Tag: criminal defense attorney

crime scene

Texas is no stranger to hate crimes that target minorities. In recent months, the Dallas community has been shocked by a series of deadly attacks on transgender women. In May, hundreds of people from the LGBTQ+ community attended the funeral of Muhlaysia Booker, a 22-year-old transgender woman who was shot and killed. Her body was…

Phishing Scam Stole $100 Million from Google and Facebook

Internet scams are a form of fraud, and a conviction for this type of computer crime can result in serious penalties, including years in jail. Recently, investigators uncovered a large scale phishing scam that targeted tech giants Google and Facebook. Using emailed invoices, a man was able to defraud the companies out of more than…

Dallas Federal Crimes - Lawyer Perspective on Patriot Act

Could the Patriot Act affect your criminal case? You’ve probably heard about this powerful federal tool that gives authorities the sweeping ability to engage in surveillance tactics, but most people only know of the Patriot Act from what they see on television. What they may not realize is that the Patriot Act often allows law…

What’s the Difference Between a Restraining Order and Protective Order in Texas?

Although many people use “restraining order” and “protective order” to refer to the same thing, these two terms actually describe two different types of court orders. In stalking and harassment cases, when someone needs protection from an alleged stalker or harasser, the appropriate order is a protective order. If you believe that another person poses…

police traffic stop with car

Asset forfeiture, the process in which police seize the goods of suspected criminals, is happening on a massive scale in Texas. Even when suspects are cleared, they often still lose their cars, cash, and other goods to police, a new investigation has found. The Texas Tribune looked at 560 asset forfeiture cases in 2016, which…

law

A bipartisan effort to change the law to allow judges in Texas to dismiss low-level crimes when police officers fail to explain why they arrested a suspect has died. The Texas Tribune reported a committee of Texas lawmakers from both chambers killed a measure in late May that would have let judges dismiss low-level crimes…

Bail system; money with gavel and handcuffs

Bail reform in Texas has been widely discussed after federal judges branded the system in Dallas and Houston unconstitutionally. The Texas House passed a reform bill to address the problem this month. The legislation would improve training for people who make bail decisions. Critics say it doesn’t go far enough. The Texas House approved a…

vote

Voter fraud has been a major issue in Texas in recent years amid high-profile prosecutions of people who voted when they were ineligible. However, claims that as many as 95,000 Texans were committing voter fraud unraveled in February. David Whitley, the Acting Secretary of State of Texas, came under fire for a report that questioned…

Texas summer blog

Texas prisons are dangerous places for a host of reasons. Despite being in areas where summer temperatures soar, many of them lack air conditioning. The cost of installing air conditioning in uncooled prisons was raised in the Texas legislature last month. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice put a $1 billion price tag on cooling…

death penalty

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a temporary reprieve to a Texas inmate facing the death penalty because his spiritual adviser was not present has sparked a feud among the justices. Patrick Murphy was among a group of inmates who escaped from a Texas prison in 2000. He committed a series of…