Year: 2014

just a bill

A Dallas County District Attorney has been accused of violating a law that states all crime victims have the right to be informed of all proceedings that relate to their case. A report in USA Today described how the Texas Bill of Rights states that crime victims have the right to be informed of all…

dui

Christmas and New Year sees a stepping up in police enforcement aimed at preventing intoxicated drivers. Additional patrols combined with a large number of holiday parties typically mean a spike in the number of drivers who are arrested for DUIs. There is also often an increase in deaths and injuries caused by drivers who are…

Baphomet

Capital murder is the most serious charge that can be brought in Texas. Generally speaking, the penalty for capital murder is death or life in prison without parole. This month a jury in Houston convicted a teenager of capital murder in the death of a girl who prosecutors say was killed as part of a…

police brutality

In 2012, there was an angry demonstration in Dallas, Texas when police shot and killed James Harper. Harper, an African American, was shot dead at drug house in the 5300 block of Bourquin Street while, according to Dallas Police Chief David Brown, police were responding to a kidnapping call. These kinds of scenes have dominated…

How to Write a Character Letter of Support to a Judge Prior to your sentencing, you may have friends and relatives write character letters of support to the judge which the judge will consider in imposing sentencing. Because of the sentencing guidelines, the judge does not have a great deal of discretion as to your…

Texas has a longstanding reputation for being tough on crime and criminals. It executes more convicts than any other state and has a massive prison population. But now the state is making crime headlines for another initiative in which a softer approach brought in seven years ago appears to have reversed the out-of-control growth of…

27% increase

There is an increase in inappropriate student-teacher relationships. Sexual offenses can carry a great deal of stigma especially when those who are charged with them are in a position of responsibility such as being a teacher. Recently the Dallas Morning News reported on how an English teacher from Richardson High School English teacher has been…

When Texas executed Miguel Parades by lethal injection last month, it marked the 10th time the death penalty had been used by the state this year. Texas leads the nation in the number of executions but the use of the death penalty is declining in the Lone Star State. The final execution of the year…

Real fingerprints on fake crime scene

DNA plays a major part in many crime investigations and it can be recovered from some of the most unlikely of sources. Recently, the Dallas Morning News reported on how DNA evidence from a cigarette butt found at the scene of a fatal shooting last May has been linked to a man who was jailed…

We associate long prison sentences with crimes of violence but white collar crimes committed by people from professional backgrounds can also carry stiff sentences. Recently, a disbarred attorney from Arlington, Texas was sentenced to 20 years in prison for continuing to represent herself as an attorney almost a decade after she lost her license. The…