Author: Broden & Mickelsen, LLP
Texas is the next state to look at a controversial “bathroom bill,” – a measure that ran into trouble when it was introduced in North Carolina. The state’s Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is proposing a bill that will prevent transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice, reported The Guardian. A similar bill was…
The case of Miguel Navarro, a Hispanic teenager, who was sentenced to 99-years in an adult prison before he could drive or reach high school, has highlighted Texas’ controversial juvenile justice system. Navarro was just 15 in 2007, when he stabbed a 20-year-old during a fight in Katy, Texas. A Houston Public Media report pointed…
Bite mark evidence as a forensic science technique used at crime scenes has been under fire for some time. Now a new paper has urged law enforcement agencies to discontinue its use. The paper in Journal of Law and the Biosciences outlines the legal basis for the rise of the bite-mark identification technique and its…
Thousands of case files are set to be reopened in Texas after a change in scientific standards for DNA evaluation raised questions about the convictions of numerous defendants. DNA evidence has been seen as a highly reliable indicator of guilt or innocence in criminal cases for decades. But a major re-evaluation in the probabilities involved…
Texas has a no nonsense reputation for drunk driving and long prison terms are not uncommon in the Lone Star state for DWI drivers. However, the sentence that was handed down to Ronnie Paul Hobgood was stiff even by the state’s standards. Hobgood was arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) in February. In August he…
For almost 100 years, Texas has classified 17-year-olds who are charged with crimes as adults. That may be about to change as lawmakers consider redefining who is classified as an adult in the criminal justice system. The state’s politicians are now considering increasing the juvenile age to 18, reported CBS. That would mean those under…
A former accountant from Dallas who murdered his two daughters in 2001, has been moved from death row as a fight goes on to prove his mental incompetency. The Dallas Morning News reported on how John Battaglia had been due to be executed in March but won a stay of execution in the 5th U.S….
The tactics of prosecutors in Texas often make headlines for the wrong kinds of reasons but an incident in which a rape victim was jailed in Houston is shocking even by the standards of the Lone Star State. In Harris County, a prosecutor jailed a rape victim because he feared she would not show up…
Having a criminal record can severely impact your life by barring you from jobs and accolades, even years after a conviction. This was graphically illustrated when a beauty queen in Texas was stripped of her crown after her criminal record came to light. KHOU reported on how Miss Corpus Christi Latina Caitlin Cifuentes, will have…
Controversial laws in states such as Texas that make it a crime for a drunk driving suspect to refuse a breath test have been backed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The highest court in the land has provided greater clarity on what constitutes an unreasonable search and seizure of a suspected drunk driver in a…