The U.S. Supreme Court is a vital component of the balance of power in the American government—one built on checks and balances. Its judicial power of review can declare unconstitutional laws enacted by Congress and executive actions taken by the…
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
Criminal Jurisdiction:
A Criminal Law Blog from a Defense Perspective
2024
A reasonable argument can be made that U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito should not have been nominated in 2006 to the nation’s highest Court by former President George W. Bush.
As an appeals court judge, Alito had…
2024
Category: Illegal Pornography | Sex Crimes
In Houston, as in many other jurisdictions, false accusations of child pornography crimes can have devastating consequences for individuals and their families.
In this blog post, we will explore the legal remedies available to individuals wrongly accused of child…
2024
Category: Crimes Against Children | Sex Crimes Against Children
Rule 403 of the Texas Rules of Evidence provides that a court may exclude evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of one or more of the following: unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury,…
2024
On May 30, 2024—a day that will become significant in American history—a 12-person jury unanimously convicted former President Donald J. Trump of all 34 felony counts brought against him by a New York grand jury in March 2023.
That…
2024
Category: Crimes Against Children | Sex Crimes Against Children | Sexual Assault
Outcry testimony is frequently used in child sexual abuse cases in Texas. For years, the statutory procedural rules governing outcry testimony have worked like this: Tex. Code of Crim. Proc. art. 38.072(b) §2(a)(1), (2) carved out an exception to the…
2024
Category: Criminal Law | Murder
Extraneous offense evidence is always prejudicial in a criminal trial in Texas—much more so in the guilt/innocence phase than in the punishment phase. The general evidentiary rule governing the admissibility of such evidence is Rule 403 of the Texas Rules…
2024
More than four decades ago, the First District Court of Appeals, based in Houston, defined an extraneous offense as: “… any act or misconduct, whether resulting in prosecution or not, which is not shown in the charging instrument and which …
2024
Federal assault allegations in federal court can be daunting, given the severity of the charges and the complex legal proceedings involved. Whether the accusations are false, exaggerated, or misconstrued, defendants have the right to mount a vigorous defense to protect…
2024
Confronting federal drug charges in Houston can be a challenging experience, involving difficult pretrial proceedings and possible severe penalties.
This post will explore pretrial strategies individuals can consider when navigating federal drug cases in Houston: gathering evidence, pretrial motions,…