The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals says you don’t necessarily have to show the use of a cell phone during or immediately before or after the commission of the offense on trial in order to show probable cause in a search warrant affidavit, and is sending a case back to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals for reconsideration.
Read MoreRemind your client that “no case, no face” doesn’t hold if they are the reason the complaining witness did not show up to court, and the state can prove it.
Read MoreIn another interesting OLS case, a defendant is claiming he is being selectively prosecuted. The trial court judge originally denied to hold a hearing at which the defendant could bring any evidence, but the Fourth Court kicked it back and told the trial court to let the hearing take place.
Read MoreUnder Operation Lone Star, Texas is charging thousands of individuals with trespass, but failing to give them any semblance of a speedy trial or timely relief on habeas corpus. When some OLS defendants tried to find relief in Travis County (versus Kinney County, the county of arrest), the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals shot them down.
Read MoreThe Supreme Court stayed Ruben Gutierrez’s execution for a 1998 Brownsville, Texas, murder 20 minutes before it was scheduled to commence.
Read MoreThe mental health court in Bexar County — County Court 12 — held an informational session describing their process, requirements, and resources provided to defendants suffering from mental health issues. The court only accepts individuals charged with misdemeanors and is quite intensive, but could be the right fit for certain defendants.
Read MoreThere is some exciting stuff going on at the state and federal level concerning marijuana laws. At the state level, we have the newly-passed House Bill 1325, which legalizes hemp.
Read MoreI spent the week of March 25th at the Tim Evans Trial College in Huntsville, Texas, trying to learn new techniques and take advantage of amazing actors playing the roles of our witnesses in a fake case.
Read MoreIn my #firstpost for the Law Office of Zoe Russell, PLLC, I want to share some of the interesting areas of law that I've learned about in my first week of solo practice.
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