William Allen Schultz, a Denton County prosecutor, has been banned from appearing in a state district court after the court found he purposefully withheld favorable evidence from a defendant regarding a questionable identification. The grievance that followed has forced the…
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
Criminal Jurisdiction:
A Criminal Law Blog from a Defense Perspective
2015
Category: Federal Criminal Law | White Collar Crime
In 1996, Congress enacted the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act (MVRA). The Act is codified as amended in 18 U.S.C. § 3563A. This statute requires restitution for any Title 18 crime in which the victim has suffered “pecuniary loss.”
Mandatory…
2015
Category: Appeals | Federal Criminal Law | White Collar Crime
Sentencing the federal court is a mess.
1984 was a bad year for the federal criminal justice system. The U.S. Senate, by a vote of 83 to 3, and House of Representatives, by a vote 316 to 91, enacted…
2015
Category: Appeals | Drug Crime
One thing should now be clear to Texas law enforcement, as well as to law enforcement officials across the country: the area immediately surrounding the front door of a home is part of the residence, curtilage, requiring a search warrant…
2015
Category: Prosecutorial Misconduct
John Bradley, the once stout and irreplaceable district Attorney of Williamson County, is like the inexorable march of time—he keeps moving and moving, never missing a beat.
He and Ken Anderson were once the celebrated political kingpins in Williamson…
2015
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Illegal Pornography | Internet Sex Crimes
Roughly, 95 to 97 percent of federal defendants plead guilty. Perhaps that explains why criminal trials, and their ensuing verdicts, attract the most public attention and scrutiny.
Sentencing is treated like some inconsequential procedural necessity when in most cases,…
2015
Category: Drug Crime | Federal Criminal Law
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…
2015
Category: Corporate Fraud | Federal Criminal Law | Healthcare Fraud | Uncategorized | White Collar Crime
In a major speech at New York City University this past September, Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates announced that the U.S. Justice Department had issued new policy guideline that would re-focus federal corporate criminal investigations towards holding individuals responsible…
2015
Category: Appeals | Federal Criminal Law | Guns
According to FBI statistics, there were 11,961 murders committed in the U.S. in 2014. 8124 of the murders were committed using handguns. 262 people were killed with shotguns. 248 murders were committed with rifles, including “military style assault rifles” (AR-15s…
2015
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Internet Sex Crimes | Sex Crimes
The Government is always trying to find a way to insert itself into the private lives individuals so it can better monitor and regulate our lives. Big Brother is no longer an Orwellian nightmare. It is an ever-increasing, insidious…