Author: Broden & Mickelsen, LLP
Breathalyzers have been used for decades across the country to bring charges against drunk drivers. Many Texas motorists who fail a breath test make the mistake of believing it is foolproof and they should plead guilty. However, there are many factors that can skew a breath test and invalidate a charge. Breath tests in Texas…
In recent years, many forensic techniques have been discredited as new information cast doubt on their reliability. Texas has a trailblazing state law allowing courts to overturn convictions in cases where the scientific evidence that led to the original verdict has since changed or been discredited. Although the law is not often used, it has…
Texas has had a hate crime statute since 2001. However, the law is used sparingly and many people who are arrested for hate crimes are not eventually convicted. Hate crime charges can also be brought by the federal authorities. Last month, a 26-year-old man was convicted of a federal hate crime for burning down a…
Many of the forensic analysis techniques used to secure convictions in the 1980s and 1990s have been debunked as ‘junk science.’ Blood-stain pattern forensic analysis is the latest technique to be undermined in a case involving a Texas educator. Joe Bryan, a former school principal from Texas, has spent more than 30 years in prison…
Texas prisons are tough and uncompromising places. As well as facing dangers on a daily basis, inmates were targeted by unscrupulous employees, according to an investigation. Several Texas prison employees were indicted earlier in July for allegedly conspiring to plant screwdrivers in an inmate’s cell, the Texas Tribune reported. On the back of the incident,…
Homicide is treated very seriously in Texas. At one end of the spectrum is capital murder which can lead to the death penalty. Criminally negligent homicide is at the other end of the scale. A charge of criminally negligent homicide is brought only in very specific cases. This month, a jury in Collin County found…
A 66-year-old man in a wheelchair who claimed his veins would not handle a lethal injection failed to halt his death by lethal injection in Texas. Danny Bible was executed last month almost 40 years after the body of 20-year-old Inez Deaton was found in a field near a car wash in Harris County. Bible…
White collar crimes may not cause physical harm to victims like crimes of violence but they often attract tough sentences. Late last month, a former Texas state senator was sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison over his involvement in a Ponzi scheme. Sen. Carlos Uresti was contrite when he appeared before a federal…
Scams targeting elderly people are endemic in Texas. Older people are more vulnerable to fraudsters leading police departments to step up awareness campaigns to protect the elderly. Recently, the Dallas Morning News featured the work of Christopher Bianez, an officer with the Plano Police Department. AARP Magazine featured Bianez on the cover of its March…
In a further victory for privacy, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled police must obtain a warrant to use cellphone locational data in the tracking of criminal suspects. This important ruling by the justices was handed down on June 22. The 5-4 decision was criticized by former prosecutors and dissenting justices who said it puts…