Year: 2015
If you watch any TV show about true crimes or a drama, you’ll often see references to polygraph tests. Given that the criminal justice system relies so heavily on people telling the truth, many people wonder why lie detectors are not used routinely in most cases. However, in Texas as most states, polygraph results are…
DNA evidence plays a major part in criminal investigations and cases and it can be collected from some unlikely sources. Recently the Dallas Morning News reported on how newly discovered hairs collected from a vacuum cleaner will be subjected to DNA testing to see whether any belong to a Fort Worth woman who went missing…
Texas has an unenviable reputation as the execution capital of the United States. Although the number of executions carried out in Texas has fallen in recent years, it remains ground zero for capital punishment. In some cases the state has pursued the ultimate sanction even when alarming questions linger over the original convictions. A case…
Cases in which doctors cause harm to patients usually come under the remit of the civil law when the victims or their families being wrongful death lawsuits. But a former Plano neurosurgeon is being dealt with under the criminal law after he is accused of deliberately harming patients. The Dallas Morning News reported on how…
A woman whose three children drowned in a swimming pool in Irving, Texas, has been charged with a criminal offense over the tragedy. The Dallas Morning News reported on how Patricia Allen posted $50,000 bond at the Irving City Jail, according to police. On July 10 the newspaper reported on how the mother was allegedly…
Recent headlines have been dominated by the escape of convicted killers Richard Matt and David Sweat from an upstate New York prison. Matt and Sweat’s escape was discovered during an early morning bed check at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. In order to make their escape, they slipped through holes and used power tools to…
The behavior of police officers has come under scrutiny in recent months in Missouri, New York and Baltimore. While Texas has not seen high profile cases like these places, there is no shortage of scandals involving police in the Lone Star State. Recently, the Star-Telegram reported on how a former Grapevine police officer who admitted…
In Texas skipping school can be a criminal offense for students. However, that may change if a bill approved this month by the Senate makes it onto the statute books. The Star-Telegram reported on how skipping school in Texas would no longer be a crime for students if a bill which was approved 26-5 by…
A high profile Texas school football coach has been arrested and charged with DWI, according to reports. The Dallas Morning News reported Cedar Hill High School’s coach Joey McGuire was arrested on the morning of April 10, 2015. Cedar Hill ISD confirmed the arrest in a statement that said McGuire was arrested in Tarrant County…
Every day at least one potential client asks me, “What can you do for me?” It is natural enough. A person has been charged with a crime; they are concerned about their future; and they are confronted with the expensive prospect of hiring a lawyer to defend them against the charges. Before they make that…