Year: 2016
Hate crimes are not always easy to define. In some cases, it’s easy to recognize an offense as a hate crime. For example, violence against someone who wears particular religious clothing is widely acknowledged as a hate crime. In Oklahoma, a man was recently charged with a hate crime after he murdered his neighbor for…
Texas has a no nonsense reputation for drunk driving and long prison terms are not uncommon in the Lone Star state for DWI drivers. However, the sentence that was handed down to Ronnie Paul Hobgood was stiff even by the state’s standards. Hobgood was arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) in February. In August he…
For almost 100 years, Texas has classified 17-year-olds who are charged with crimes as adults. That may be about to change as lawmakers consider redefining who is classified as an adult in the criminal justice system. The state’s politicians are now considering increasing the juvenile age to 18, reported CBS. That would mean those under…
Mistakes are a normal part of life. For many people, mistakes are an important part of the learning process. A close call or a near miss can actually be a sobering reminder of why you shouldn’t have been doing something dangerous or illegal in the first place. However, some mistakes are bigger than others –…
A former accountant from Dallas who murdered his two daughters in 2001, has been moved from death row as a fight goes on to prove his mental incompetency. The Dallas Morning News reported on how John Battaglia had been due to be executed in March but won a stay of execution in the 5th U.S….
The tactics of prosecutors in Texas often make headlines for the wrong kinds of reasons but an incident in which a rape victim was jailed in Houston is shocking even by the standards of the Lone Star State. In Harris County, a prosecutor jailed a rape victim because he feared she would not show up…
Having a criminal record can severely impact your life by barring you from jobs and accolades, even years after a conviction. This was graphically illustrated when a beauty queen in Texas was stripped of her crown after her criminal record came to light. KHOU reported on how Miss Corpus Christi Latina Caitlin Cifuentes, will have…
Controversial laws in states such as Texas that make it a crime for a drunk driving suspect to refuse a breath test have been backed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The highest court in the land has provided greater clarity on what constitutes an unreasonable search and seizure of a suspected drunk driver in a…
Most people have an intuitive sense of what constitutes a crime. For example, you probably know that taking something from a store without paying for it is a shoplifting offense. And while you may not go to jail for running a red light, you may end up with a traffic citation if a police officer…
Texas has an unenviable record for wrongful convictions. When a defendant is wrongfully jailed he or she is not the only one to lose out. A report this month reveals the state has paid 101 men and women who were wrongfully jailed $93.6 million over the last 25 years. That’s money that could have been…