Criminal Law Blog
Dallas County Marijuana Arrests: In 2015, Dallas Police Not Busting for Pot
Dallas police officers stop people for being high or possessing pot all the time; often, these encounters result in arrests that are not based upon serious felony charges leading to significant jail time upon conviction. Lots are misdemeanor charges. Bottom line, many of the marijuana arrests in our area are for relatively small amounts of…
Dallas Ebola Victim: No Evidence of Intent to Deceive; DA Assault Charges Were Wacky
Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan died early this morning at Texas Presbyterian Hospital here in Dallas, where he had been quarantined and isolated from all human contact for the past 14 days. It’s sad to think that Thomas Duncan died alone. Our sincerest condolences to his family and loved ones who are grieving their loss…
Creepshot Law Held Unconstitutional: New Cases in Texas Child Pornography Defense
The prosecution of child pornography cases just got a bit harder here in Texas after the highest criminal court in the state, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, issued its opinion last week regarding photographs taken of children in public places here. The court ruled that “upskirt” photographs are not illegal, no matter how disturbing…
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…
Prosecutorial Misconduct in Texas: Continuing Injustice
For criminal defense lawyers in Texas, the idea that prosecutors are human and sometimes do very bad things isn’t news. It’s something to be monitored during every case and almost every day you ask yourself the question: is the prosecutor trying to pull a fast one here? Real life isn’t like TV shows, albeit even…
Federal Conspiracy to Distribute Case: Reduced 73.5%
Federal Conspiracy to Distribute
Defense Lessons of the Dallas Crime Lab and the Michael Phillips Exoneration
The Dallas Crime Lab has made the national news (along with the history books) by being the first crime lab to have its DNA evidence form the basis of a wrongful conviction exoneration where the defendant didn’t move for the re-testing of the crime lab results. This is a big national news story. You can…
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price Indictment – Full Text of Federal Grand Jury Indictment July 2014
John Wiley Price’s Indictment was unsealed yesterday. For the convenience of anyone wishing to read the 100+ page federal grand jury indictment of the Dallas County Commissioner, we’ve uploaded it as a pdf file for your convenience. Federal Grand Jury Indictment of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price – Full Text Dallas County Commissioner John…
Get Your Federal Drug Sentence Reduced: New Retroactive Reduction of Federal Sentences
Last week, people serving time behind bars for federal drug crimes got some great news. The agency in charge of federal sentencing changed its policy. Now, thousands of prisoners will be able to get an early release from federal prisons around the country. People who are already serving time on federal drug convictions may be…
Drug Free Zones in Texas: Serious Issue for Defendants Arrested for Drug Crimes
If you have to be arrested for drug possession in Texas, then try and make sure you’re not busted in a designated “Drug Free Zone.” Why? If you are caught with illegal drugs by law enforcement in a Drug Free Zone, then you’re going to be facing more serious and severe sentencing and more time…
