Criminal Defense

In the colonial period, British officials often used blank search warrants to enter private property with little or no cause. To end this practice, the Founding Fathers included the Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Later, courts used the Fourteenth Amendment to apply this ...

Pretrial Release is a key part of a successful defense. Judges carefully instruct jurors that an arrest means nothing in terms of guilt or innocence. Nevertheless, many people believe that defendants in jail must have done something wrong. But not everyone is on board with the s...

At best, a criminal conviction is a serious impediment to things like getting a job or finding a place to live. At worst, a conviction may make these things impossible. There is usually a way to mitigate these problems or make them go away entirely. Texas law on this subject is ...

The moving party almost always has the burden of proof in court. In criminal court, the moving party is the prosecutor, and the burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. Unlike some other jurisdictions, the State of Texas does not legally define the phrase "reasonable doubt....

"I was set up" is one of the most common defenses in Texas drug crime cases. Sometimes, this defense works. Some greybeards may remember the John DeLorean cocaine case from the early 1980s. The automaker needed money to save his company, and so he tried to sell some cocaine in wh...

Many states have both civil and criminal protective orders. Each one works a little differently. But the main issue is the burden of proof. In civil court, litigants need only establish facts by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). But in Tarrant County, there...

In Texas, convicted sex offenders must register for either ten years or life. The ten-year clock does not begin ticking until after these defendants complete their sentences in full. In general, sexually violent crimes or offenses involving children usually mean lifetime registra...

Perhaps more so than in other kinds of cases, the number one goal in theft matters is usually keeping the crime off the defendant's record. All kinds of theft, even Class C theft by check, is a crime of moral turpitude in Texas. Such a conviction can have serious lifelong ramific...

There is a saying among criminal defense attorneys that William Gladstone, who is credited with the "justice delayed is justice denied" quote, was clearly not a criminal defense lawyer in Texas. From a prosecutor's standpoint, he was right. Back in my days as an Assistant Distric...

In almost all criminal cases, physical evidence is very important. DWI cases are much harder to prove without valid chemical tests, assault cases (especially felony assault cases) are difficult to win without solid medical evidence, and the list goes on. Such evidence is even mo...