Category: News
Cold case investigations tend to make for good TV shows. Although in many of these shows the police relentlessly hunt down criminals who have gone undetected for decades, the reality can be very different. The Dallas Morning News recently wrote about the torture endured by a family over the killing of Camille Norman that took…
Texas has a bad record for wrongful convictions with more than 100 coming to light in recent years. And the revelations keep coming. This week in Corsicana a 58-year-old Texas man walked free from jail after serving almost 30 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Back in 1984 Randolph Arledge was sentenced to 99…
Given its closeness to the Mexican border, it’s hardly surprising Texas is on the front line for drug trafficking offenses. This was again illustrated in the latest big operation when more than $1.7 million in money was seized as part of the dismantling of a huge marijuana trafficking ring, U.S. Attorney Malcolm Bales said this…
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…
A Texas school bus driver is just the latest in a string of female school employees in Texas to be charged with having sexual contact with a student. Diana Almanza, a 47-year-old bus driver, has been charged with sexual assault of a child, reported KPRC.com Almanza worked for Pearland Independent School District. School officials said…