Year: 2013
Few of the thousands of DWI cases seen in Texas every year make headlines. But when you are a celebrity, it’s a different story. Randy Travis pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated on January 31, 2013 in a case from last summer when the naked country music star crashed his Pontiac Trans Am. The 53-year-old…
In northern Texas a judge has declined to dismiss a capital murder charge against a 17-year-old who is accused of killing his mother and sister even though it’s at odds with an important U.S. Supreme Court decision. Given the key ruling by the nation’s highest court, it’s not surprising that attorneys for Jacob Ryan Evans…
Numerous wrongful convictions have come to light in Texas over recent years but few are more stark than that of Michael Morton. In November, 2011, a grand jury in Travis County, Texas, indicted Mark Norwood on capital murder charges related to the killing of Debra Baker in 1988. Norwood is also awaiting trial on murder…
The recent fatal shooting of a robbery suspect in a home invasion in North Dallas illustrates how deadly force can be used in Texas to protect property. The Dallas Morning News reported a robbery suspect was shot and killed late on January 9, 2012 in a “drug-related home invasion in Far North Dallas.” Police officers…
Criminal Justice reforms due to be considered in Texas this year could help prevent defendants making false confessions to police officers. While it makes no sense to confess to a crime you didn’t commit, criminal defense lawyers often see cases in which people who are arrested are persuaded to confess by heavy handed interview techniques….
2012 was a year of unusual crimes in the Dallas area, as well as the worst year for shootings involving Dallas police officers in a decade. The Dallas Morning News reported on how some crimes in the city made national headlines. “Crimes and trials rattled North Texans, sometimes garnering national attention, all year long. A…