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In many assaultive-type cases, our clients will tell us that they were only reacting to and defending themselves against someone else’s attack.  This may often be the case, but proving self-defense requires more than just throwing up your hands, like in football as the universal sign of “not touching!”, or saying “I didn’t do it!” […]

It is a common practice for probation officers (“PO’s”) in Collin County to directly request from probationers “voluntary sanctions” or “amended conditions of community supervision” which have the affect of changing the terms of probation. You have the right to say no to any voluntary sanction the PO requests. PO’s have a hard job. They […]

Last week, media scrutiny was directed at the Dallas Police Department when the chief of police fired Officer Eric Watts after he was indicted for filing a false police report in March. According to the news reports, Mr. Watts’ false statement was discovered after reviewing dash-cam footage from his squad car. “Dirty cop” allegations are […]

One of the most common questions I’m asked is what will happen on my court date.  Other common terms for court dates are “announcements.” Your court date is normally just a work session between your attorney and the prosecutor in Collin County. Understand each of our courts have hundreds if not thousands of cases pending […]

In recent years, medical marijuana has become a hot political topic, sometimes leading to legislative change. Proponents of medical marijuana suggest, and some studies have shown, that marijuana helps to treat and alleviate symptoms associated with a variety of conditions, including glaucoma, multiple sclerosis (specifically muscular spasticity), Alzheimer’s disease, certain kinds of cancer (primarily breast […]

Texas law takes a particularly strong stance on the issue of domestic or family violence, even including a legislative statement in Article 5.01 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that “victims of family violence are entitled to the maximum protection from harm or abuse or the threat…as is permitted by law.”  This means that in […]

Over the last few weeks, I have received a number of calls and emails inquiring about the surcharge Amnesty and Indigency programs. I am pleased to be able to write the the program is now active.  The following is the important information to determine your eligibility. Amnesty willl be offered from January 17 to April […]

A very recent case decided by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the State’s highest court of appeals to hear criminal cases, has established the lawfulness of roadside checkpoints under certain circumstances. This case will affect not only Driving While Intoxicated cases, but all criminal cases and the citizenry in general.  I’ll explain.  The Fourth […]

I’m not the first to blog about this issue, and it has been fairly well covered both by the by the Collin County Observer as well as by Hunter Biederman, but I wanted to share my perspective because I find the WFAA coverage so misleading. For those who are not familiar, WFAA recently broke a story strongly implying that […]