas Open Carry Law goes into effect on January 1, 2016. However, lots of folk are confused about what this law will and will not allow them to do. They aren’t the only…
Sex Offender Registry in Texas: Stigma and Second Chances
Just being charged with a sex crime can cause real harm not only to the reputation of the person who has been arrested, but also to their careers, finances, family life, and personal and professional relationships. (We’ve discussed this in a prior post.) Charges aren’t convictions. Innocent people get arrested. It’s very sad to consider…
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…
Dennis Hastert Plea Deal: My Prediction Coming True and The Impact on Future Prosecutions
Maybe today, maybe tomorrow – but soon, and most likely on October 28 according to the Chicago Tribune, Dennis Hastert (former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives) is going to be facing a federal judge with a plea deal in hand, an agreement reportedly ironed out between his defense team and the federal prosecutors….
Police Coming Into Texas Homes Without A Search Warrant
Search and Seizure: Police Entering Dorm Rooms, Apartments, Homes Our story begins a few weeks ago down near Austin, where Tori Thayer and Carly Christine were roommates sharing a home in Pflugerville (maybe you recognize Pflugerville as the place where lots of episodes of the TV show “Friday Night Lights” were filmed). It was three o’clock…
My Tip No. 8: Beware the Slow Plea in Criminal Defense of Felony Drug Manufacture or Distribution Cases
https://www.dallasjustice.com/top-10-things-know-defending-texas-charges-manufacture-delivery-illegal-substance/
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…
