Mens Rea is a legal term that refers the mental state of “criminal intent.” It is the state of mind that an individual must possess when committing an act to be guilty of a crime. Some crimes require a specific…
Category: Drug Crime
2015
Category: Appeals | Drug Crime | Drug Manufacturing | Drug Trafficking | Federal Criminal Law
Iobal Makkar and Gaurav Sehgal operated a small town convenience store in northeastern Oklahoma named “Gitter Done.”
Big Mistake to Ask Law Enforcement for Help
Questions arose about a particular incense the two men carried on the…
2015
Category: Appeals | Drug Crime | Drug Trafficking | Federal Criminal Law
In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court in Florida v. Jardines held that the police use of a drug-sniffing dog to investigate a home and its immediate surroundings is a “search” under the Fourth Amendment, requiring a search warrant.
…
2015
Category: Drug Crime | Drug Manufacturing
Roughly 17 percent of the more than 1.5 million drug arrests in 2014 involved drug manufacturing charges. Criminal charges for manufacturing illegal drugs can be charged at both the federal and state level, often depending upon the seriousness of the…
2015
Category: Drug Crime | Drug Trafficking
Multi-jurisdictional drug task force sets up anonymous snitch site
Designed to create a partnership between the public and law enforcement, StopDrug.Houston.org is a multijurisdictional website aimed at five counties and six cities, including Houston, encouraging the public to submit…
2015
Category: Drug Crime | Drug Trafficking | Guns
Texas Felon In Possession
Texas Penal Code 46.04(a) deals with the unlawful possession of a firearm.
The statute provides that “a person who has been convicted of a felony commits an offense if he possesses a firearm: (1)…
2015
Category: Appeals | Drug Crime | Prosecutorial Misconduct
On October 12, 2015, Denton County District Judge Jonathan Bailey issued a controversial ruling that effectively cleared Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey of “professional misconduct” for failing to disclose evidence that called into question the validity of the…
2015
Category: Drug Crime | Federal Criminal Law
A Second Amendment controversy surrounding the limits of gun ownership seems to always be simmering in the social shadows. It may, and should, become an issue in the current broiling presidential campaign.
But what are the implications of unfettered…
2015
Category: Drug Crime | Drug Trafficking
Penalties for drug trafficking under both Texas and federal law are severe with a litany of collateral consequences.
The Texas Controlled Substances Act defines drug trafficking as the manufacture, “delivery” or possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.…
2015
Category: Drug Crime | Federal Criminal Law | Sex Crimes
The U.S. Congress has used mandatory minimum sentences since it first enacted federal penal crimes. The 1790 Crimes Act created 23 federal crimes, seven of which carried a mandatory death sentence. Three of those crimes—treason, murder and piracy—still carry the…