Qualified immunity is generally the first defense invoked by a police officer when faced with a lawsuit alleging that he or she intentionally violated the constitutional rights of an individual. The modern standard for this defense was formulated by the…
Author: John Floyd
2016
Category: Criminal Law | Prosecutorial Misconduct
In 2011, DNA results completely exonerated Michael Morton as the killer of his wife. Morton had spent nearly 25 years in the Texas prison system because of the wrongful conviction.
Former Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley was directly…
2016
Category: Criminal Law | White Collar Crime
FORMER TEXAS GOV. RICK PERRY GETS FREE PASS ON ABUSE OF POWER INDICTMENT
On February 24, 2013, the Texas Court of Appeals put an end to the tortured legal saga involving former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The court dismissed…
2016
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Guns
Rocky Joe Houston, and his brother Leon, do not like the government, and in particular do not like the police.
In May 2006 the brothers shot and killed Roane County Deputy Bill Jones and his ride-along friend Mike Brown,…
2016
The first thing to know about the raging battle between the U.S. Justice Department and Apple over the iPhone used by San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook is that it has nothing to do with individual privacy.
First, the phone…
2016
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law
Justice Antonin Scalia is dead. He died on February 13 at a West Texas ranch resort. By all accounts it was a peaceful passing. He was devoted to his family and a dedicated friend to those whom he loved. While…
2016
Category: DWI | Prosecutorial Misconduct
What’s going on with the D.A. Mark Skurka’s Office in Corpus Christi?
The Corpus Christi District Attorney’s Office has a serious problem with prosecutorial misconduct, or, at least, the persistent appearance of it. It is a subject we tackled…
2016
Category: Murder | Prosecutorial Misconduct
In 1994, former Burleson County District Attorney Charles Sebesta prosecuted former prison guard Robert Carter and Anthony Graves for the murder of a Somerville family of six who were killed in April 1992. The murder victims included a well-liked woman…
2016
Category: Murder | Prosecutorial Misconduct
Corpus Christi, Nueces County has a problem with their District Attorney’s Office.
Over the last couple years the Texas State Bar has sent an unmistakable message to state prosecutors that the days of getting a free ethical pass on…
2016
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law
New criminal laws are enacted by the legislative branch of government. Some create new offenses with proscribed penalties. Others are remedial in nature, creating new rules or changing existing rules of procedure. Many of these laws will be challenged in…