In October 2013 Terri Regina Lang was shopping at an HEB store in Burnet County, Texas. She was observed by a store employee taking unpaid-for-items and placing them in a reusable shopping bag tied to her cart. When Lang went…
Category: Appeals
2018
Category: Appeals | Foreign Corrupt Practices
The federal government’s case against Dr. Silvia Beatriz Perez-Ceballos collapsed completely on October 30, 2018 when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed her conspiracy to commit bank fraud conviction.
The Perez case is one that never should have…
2018
Category: Appeals | Constitutional Law | Illegal Pornography | Sex Crimes Against Children
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees a criminal defendant the right to counsel at every critical stage of the proceedings against him or her, including the physical presence of counsel during trial.
This fundamental constitutional principle does…
2018
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a criminal defendant with seven rights, three of which concern the right to a trial—right to a speedy trial, right to a public trial, and right to an impartial jury.
…
2018
Category: Appeals | Criminal Justice Reform | Police Misconduct
There are several indisputable core facts about the case of Susan Mellen.
First, the burned body of Rick Daly was found near a dumpster in San Pedro, California on July 21, 1997. Anonymous tips to the Los Angeles…
2018
Category: Appeals | Drug Trafficking
Raymond Baker was convicted in December 2015 in U.S. district court in the Northern District of New York for conspiracy to distribute drugs. Several weeks after the conviction a juror sent Baker’s attorney an email making two allegations of misconduct…
2018
Category: Appeals | Federal Criminal Law
Ten years ago John Edward Schostag pled guilty in a U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 120 months in a federal penal facility and to five…
2018
Category: Appeals | Drug Crime
Diddy’s Sports Bar in Houston has what the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) described as “a well-documented history of narcotics sales.”
But does that mean a patron who enters the bar, stays a few minutes before leaving is…
2017
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law
Jamie Hallmark entered into a plea agreement in Houston County. The written agreement stated that when she showed up for sentencing, she would receive a three-year sentence unless she failed to show, at which time she would be sentenced within…
2017
Category: Appeals | Criminal Law
Harris County’s Precinct 4 is the largest Constable’s office in the United States with nearly 500 sworn deputies funded by a $52 million annual budget. Mark Herman, a three decade veteran with the Precinct 4 office, was appointed constable by…