Article 37.07 § 3(a) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure has long been considered one of the guiding principles concerning the admissibility of evidence during the penalty phase in a felony case. This article allows the state to offer…
Category: Appeals
2019
A defendant seeking to establish that he received ineffective assistance of counsel during a criminal proceeding must demonstrate (1) that his attorney’s performance was so deficient that it fell below “an objective standard of reasonableness” and (2) that “a reasonable…
2019
Category: Appeals | Corruption | Criminal Law
Open meetings laws are often referred to as “sunshine laws.” These laws require that meetings, decisions and records, with some exceptions, of state and federal agencies and regulatory bodies be open and readily available to the public.
The public…
2019
Category: Appeals | Death Penalty
The term “mental retardation” was formally changed to “intellectual disability” in the Federal Register on August 31, 2013. This formal terminology adjustment began in 2007 when the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) changed its name to American Association on…
2019
Category: Appeals | Murder | Prosecutorial Misconduct
Known as the “Railroad Killer,” Angel Resendiz was no angel. During his forty-seven years on this earth, his Wikipedia entries say he killed as many as 23 people. Just weeks shy of his 40th birthday, Resendiz surrendered to Texas authorities…
2019
Category: Appeals | Capital Crimes | Criminal Justice Reform
Robert Jennings was 31 years old when he entered a Houston adult book store on July 20, 1988 with the intent to rob it. He had already established an extensive criminal history, including some violent crimes. What Jennings didn’t anticipate…
2019
Category: Appeals | DWI | Homicide/Murder
In the early morning hours on Christmas Eve, 2014, there was a horrific car accident in El Paso, Texas. According to news reports, local police believed that Joel Garcia was both intoxicated and speeding when he ran a red light…
2018
Category: Appeals | Drug Distribution | Drug Trafficking
Federal/state drug task forces were established in the United States in the early 1970s. The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act institutionalized the DEA Task Force Program which has led to thousands of joint federal/state task forces being established in every state…
2018
Category: Appeals | Capital Crimes
The capital murder case of Roberto Moreno Ramos is extraordinary—not because of the crime that sent him to his death on November 14, 2018 in hands Texas death chamber but rather because of the international attention his case attracted.
…
2018
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law
In October 2013 Terri Regina Lang was shopping at an HEB store in Burnet County, Texas. She was observed by a store employee taking unpaid-for-items and placing them in a reusable shopping bag tied to her cart. When Lang went…