Most of us know the drill when a police officer stops on suspicion of a traffic violation. Among other steps, the officer will request your driver’s license and vehicle registration. Of course, if you do not have a license–or you are driving with an invalid license–then that in of itself constitutes a traffic violation normally […]

Drug charges obviously require drugs. And police typically recover drugs when they search suspects or their property. As you probably know, the police typically require a search warrant to conduct such a search. But there are multiple exceptions to this general rule. For instance, if a police officer has “reasonable suspicion” to suspect someone is […]

Many Texas criminal cases end with the defendant being placed on community supervision, i.e. probation. This means the defendant will not go to jail so long as he or she follows all of the conditions of community supervision imposed by the judge. And perhaps the most important of these conditions is that the defendant refrain […]

Electronic devices are a valuable commodity and a frequent target of burglary. But today’s “smart” devices, including tablets and phones, contain tracking features that make it possible to locate a stolen device even without police assistance. Such tracking, in turn, can help provide evidence that may be used against the accused burglar at trial. Device […]

The television series Breaking Bad popularized the knowledge of crystallized methamphetamine–i.e., crystal meth–and the dangers it poses to producers and users. Indeed, crystal meth is considered a “significant drug threat to Texas,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In Texas, a person may be imprisoned up to two years and fined $10,000 for possessing […]

The United States is one of the few western countries to try accused juvenile offenders in an adult court system. A handful of states actually try 16-year-olds as adults. In Texas, a minor is only eligible to be tried as a juvenile if he or she is “under 17 years of age” or under 18 […]

Texas has long had a reputation as a gun-friendly state. But that does not mean there is an absence of firearms laws. While Texas respects every citizen’s right to keep and bear arms, there are certain limits you need to be aware of in order to avoid possible felony weapons charges. The Right to Keep […]

A longtime Houston Police Department officer was charged just last month in connection with trafficking huge amounts of cocaine into Texas, according to the Houston Chronicle. The officer, Noe Juarez, was arrested by federal agents in the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and faces an indictment in federal court in Louisiana. He was charged […]

In November of 2014, Brice Johnson, a 19 year old Springtown, Texas teen was sentenced in the kidnapping and assault of a local man. During trial, the prosecutors were convinced that these criminal acts were motivated by Johnson’s disdain of his victim’s sexual orientation. As such, Johnson was charged with a hate crime, which enhanced […]

  flickr image by KT KingOn January 28, 2015, Juan Antonio Chapa, a Hanna Early College High School teacher, was placed on administrative leave after being the accused of having an improper relationship with a former student. Chapa, a math teacher, has worked for the Brownsville Independent School District since 1991. After a former student’s […]