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The disturbing case of Andre Thomas has again raised the question of how just how insane a defendant has to be in Texas to avoid the death penalty. Thomas gouged out both of his own eyes in jail. He brutally murdered his estranged wife along with their young son and her 13-month-old daughter. According to…
If you are accused of a crime in Texas, your chances of a fair trial will vary depending on the openness of the jurisdiction you are being tried in. That’s the conclusion of a new report which found the amount of evidence that can be obtained from prosecutors varies widely across the state. The report…
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…
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…
Security concerns about criminal suspects have been raised in Dallas after a capital murder suspect escaped from Parkland Memorial Hospital. According to a report in the Dallas Morning News, a lone deputy guarding Franklin Davis removed the suspect’s leg and arm restraints so as he could take a shower before his return to jail. The…
When a special documentary series on some of America’s most blatant wrongful convictions and their subsequent exonerations opens next week on BET’s Centric Channel, Texas will be highlighted as having the third highest number of exonerations in the country. As Dallas criminal attorneys, we are saddened at Broden & Mickelsen, LLP, but not surprised by…