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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Failure to Include ‘Or Others’ in Jury Instruction for Self-Defense Against Multiple Assailants Deprived Defendant of Defense

Article • May 15, 2020 • from CLN June, 2020

Filed under: Jury Instructions in Jury Room

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Failure to Include ‘Or Others’ in Jury Instruction for Self-Defense Against Multiple Assailants Deprived Defendant of Defense by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“TCCA”) held on February 5, 2020, that the failure to include “or others with him [the …

News in Brief

Article • May 15, 2020 • from CLN June, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: Tucson has a new ordinance topunish those who fail to stay outside designated crime scene perimeters, the Tucson Star reports. The law aims to halt “cop haters” with cameras, but the potential fallout is a stifling of First Amendment rights. While people should not provoke …

Fifth Circuit: Defendant Lacked Culpability in Attempting to Export Ammunition by Merely Purchasing It

Article • May 15, 2020 • from CLN June, 2020

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Fifth Circuit: Defendant Lacked Culpability in Attempting to Export Ammunition by Merely Purchasing It by Anthony Accurso by Anthony Accurso The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a district court clearly erred in assigning a defendant a three-level enhancement for attempting to export ammunition when he …

Fifth Circuit Finds IAC for Failure to Object to Court’s Jury Instructions that Constructively Amended Indictment by Lowering Government’s Burden of Proof

Article • May 15, 2020 • from CLN June, 2020

Filed under: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Jurors and Juries, Burden of Proof

Fifth Circuit Finds IAC for Failure to Object to Court’s Jury Instructions that Constructively Amended Indictment by Lowering Government’s Burden of Proof by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on March 31, 2020, that the district court’s constructive amendment to an …

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Fifth Circuit’s Rule Barring Plain-Error Review of Unpreserved Factual Arguments

Article • May 15, 2020 • from CLN June, 2020

Filed under: Grounds for Relief

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Fifth Circuit’s Rule Barring Plain-Error Review of Unpreserved Factual Arguments by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell In an opinion that amounted to just three paragraphs, the Supreme Court of the United States held on March 23, 2020, that the Fifth Circuit’s rule barring plain error review …

Letter from TX Attorney General re GEO contracts disclosure, 5-1-20

Publication • May 1, 2020

Filed under: GEO Group/Wackenhut, Public Records Act

Letter from TX Attorney General re GEO contracts disclosure, 5-1-20 KEN rA.t'CTO N ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEX:\S May 01, 2020 Mr. Michael Shaunessy Counsel for Geo Group, Inc. McGinnis & Lochridge 600 Congress Avenue, Suite 2100 Austin, Texas 78701 OR2020-12334 Dear Mr. Shaunessy: You ask whether certain information is subject …

Executive Order GA-13, TX, Bonds, 2020

Publication • March 29, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19

Executive Order GA-13, TX, Bonds, 2020 GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT March 29, 2020 FLED IN ThE OFFE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE S 3° PM:YCLOCK The Honorable Ruth R. Hughs Secretary of State State Capitol Room 1E.8 Austin, Texas 78701 Secretary of State Dear Secretary Hughs: Pursuant to his powers as …

Life Sentence for Murder Overturned by New DNA Technology

Article • March 18, 2020 • from CLN April, 2020

Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, Wrongful Conviction

Life Sentence for Murder Overturned by New DNA Technology by Michael Fortino, Ph.D by Michael Fortino, Ph.D. After nearly 10 years behind bars, Lydell Grant, now 42, is on his way to being exonerated after the highest criminal appellate court in Texas vacated his conviction following its review of revised …

Expert’s Burn-Pattern Conclusions Flawed

Article • March 18, 2020 • from CLN April, 2020

Filed under: junk science

Expert’s Burn-Pattern Conclusions Flawed by David M. Reutter by David M. Reutter The admission of expert opinion based on science is powerful evidence that is supposed to assist the jury in determining the truth surrounding an event. When a flawed opinion comes into play, the scales of justice become tilted. …

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Announces New Test in Comparing Out-of-State Priors for Sentence Enhancement for Repeat Sex Offenders

Article • February 19, 2020 • from CLN March, 2020

Filed under: Sentencing

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Announces New Test in Comparing Out-of-State Priors for Sentence Enhancement for Repeat Sex Offenders by Michael Berk by Michael Berk The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals announced a new test for determining whether a prior out-of-state conviction is “substantially similar” to enumerated Texas offenses for …

Lies by Former Houston Cop Facing Murder Charge Might Affect Over 14,000 Cases

Article • February 19, 2020 • from CLN March, 2020

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Police Misconduct, Police

Lies by Former Houston Cop Facing Murder Charge Might Affect Over 14,000 Cases by David M. Reutter by David M. Reutter A Texas judge, Ramona Franklin, declared Otis Mallet “actually innocent” of selling crack cocaine to a Houston police officer, saying “What a miscarriage of justice we have all witnessed …

Carillo v. Buendia, TX, Complaint, Wrongful Death, 2020

Brief • January 28, 2020

Filed under: Wrongful Death

Carillo v. Buendia, TX, Complaint, Wrongful Death, 2020 Case 2:20-cv-00028 Document 1 Filed on 01/28/20 in TXSD Page 1 of 32 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION ARMANDO CARRILLO, Individually and as Representative of the Estate of DANIEL EMILIO CARRILLO, deceased, …

Texas Civil Rights Project: Torture by Another Name - Solitary Confinement in Texas, 2019

Publication • October 1, 2019

Filed under: Gang Policies, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Education, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Texas Civil Rights Project: Torture by Another Name - Solitary Confinement in Texas, 2019 Torture By Another Name Solitary Confinement in Texas OCTOBER 2019 Author: MEAGAN HARDING Senior Staff Attorney, Texas Civil Rights Project Contributor: PETER STEFFENSEN Staff Attorney, Texas Civil Rights Project Acknowledgements We would like to thank all …

Houston Police Cover up Crime Scene With Poor Investigation Techniques

Article • August 21, 2019 • from CLN September, 2019

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Police

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

Kickback publication • July 17, 2019

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Monitoring

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

Article • June 13, 2019

Filed under: Editorials, Prosecutors, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty, Death Row

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)

Publication • 2019

Filed under: Banned Book Lists

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 …

Texas police officer decertifications

Publication • 2019

Filed under: Police Misconduct

Texas police officer decertifications Texas decertifications through 2016 Id 22798 22797 22796 22775 22774 22773 22772 22771 22770 22769 22715 22714 22713 22712 22711 22710 22709 22681 22680 22679 22676 22675 22674 22673 22672 22671 22670 22668 22369 22368 22367 22339 22314 22313 22286 22282 22280 22279 22278 First Name …

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

Publication • 2019

Filed under: Fifth Amendment, Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Bail/Pretrial Release

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

Article • May 22, 2019

Filed under: War on Drugs, Jail Specific, Bond Fees

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 …