Tag: Dallas criminal defense attorney

The system of cash bail for defendants is controversial. Opponents say those who cannot afford to pay languish in jails even if they have been charged with minor crimes. However, the system is being overhauled nationwide after Illinois became the first state to abolish it, and a large Texas jurisdiction is allowing people to be…

Important changes in how sexual assaults are investigated and victims are treated were enacted in Texas in 2019. Advocates of change are hopeful of further momentum in 2021. The reforms enacted two years ago came on the heels of the #MeToo movement, the Texas Tribune reported. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Austin…

Drunk driving again made headlines in Dallas this month when a police officer was killed by an allegedly intoxicated driver. The Dallas Police Department said an officer who was working an accident scene was killed in the early hours on Feb. 13. In a tweet, Chief Eddie Garcia said a police officer was “struck and…

Drug crimes are taken very seriously in Texas, particularly when they are prosecuted at the federal level. The federal courts typically deal with drug cases when a federal officer makes the arrest, the offenses cross state lines, or the charges involve large quantities of drugs, trafficking, manufacturing, or intent to distribute narcotics. Two roommates from…

The stalled criminal justice system in Texas due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unforeseen effect on incarceration rates, leaving county jails facing an overcrowding crisis at a time when they are hotbeds of infection. The pandemic has disrupted life in Texas at all levels and criminal justice is no exception. State prisons stopped…

Homicides increased in many major U.S. cities during 2020, the pandemic year. Cities in Texas were no exception. This month, NPR reported on an alarming increase in homicides in 2020 which left many communities searching for answers given that the pandemic put many people on lockdown. Rising murder rates were recorded n Chicago, Los Angeles,…

The U.S. Government recently started executing inmates again. It reached a grim milestone this month with the news it has carried out more executions in a year than all states that have the death penalty – including Texas, a state that typically executes more people than any other. President Donald Trump resumed federal executions after…

Moves to strengthen Dallas’ no cruising laws to clamp down on prostitution and sex trafficking in recent weeks have provoked a lively debate. While supporters said an extension of the city’s ordinance would help police to tackle sex crimes, opponents claim they are a threat to civil liberties comparing them to maligned stop and frisk…

crime scene

Gun crime in Dallas has made headlines in recent years and prompted Gov. Greg Abbot to send in state police last year. Another spike in shootings means state police are returning to city streets. The weekend of Nov. 14-15 was the deadliest of the year in the city. Police responded to seven fatal shootings. The Dallas…

domestic violence

Police and civic leaders have highlighted a rise in domestic violence in Dallas as a factor behind a spike in the city’s homicide rate in 2019. A new approach entails more warrants for domestic abusers and agencies working more closely together. The Dallas Morning News reported domestic-violence slayings made up at least 32 of the…