Tag: Dallas criminal defense attorney
The issue of how religious advisors can attend condemned prisoners might seem like a trivial one. However, it has now led to the third postponement of an execution in Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court halted the execution of John Ramirez this month nearly three hours after he was slated to die. It marked the third…
When you hear the terms manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, it may be hard to distinguish between them. We Asked a Dallas homicide defense Lawyer Mick Mickelsen to help us understand. Under Texas law, there are four types of criminal homicide: capital murder, murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide. Both manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide involve the…
Defendants who are charged with violent or sexual crimes may find it more difficult to bond out of jail pretrial following legislation passed in the Texas legislature earlier this month. A report on Houston Public Media noted House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 6 would prevent a defendant from being released on a personal recognizance…
Mass shootings are tragic, high-profile, and often chaotic. The pressure is on police to make arrests quickly after shootings. On occasions, law enforcement officers make mistakes. Associated Press recently reported police have dropped charges against two juveniles after investigators identified a different shooter in an incident in downtown Austin that left a tourist dead and…
People have a right to protest peacefully under the First Amendment. However, it’s illegal to obstruct the roadway if it prevents the passing of emergency vehicles. This month, the Texas House passed a bill that would increase criminal penalties and require jail time for people who block highways during protests if their action impedes emergency…
Date rape allegations are taken very seriously by authorities, particularly if a drug is used. In Texas, the authorities are investigating allegations of date rape at the Texas Capitol. The TV station KVUE reported a Capitol staffer claimed she was drugged with a date-rape drug by a lobbyist during a meeting in downtown Austin. The…
A defendant’s mental illness makes him or her less morally culpable of a crime and should be taken into consideration as a reason to avoid the death penalty, according to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. However, states can and do execute defendants who suffer from mental illnesses. Texas is no exception. The Death Penalty Information Center lists…
As criminal defense lawyers, we do everything in our power to keep defendants out of jail. We realize that Texas’s jails and prisons are hazardous places that can harm inmates. This was again illustrated by the tragic death of Marvin Scott III in Collin County. Police arrested Scott, a Black man, in Allen for allegedly…
Hate crimes again made headlines in recent weeks when a gunman killed eight people, including six Asian women, in Atlanta. The Biden administration faces pressure to bring hate crime charges against shooter Robert Aaron Long, 21, over the killings. However, the incident demonstrated flaws in the federal legislation, according to the Washington Post. The hate…
Thousands of prisoners have been exonerated in recent years for wrongful convictions, amounting to almost 25,000 lost years behind bars. Texas leads the nation on exonerations. In 2019, the most recent year figures are available for, Texas had the joint second highest number of exonerations in the country. However, the state leads the table of…