Criminal Law

Governor's Mansion Fire: What's your alibi?

Posted on June 09, 2008
Proving your innocence in the face of false accusations may be a lot harder than it seems. For instance, just before 2 p.m. on Sunday morning an arsonist set fire to Texas' antebellum Governor's mansion in downtown Austin. I can prove I was in New Orleans when it happened, though no one else was with me at precisely that time...

CCA could weaken attorney-client privilege rule in place since 1856

Posted on June 09, 2008
Heads up, criminal defense lawyers!Robert Guest over at the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog reports brings word the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals:is moving to abolish the special rule of criminal attorney-client privilege. This would leave defendants with a much weaker protection currently only used in civil cases...

Possible suicide by snitch who alleged police doping deserves outside inquiry

Posted on June 09, 2008
As the mainstream media continues to focus on whether the National Football League will investigate allegations by deceased Plano steroid dealer David Jacobs, I continue to wonder who will investigate allegations that he sold steroids to police in five Metroplex departments?Jacobs' death was ruled a suicide, but the more I learn, the more I think his case deserves an outside investigation...

"A door to a brick wall": CCA approves Texas lethal injection protocols without a hearing

Posted on June 09, 2008
After a last minute stay of an execution last week, the Texas Court of Criminal appeals today approved Texas' lethal injection procedures, clearing the way for Texecutions to resume. Here are the relevant opinions:CHI, EX PARTE HELIBERTO FROM TARRANT COUNTY DISMISSED-OPINION JUDGE HERVEY [HTML] [PDF] CONCURRING OPINION JUDGE COCHRAN [HTML] [PDF](JUDGE WOMACK JOINED ) DISSENTING OPINION JUDGE PRICE [HTML] [PDF] DISSENTING OPINION JUDGE JOHNSON [HTML] [PDF](JUDGE HOLCOMB JOINED )PUBLISHEDTo judge by the dissents, the court felt under pressure to approve a new method to allow executions to resume, but Judge Tom Price thought the ruling was premature, from his dissent: No fair-minded citizen approves of the execution of an innocent man...

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Open Thread: Travel Day(s)

Posted on June 06, 2008
I'm off to the Crescent City on a business trip involving a new consulting gig, and don't know whether or not I'll have a chance to get back on the blog over the weekend. While I'm gone, visit these fine blogs where this morning I noticed quality recent posts:The Back GateDallas Criminal Defense Lawyer BlogSimple JusticeSentencing Law & PolicyAlso, regarding the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup, be sure to see this item with Gov...

If Texas build new jails and prisons, will more guards come?

Posted on June 06, 2008
Every time you hear some "tuff on crime" Texas pol supporting jail and prison building, the first question to ask them is "Where are you going to find the guards?"The Texas prison system is nearly 4,000 guards understaffed statewide, and federal prisons, local jails and immigration detention facilities all have similar problems...

TYC ending practice of long-term isolation as "aggression management"

Posted on June 06, 2008
The Texas Youth Commission will end its "aggression management" program in which violent youth were kept in individual cells for months on end, a welcome move away from the use of adult corrections techniques imposed by the agency's last conservator.TYC eliminated the program because extensive use of isolation did not reflect national best practices, said spokesman Jim Hurley, and also to alleviate staffing shortages at the Mart 1 unit...

Using local police for immigration enforcement creates sticky, expensive problems for counties

Posted on June 06, 2008
With several Texas jurisdictions hoping to empower local police to enforce immigration laws, I was interested to see this item from Laura Nicholes at the Texas Association of Counties ("Juveniles and immigration reform: What is the counties' role?") detailing problems that result when locals wind up with custody of minors as a result of immigration actions...

The Gift

Posted on June 06, 2008
Just a quibble over definitions, perhaps, but is it really "using the restroom" when one defecates in the back seat of a police car? And while I've no doubt such behavior should be punished, it also strikes me as funny that Athens police charged the fellow under a law penalizing those who create "a noxious odor by chemical means...

Informant who accused Metroplex police of steroid use turns up dead

Posted on June 05, 2008
I normally try not to indulge too readily in conspiracy theories, but a pair of killings this year of informants who ratted out steroid using cops, taken together, are beginning to give me the creeps, not to mention make me wonder when Congress will investigate steroid use in law enforcement as aggressively as they did in baseball...

SCOTUS: Just finding hidden cash not enough to justify asset seizure

Posted on June 05, 2008
It's a truism in Texas drug enforcement that dope runs north on the highways while money and guns flow south, so much so when the Department of Public Safety took over Texas' now-defunct drug task force system, they discovered some agencies were only working southbound lanes, ignoring the drug supply in hopes of making a big asset forfeiture score...

Hervey on innocence proposals: "We're past meet and discuss"

Posted on June 04, 2008
After speaking this afternoon with Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Barbara Hervey about the CCA's new Criminal Justice Integrity Unit (CJIU), described yesterday on Grits here, I think there's room to hope the new body will spearhead an important range of modest reforms...

Smith County appears headed for jail-bond rejection hat trick

Posted on June 04, 2008
Somehow Smith County Judge Joel Baker (the head of the commissioners court, not a magistrate) thinks that two overwhelming defeats for local jail bonds means the public really supports a "scaled-down" jail, but they won't support non-carceral strategies to reduce overcrowding...

Houston judges responsible for massive jail overcrowding tab

Posted on June 04, 2008
The Harris County Commissioners Court has just one group to blame for their budget busting jail overcrowding woes: Local district judges who overuse pretrial detention in order to funnel money to bail bondsmen or help the DA's office extract guilty pleas...

Dallas public defender office faces possible cuts thanks to underuse by judges

Posted on June 04, 2008
In the modern era, politicians must begin to choose between two historic mantras: "Tuff on crime" vs. "No new taxes." In Dallas this week, county commissioners announced a "no new taxes" stand that threatens to run head on into successful efforts to reduce overcrowding at the jail...

Court of Criminal Appeals launches "Criminal Justice Integrity Unit"

Posted on June 03, 2008
On behalf of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA), Judge Barbara Hervey today announced the creation of a "Criminal Justice Integrity Unit," which appears to be another blue-ribbon panel of bigwigs charged with making recommendations - one hopes with an eye toward proposing changes during the 81st Texas Legislature next year...

Guns missing from Houston PD evidence room

Posted on June 03, 2008
Having mentioned last week two evidence room thefts that caused more than 25 criminal cases to be dismissed in Galveston and Brazoria Counties, I should point out this disturbing recent story ("Guns missing from Houston police evidence room," May 30) in which we learn, according to AP (citing an earlier Houston Chronicle story that's no longer online), that: For months, maybe years, people with criminal backgrounds had access to secure areas of the police station, including a property room from which 30 guns disappeared within six months, according to internal police documents...

Around the blogs

Posted on June 03, 2008
I was flattered to find Grits included in this compendium of the top 100 criminal justice blogs (in the view of the Criminal Justice Degrees Guide). The list includes a fine assortment of criminal justice blogs written from a variety of viewpoints, a number of which were new to me...

Penalty increases for scrap metal thieves a bust; better police tactics needed more than harsher penalties

Posted on June 03, 2008
Increasing penalties for stealing small amounts of copper and other industrial metals have done nothing to slow the rate of thefts in the Merroplex, reported the Dallas News ("Dallas detectives battle metal thieves," May 31):From 2005 to 2007, metal thefts in Dallas jumped 227 percent...

Texecutions resume tonight

Posted on June 03, 2008
Texas will resume executions tonight for the first time since the US Supreme Court approved lethal injection as an execution method, with activists predictably launching a protest in response at the capitol. Twelve executions have been scheduled between now and the end of the year...

YFZ kids headed home

Posted on June 03, 2008
The news surrounding the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup is still churning fast and furious. Here are the most recent highlights:First things first, Judge Walther signed the release order allowing most kids to go home. The blogger at I Perceive examines the release order and suggests that FLDS' attorneys may be the ones suffering from "Stockholm Syndrome...

Bush's proposed Mexican anti-drug aid package needs revision

Posted on June 02, 2008
America has a responsibility to assist in Mexico's hot war between the government and the drug cartels, but nothing obligates us to spend money in ways that make matters worse. The Houston Chronicle recently editorialized that the US should provide military aid to Mexico for combating cartels without attaching strings to ensure the money is not used for human rights violations, declaring that:At a time when law enforcement cooperation between the United States and Mexico is more important than ever, the two countries are threatening to turn their backs on each other...

Rozita!

Posted on June 01, 2008
No post-raid interview yet, but see the item today from the Salt Lake Tribune profiling Rozita Swinton, the hoaxer whose prank phone call launched the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup. See more here and here, as well as Brooke Adams' recent blog posts on the subject...

MSM offers excuses for how they got YFZ raid so wrong

Posted on June 01, 2008
Even if Judge Barbara Walther remains recalcitrant, many defenders of Texas' actions in the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup are jumping ship as it's become obvious the state's case is preparing to crash upon the rocks. Others are making excuses to explain why they were wrong...

Maybe FLDS just drew a really bad judge: Walther spitefully delays sending YFZ kids home

Posted on May 31, 2008
Is San Angelo District Judge Barbara Walther the worst judge in Texas?There are many jurists competing for that lowly dishonor, but I'm beginning to wonder if Walther's name shouldn't be placed on the short list for discussion. After her petulant display in the courtroom yesterday, it's increasingly clear the judge has taken rebukes by higher courts personally and begun to behave like a pouting 9-year old...

First arrest made involving fraudulent Ex-Im Bank loans; Did money lent to boost trade wind up in hands of drug cartels?

Posted on May 31, 2008
Somehow I'd missed that the first arrest has been made in Texas regarding fraudulent Ex-Im Bank loans. Byron Harris at WFAA TV in Dallas in December reported that the federal agency gave loans to figures associated with Mexican drug cartels that were never repaid, but until now no arrests had been made...

For the sake of accuracy ...

Posted on May 31, 2008
The Texas Department of Protective and Family Services has adopted a new motto on its logo. However, given the agency's behavior during the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup, the new slogan seemed both cliched and inaccurate, so I took a stab at improving it for them:Whaddya think?Also why do readers think that conservative bloggers tend to oppose the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup, while liberal bloggers seem more likely to support it?

Galveston, Brazoria police react wisely by dismissing cases after evidence room thefts

Posted on May 30, 2008
After the Tulia drug stings I began watching Texas' network of drug task forces, which Gov. Perry ultimately abolished in 2006, and a recurring theme in corruption cases involved lax standards and procedures allowing thefts from evidence rooms.Though the task forces are gone now, the same problem cropped up in two recent cases in Southeast Texas where officials alleged police personnel stole cash or drugs...

Gas prices driving TDCJ to consider regional release of prisoners

Posted on May 30, 2008
With gas at $4 per gallon, the idea of releasing Texas prisoners from their own facilities or "regional release centers" instead of driving them all back to Huntsville is picking up steam, reports the Austin Statesman ("Texas considers regional prison release plan," May 30):For years, most Texas prisoners have been taken to Huntsville when they complete their sentences before being discharged...

Next steps, remaining questions in Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup

Posted on May 30, 2008
Wow! The Texas Supreme Court's ruling that the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup was unjustified dramatically changes the terms of debate regarding the largest child removal case in US history.Let's ponder a few implications of this ruling for the near and long term...

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