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On August 10th the 9th Court of Appeals released several opinions and other rulings, one of which was not a memorandum opinion. GIPSON v. TEXAS – Reversed and Remanded At issue in this case was the 252nd District Court’s revocation of the Appellant’s probation. The Appellant had plead “True” to one of three allegations that he violated the terms of…
The Importance of an Original Will in Texas Probate If you have gone to the trouble of making out your Last Will & Testament in Texas, it is critical that you know where the Original Will is. An Original Will is the Will that you originally signed, and perchance had notarized. We often refer to it as a ‘wet ink original’.…
The highest appellate court for criminal matters held that a warrantless search through a cell phone violated the 4th Amendment on the U.S. Constitution. The cell phone was in the property lockup of the Walker County Jail when an officer with the Huntsville Police Department accessed the contents of the phone without a warrant or permission from the owner. The…
Policy and Introduction to the 25 Year Exemption This commentary is the first in a series of articles which will discuss legal issues with the titling and importation of foreign cars into the United States of America as part of our growing focus on the legal issues affecting the automotive enthusiast community. In this article I flesh out some of…
Johnny Louis Torres Jr. v. State of Texas – PDF of Opinion – Modified and Affirmed The court’s opinion here deals with an appeal of a conviction for possession of a less than one ounce of cocaine, a state jail felony which was enhanced to a second degree felony by prior state jail convictions. Mr. Torres pled guilty to the…
n a word: no. Despite the sound of the term, the court did not grant one parent sole or exclusive custody of the child when it ordered one parent as the sole managing conservator. In fact, when the court made this order, it was not specifically addressing what most people think of when the word “custody” is used, namely possession.…
By now most are familiar with no-refusal weekends. Taking their cue from case law, law enforcement agencies and prosecutor’s offices have put in place procedures on certain high-risk weekends to ensure that as much evidence as possible is gathered against anyone suspected of DWI. The procedure is now common, but still usually limited to those weekends when the resources are…
Harlon Ray Buckner, II v. The State of Texas – Link to Opinion – Affirmed DNA testing of old evidence has become almost routine, however, procedural issues can easily stand in the way of allowing a convicted person getting a new trial. Buckner v. State shows how careful an attorney must be to preserve rights of appeal when an inmate…
Up until now, of all the crimes you hypothesized you could commit and get arrested for, we are certain one has never streamed into your mind. That thought is whether or not you could get arrested for Boating While Intoxicated as you paddle a canoe. Under the strictest interpretation of Texas Penal Code, Chapter 49, it looks like you can…
In case you missed it, Casey Pachall, the starting quarterback for the TCU Horned Frogs, was arrested this week. As the article notes, and as any college football fan already knows, Pachall was suspended indefinitely from the team. Even a cursory scan of internet message boards will show that this is considered a “good thing,” impressing readers of such snap…