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State of Texas Auditor-Annual Report on Classified Employee Turnover Fiscal Year 2021, March 2022

Publication • 2022

Filed under: Guards/Staff

State of Texas Auditor-Annual Report on Classified Employee Turnover Fiscal Year 2021, March 2022 Lisa R. Collier, CPA, CFE, CIDA State Auditor An Annual Report on Classified Employee Turnover for Fiscal Year 2021 March 2022 Report No. 22-702 State Auditor’s Office reports are available on the Internet at http://www.sao.texas.gov/. An …

Audit Report-Dept of Public Safety's Texas Gang Intelligence Database-Aug. 2022

Publication • 2022

Filed under: Prison Gangs

Audit Report-Dept of Public Safety's Texas Gang Intelligence Database-Aug. 2022 Lisa R. Collier, CPA, CFE, CIDA State Auditor An Audit Report on The Department of Public Safety’s Texas Gang Intelligence Database August 2022 Report No. 22-039 State Auditor’s Office reports are available on the Internet at https://sao.texas.gov/. An Audit Report …

News in Brief

Article • May 15, 2022 • from CLN June, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Connecticut: On Apr. 15, 2022, a Norwalk police officer of 10 years was arrested of assaulting a family member. WVIT, a news channel serving New Britain, reports that officer Jermaine Nash, 44, was arrested after a call was made to police in the mid-afternoon of the …

Texas Prosecutor Spent 20-Year Career Also Working as Law Clerk to Judges He Appeared Before

Article • May 5, 2022

Filed under: Attorney Misconduct, Conflict of Interest

Texas Prosecutor Spent 20-Year Career Also Working as Law Clerk to Judges He Appeared Before by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss Ralph Petty— retired prosecuting attorney of Midland County, Texas—has been accused of manipulating justice to meet his own ends for the 20 years he served in that role. …

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion by Granting Rule 508 Motion to Dismiss Capital Murder Charge Where State Refused to Disclose Identity of Confidential Informant

Article • March 15, 2022 • from CLN April, 2022

Filed under: Informants, Capital Punishment, Classified Documents/Materials/Evidence

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion by Granting Rule 508 Motion to Dismiss Capital Murder Charge Where State Refused to Disclose Identity of Confidential Informant by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas reversed a judgment of the Court of …

Fifth Circuit: Aggravated Assault in Texas Does Not Qualify as Aggravated Felony Under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), Reentry With Prior Aggravated Felony

Article • March 15, 2022 • from CLN April, 2022

Filed under: Prior Felony Information

Fifth Circuit: Aggravated Assault in Texas Does Not Qualify as Aggravated Felony Under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), Reentry With Prior Aggravated Felony by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett OnremandfromtheU.S. SupremeCourt, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in light of Borden v.United States,141 S. Ct. 1817 (2021), Alan …

News in Brief

Article • March 15, 2022 • from CLN April, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Techdirt reports that police in Brookside have routinely violated the law in traffic enforcement. By early February 2022, it was clear that the local police department in the small town had been racking up staggering amounts of income in traffic fines, receiving more than $600,000 …

News in Brief

Article • February 15, 2022 • from CLN March, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On December 21, 2021, two former police officers in West Blocton, Alabama, were arrested and charged with sexual assault. According to WBRC, a news station serving Birmingham, the Tuscaloosa Police Department announced that the former officers, Craig Baird Arnold, 49, and Brian Keith Whatley, 50, …

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Defendant Satisfied Requirements of Confession and Avoidance, ‘Unintentional Self-Defense’ Jury Instruction Allowed Against Charge of Intentional Offense

Article • February 15, 2022 • from CLN March, 2022

Filed under: Jury Instructions, Confessions and Statements of Defendant

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Defendant Satisfied Requirements of Confession and Avoidance, ‘Unintentional Self-Defense’ Jury Instruction Allowed Against Charge of Intentional Offense by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“TCCA”) held that Marvin Rodriguez satisfied the requirements of confession and avoidance. The TCCA also instructed …

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Although Subsequent Indictment Recites Same Language as Original Indictment, SOL Isn’t Tolled Where Subsequent Indictment Fails to Charge Same Conduct, Act, or Transac...

Article • February 15, 2022 • from CLN March, 2022

Filed under: Tolling of Statutes of Limitations and Laches

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Although Subsequent Indictment Recites Same Language as Original Indictment, SOL Isn’t Tolled Where Subsequent Indictment Fails to Charge Same Conduct, Act, or Transaction by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“TCCA”) held that, although a subsequent indictment recited the same …

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Abused Discretion by Refusing to Allow Withdrawal of Jury-Trial Waiver for Defendant Who Ultimately Rejected Plea Deal

Article • February 15, 2022 • from CLN March, 2022

Filed under: Jury Trial, Rejection

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Abused Discretion by Refusing to Allow Withdrawal of Jury-Trial Waiver for Defendant Who Ultimately Rejected Plea Deal by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas held that a trial court abused its discretion in denying a defendant’s …

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Police Deception That Statements Wouldn’t Be Used Against Defendant Requires Suppression

Article • January 15, 2022 • from CLN February, 2022

Filed under: Motions To Suppress, Voluntary Nature/Voluntariness

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Police Deception That Statements Wouldn’t Be Used Against Defendant Requires Suppression by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas upheld the decision of a lower court to suppress a defendant’s surreptitiously recorded statements on the ground that it was …

Stewart v. Tarrant County, TX, Complaint, Wrongful Death-Suicide, 2021

Brief • December 29, 2021

Filed under: Wrongful Death

Stewart v. Tarrant County, TX, Complaint, Wrongful Death-Suicide, 2021 Case 4:21-cv-00597-O Document 24 Filed 12/29/21 Page 1 of 11 PageID 163 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS FORT WORTH DIVISION BETTY STEWART; JIMMY STEWART; ALYSSA CHRISTIAN STEWART; SAVANNAH BROOKE STEWART; COLE STEWART; and DEAN …

News in Brief

Article • December 15, 2021 • from CLN January, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: Claims for $300,000 were filed in September 2021 against the city of Chandler, Arizona, in advance of a lawsuit planned by two activists arrested during a protest against police brutality six months earlier. According to a report by the Phoenix New Times, the men, Darien …

Fifth Circuit: Texas Police Get Qualified Immunity for Knowingly Using Taser to Ignite Gasoline-Soaked, Suicidal Man, Killing Him and Destroying Family’s House

Article • December 15, 2021 • from CLN January, 2022

Filed under: Suicides, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

Fifth Circuit: Texas Police Get Qualified Immunity for Knowingly Using Taser to Ignite Gasoline-Soaked, Suicidal Man, Killing Him and Destroying Family’s House by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 25, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to re-visit its decision that Texas police officers …

Dallas K-9 Instrumental in Civil Forfeiture of $106,000 at Love Field Airport Despite There Being no Arrest or Crime

Article • December 13, 2021

Filed under: Forfeiture

Dallas K-9 Instrumental in Civil Forfeiture of $106,000 at Love Field Airport Despite There Being no Arrest or Crime by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott A police dog with the Dallas Police Department sniffed out $106,000 in cash in a traveler’s suitcase on December 2, 2021, at Dallas’ …

Texas Man Positively Identified by Six Eyewitnesses and Sentenced to Life Granted Actual Innocence Relief as Result of DNA Evidence

Article • November 15, 2021 • from CLN December, 2021

Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence

Texas Man Positively Identified by Six Eyewitnesses and Sentenced to Life Granted Actual Innocence Relief as Result of DNA Evidence by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian Aaron Scheerhoorn was stabbed to death outside a Houston bar in 2010. During the investigation, multiple witnesses told detectives an unknown Black man …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2021 • from CLN November, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A former Alabama cop convicted of murdering a mentally ill and suicidal man in his own home reported to a state prison in Montgomery on September 6, 2021, to begin serving a 25-year sentence he received for the crime, according to Huntsville TV station WAFF. …

Police Do Not Want to Pay for Damage They Inflicted to Texas Home

Article • October 15, 2021 • from CLN November, 2021

Filed under: Police Misconduct

Police Do Not Want to Pay for Damage They Inflicted to Texas Home by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss Wesley Little had an hours-long standoff with McKinney, Texas, police in Vicki Baker’s home after running off with a 15-year-old girl. Baker was not home at the time, and the 15-year-old …

Kent v. Collin County,TX, Response to Defendant Motion to Dismiss, Failure to Provide Adequate Medical Care, 2021

Brief • September 17, 2021

Filed under: Medical

Kent v. Collin County,TX, Response to Defendant Motion to Dismiss, Failure to Provide Adequate Medical Care, 2021 Case 4:21-cv-00412-SDJ Document 35 Filed 09/17/21 Page 1 of 31 PageID #: 336 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SHERMAN DIVISION LAUREN KENT, Plaintiff, v. COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS, et …