Category: News
Small samples of DNA are often used to clear up cold cases. Police recently revealed a discarded cigarette butt helped them charge a Texas man over the murder of a 50-year-old woman on Mother’s Day 2016. Byron Lloyd Collins, 29, was recently picked up by authorities at the same complex in Baytown where Natalia Shal…
It’s unusual for a judge to seek to influence the verdict of a jury, but this appears to have happened in Texas, according to a recent report. A state district judge in Comal County is said to have told the jury God told him to intervene and the jury should return a not guilty verdict…
Texas executed more people than any other state in 2017, but the number of times inmates were put to death was again at a low in the Lone Star State. Seven men were executed in Texas in 2017. The figure was the same as 2016, a year with the lowest number of executions in two…
White collar crimes in Texas can involve large sums of money and lengthy prison sentences. Recently, two men from Texas were indicted in an alleged $1 million real estate investment scam. Earlier this month, they were indicted in an operation that involved expensive cars, private jets, and religious deception, reported AP. U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy…
A crime known as “jugging” often increases during the holiday season. When a person “gets jugged,” someone takes money from them that they just withdrew, such as from an ATM or bank. According to the Houston Police Department, there were more than 735 documented jugging cases in one recent year. Here’s what you need to…
A Texas woman is accused of mailing potentially deadly homemade bombs to then-President Barack Obama as well Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in 2016 last year. She was arrested due to evidence that included cat hair, a cigarette box and a partially destroyed shipping label. Julia Poff, a 46-year-old woman, is accused of mailing the dangerous…
Courts and juries place credence on forensic evidence in cases. However, this is not always reliable and can be subject to human errors. Recently, misleading testimony from a Texas crime lab analyst led to changes in how this evidence is treated in court. The Dallas Morning News reported how unreliable testimony from a state crime…
Under federal law, it is a crime for anyone with a domestic violence conviction to buy or own a gun. The system broke down with tragic consequences on Nov. 5 when Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 worshipers and injured 20 more at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in Texas. Kelley, 26, was convicted…
A series of proposed executions in Texas have been delayed or derailed over the last year due to legal appeals or other circumstances. The latest death row inmate to face an 11th hour reprieve was Houston serial killer, Anthony Shore, who was just hours away from execution when the process was halted. Officials stopped the…
Severe heat at Texas prisons has been linked to deaths and lawsuits. Now Texas plans to move about 1,000 Texas prisoners to cooler cells. Last week, Texas submitted a plan under a court order to move 1,000 inmates who are sensitive to heat from the Pack Unit near Navasota to other state jails and prisons…