For the past 56 years, federal courts have recognized, in the wake of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, that the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against illegal searches and seizures extends to individuals a “reasonable expectation of privacy” that cannot be transgressed without…
Category: Appeals
2023
Category: Appeals | Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
The legal question before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“CCA”) in a November 2, 2022 decision, State v. Hardin, was straightforward and constitutionally significant:
“Does a driver commit a traffic offense if the car’s right-rear tire briefly but safely…
2023
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law | Death Penalty
This past November, we posted a blog about the death penalty conviction of Ariel Escobar, who was sitting on Texas’ death row at the time, awaiting execution.
Escobar was convicted for the May 31, 2009, rape and murder of 17-year-old…
2022
Category: Appeals | Due Process | Sex Crimes | Sex Crimes Against Children
What happens when the judge, the prosecutor, and defense counsel fail in their respective duties to preserve a criminal defendant’s right to a fair and impartial trial?
On July 22, 2022, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) answered this…
2022
Category: Appeals | Criminal Justice Reform | Police Misconduct | Prosecutorial Misconduct
As of July 21, 2022, the National Registry of exonerations reports that there have been 3,184 exonerations in criminal cases since 1989.
These numbers reinforce what many over-policed communities have known for generations: the nation’s criminal justice often fails in…
2022
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law | Federal Criminal Law | SCOTUS
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees a criminal defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel at both the trial and appellate level. A defendant raising an ineffective assistance claim in a post-conviction proceeding must meet a two-prong…
2022
While all courts strive for finality in criminal cases, there are constitutionally protected appeals rights in these cases at both the federal and state levels.
How do you appeal a federal court ruling?
It can be complicated. But…
2021
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law | Homicide/Murder
In the late afternoon hours of August 1, 2015, Christopher Rion was driving his Dodge Challenger in Dallas, Texas, when he collided with a Toyota Highlander. The collision left the Highlander driver, Claudia Loehr, and a passenger, Claudena Parnell, seriously…
2021
Category: Appeals | Criminal Justice Reform | Discovery 39.14 | Prosecutorial Misconduct
Pretrial discovery in criminal cases in Texas is governed by Article 39.14 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. The Texas Legislature enacted the discovery statute in 1965. The essential purpose of the rule was to enforce the strict duty…
2021
An individual convicted of a criminal offense in Texas has a right to appeal that conviction. It can, however, be a complicated process that must be initiated quickly in order to have any sort of advantage.
An experienced attorney…