20
Apr
When you are stopped because a law enforcement officer believes you are driving under the influence, you will be asked to submit to a field sobriety test or a Breathalyzer test. While the courts have recently reviewed Texas’ implied consent laws and deemed the forcing of a blood test to be unconstitutional, sobriety tests can […]
07
Mar
While Texas does not have any specific statutes that are labeled “domestic violence”, these crimes are generally prosecuted as misdemeanor assault charges. One important factor one must be aware of if facing domestic violence charges is that prosecutors do not need the accuser to move forward with prosecution in domestic assault charges. Anyone facing these […]
10
Feb
Criminal justice organizations in Texas are looking at thousands of criminal cases that used an outdated method for projecting the chances that DNA left at a crime scene belonged to a particular suspect. Guidelines for calculating those odds were revised nationally several years ago, and Texas lawyers and labs are now starting to review their […]
01
Sep
An undocumented man from Nicaragua—Bernardo Tercero—was found guilty of capital murder in October of 2000 and received the death penalty as punishment for the conviction. Now years later on the eve of Tercero’s planned execution, the Texas Court of Appeals, the highest criminal court within the state, has granted a stay of execution. Tercero Files […]
27
Aug
In a criminal trial—especially one where the penalties if convicted may be severe—few things are more important than accurate evidence. Unfortunately, shoddy evidence types have been used—and accepted as permissible in court—in prior convictions in Texas. From dog-sniffing lineups to poor forensic practices, innocent people have been put behind bars as a result of inaccurate […]