Houston Police Cover up Crime Scene With Poor Investigation Techniques by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Houston Police Department (“HPD”) is being accused of sloppy investigations surrounding the details of a warrant executed in January 2019, which resulted in the deaths of homeowners Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas in …
TX Travis County RFP 2016 April 20, 2016 Dear Proposers: You are invited to submit proposals in accordance with the attached specifications packet, Request For Proposal (RFP)# P1604-002-SW, for Inmate Communications and Educational Services for Travis County, Texas. All proposals must be submitted with an Original and twelve (12) copies …
Legal limitations constrain Texas death penalty case by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Shortly after Adolph Hitler’s election as Germany’s chancellor; on the night of February 27, 1933; the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany, was allegedly burned by an arsonist. The next day, Hitler persuaded President Paul von Hindenburg to sign …
Texas Disapproved Publications List (January - June 2019) TEXAS DEt:·ARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE CLASSl~"iCATION AND RECORDS DIVISION DIHECTOR'S REVIEW COMMITtt:E ATTN: File Copy DATE: January 2, 2019- December 31, 2019 FROM: Director's Review Committee SUBJ: DRC Decisions For the months beginning January 2, 2019 and ending December 31, 2019 matter …
Honoring Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Switching the Default Rule From Pretrial Detention to Pretrial Release in Texas's Bail System, Texas A&M Law Review, 2019 Texas A&M Law Review Volume 6 Issue 1 2-2019 Honoring Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Switching the Default Rule from Pretrial Detention to Pretrial Release in Texas's …
Some Texas Judges Not Complying with State Law on Misdemeanor Cases by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Since 2010, Texas has been able to reduce the size of its prison system from an all-time high of 127 units to its current 104 units. A major factor contributing to this reduction …
Dallas County Judge’s ‘Blank Check’ Warrant Questioned; Case Dismissed by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell A Dallas County, Texas, judge who cops said would sign a blank warrant allowing them to do whatever they wanted was called into question by the District Attorney’s Office, which chose to drop the issue. …
Suspected Mishandling of DNA Tests Puts Cases on Hold in Fort Worth, Texas by Michael Berk by Michael Berk The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office has put 117 criminal cases on hold in response to suspected misconduct involving DNA testing by a Fort Worth forensic scientist. On February 27, 2019, …
Texas Misuses Privacy Law to Withhold In-Custody Death Information by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Chapter 552, § 108(a)(2) of the Texas Government Code (“TGC”) was passed by the state legislature in 1979. The law’s intended purpose was to protect the privacy rights of innocent and wrongfully convicted defendants who …
Birth Pangs of Bail Reform Come to Texas by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon For scores of years, excessive bail amounts for fiscally impoverished individuals accused of crimes have been a major factor in jail overcrowding. This, in turn, leads to violence and excessive additional costs to cities, counties, and …
Shooting of Seven-Year-Old Girl in Houston Highlights Problems With Eyewitness Identification by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The fatal shooting of a 7-year-old black girl who was riding in a car on a Houston highway, along with her mother and three sisters, is a tragedy that starkly illustrates the problems …
Can We Fight Crime With Public Shaming? by Kathi Valeii Humiliation-based punishments are designed as deterrents, but sentences that embarrass the most vulnerable among us are cruel, and represent the worst of American policies. by Kathi Valeii, DAME Magazine In November, several Bangladeshi immigrants who’d been convicted of food-stamp fraud …
Texas no-knock raid proves deadly; no drugs found by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Houston Police Department (“HPD”) conducted a no-knock search at the home of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas early this year. Heroin was allegedly being sold out of the home and the owners reportedly possessed a weapons’ stash. …
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Clarifies Proper Evidentiary Standard and Type of Evidence for Informal Competency Hearing by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas reversed a trial court’s refusal to grant a criminal defendant a formal competency evaluation, finding that the trial court and …
Former Balch Springs, Texas, Officer Found Guilty of Murder of Black Teen by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss Former Balch Springs, Texas, police officer Roy Oliver was recently found guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The outcome of this case is notable not only because Oliver …
‘Texas Reneging on Deal’ With Draconian Sex Offender Registry, but Some Are Fighting Back by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon During our nation’s formative years, Native Americans faced subjugation and betrayal by the U.S. government. They were torn away from their land and assigned tracts called reservations. Whenever a reservation …
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Rules Defense Attorney Violated McCoy, Reverses Capital Convictions and Orders New Trial by Chad Marks by Chad Marks The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas ruled that defense counsel’s actions conceding guilt against defendant’s express wishes during trial violated his Sixth Amendment rights under McCoy. …
Junk Sciences and Scientists Strike Again in Texas by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon It is an unfortunate byproduct in the age of mass incarceration in the United States that there are a great many wrongful convictions. Despite its negative reputation in the criminal justice area, Texas has been slowly …
Harris County, Texas Prosecutors Review DWI Cases Impacted by Discredited Expert by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna The testimony of county scientist Fessessework Guale, who was employed by the Harris County medical examiner’s office for 10 years, has been called into question by the very criminal justice offices who relied …
