Author: Broden & Mickelsen, LLP
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…
Gangs represent a “significant public safety threat” in Texas, and are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime in many communities, a new report by the Department of Public Safety has concluded. The report says gang activity is particularly prevalent in West Texas close to the border with Mexico which has a major problem with…
A damning report into the way crime is handled in Ferguson, MO., has confirmed that not all local criminal justice systems are equal and some are riddled with bad practices. This month the Justice Department called on Ferguson, Mo., to “overhaul its criminal justice system, declaring that the city had engaged in so many constitutional…
A police operation of an alleged stolen car and monster truck ring has illustrated how a criminal investigation can quickly spiral. On Feb. 26, the Dallas Morning News reported how David Campbell, 57, from Hutchins in Dallas County was accused of stealing a monster truck from a Plano parking lot. Police say he reported the…