Author: Broden & Mickelsen, LLP
The number of women held in Texas prisons is getting larger year on year and conditions are getting worse. This grim conclusion was reached in a report published last year by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. Now lawmakers on the House Committee on Corrections are studying conditions and treatment options for women imprisoned in Texas….
White collar crimes, like fraud, are extremely complicated to investigate and often demand multiple federal agencies and heavy sentences. This month, seven defendants pleaded guilty to a series of offenses linked to the fraudulent sale of dietary supplements by a Dallas company. The Dallas Morning News noted how USP Labs claimed its products were derived…
Hit-and-run is a serious crime in Texas. This month, a driver was accused of killing three people on an interstate near Dallas and fleeing the accident scene. Dallas police sought Jesus Chavarria-Vasquez, 32, after three men were killed and two were injured on March 10. Investigators said Chavarria-Vasquez abandoned his 12-year-old son at the scene…
No-knock raids by police are a controversial and dangerous practice, nowhere more so than in Texas where police and homeowners have been killed in recent years. In January, two people in Houston were shot dead in a disastrous no-knock drug raid by police. A few weeks later, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo announced he intends…
Corporate fraud is a complex area of law. Here’s what you need to know about corporate fraud crime, along with answers to the most commonly asked questions. No business, no matter how large or small, is exempt from the risk of corporate fraud. Crimes in this category happen on both large and small scales and…
Texas set up a new jail system a quarter of a century ago intended to keep low-level drug offenders out of the state’s overcrowded prisons. Lawmakers sought to give inmates convicted of non-violent drug offenses less time behind bars than in state prisons. Instead, they would receive rehabilitative services on probation and be supervised to…
Some people make mistakes when they are young. In Texas, a serious mistake as a teen can mean decades behind bars. The criminal justice system has a reputation for being tough on young offenders and has treated those 17 or older as adults. A new bill filed in the Texas House by Rep. Joe Moody,…
It’s rare for a child as young as 12 to be charged with a serious offense but in Texas, a boy is facing a possible sentence of 40 years in prison over the fatal shooting of a boxer. The 12-year-old was charged with capital murder over the shooting death of a 24-year-old professional boxer in…
A law enacted in Texas in 2015 means many drivers who would previously have lost their licenses can now remain on the road as long as an ignition interlock device is fitted to their vehicles. An ignition interlock is connected to your vehicle. The device is like a breathalyzer. It has a preset level for…
Texas has been censured by the U.S. Supreme Court over how it determines intellectual disability when deciding if defendants should receive the death penalty. However, a ruling by the nation’s highest court has failed to spark changes in the Lone Star State. Now the pressure is on the Texas Legislature to amend the law relating…