Carpenter v. United States On June 5, 2017, the United States Supreme Court granted a petition to hear a major Fourth Amendment case decided by the Sixth Circuit, Carpenter v. United States. This case will decide whether it is constitutional for the government to collect cell-site location information without first obtaining a warrant. Using cell-site location […]

Former Federal Prosecutors While it seems intuitive that being a former prosecutor is an advantage for a defense attorney, the gains offered by that experience are often underestimated. Obviously, former federal prosecutors have an understanding as to how to identify and exploit weaknesses in a prosecutor’s case. Some would go as far as to say

State Attorney General’s Officers, the FBI, and other law enforcement agencies have dedicated teams that solely investigate financial practices of doctors’ offices and health care providers, including looking for Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Violations. Once such an investigation commences it is important to be proactive and establish a lack of culpability or at least attempt

A Motion in Limine is common in criminal trials, both at the state and federal level. It is a motion filed by either the prosecution or defense before a trial begins, asking that the opposing counsel and their witnesses not mention or elicit responses regarding matters that are inadmissible and prejudicial. It is impossible to unring

Restraint Enhancement in Hobbs Act Robbery Cases On May 23, 2017, in United States v. Garcia, the federal Fifth Circuit rejected the imposition of the restraint enhancement in a Hobbs Act robbery. The federal sentencing guidelines provides for a “restraint enhancement” to a sentence when a robbery involves the “forcible restraint of the victim, such as by

In 2018, there were 540,561 crashes on Texas roadways. Of that number, 95,572 – or 18 percent – were caused by distracted driving, resulting in 394 deaths and 2,340 serious injures, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Those sobering numbers come just a year after the state outlawed texting and driving, suggesting that drivers

Governor Abbot recently signed House Bill 1935, which will become law on September 1, 2017. Known as the Knife Law Reform Bill, HB 1935 removes the term “illegal knife” from the Penal Code. As a result, blades over 5 ½ inches, throwing knives, daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, bowie knives, swords, and spears are not considered

Will Diversions Lead to Deportation? Pre-trial diversion programs are often used as a tool to avoid a criminal conviction. Whether or not something is a “conviction” depends entirely on the context in which it is asked. For instance, deferred adjudication is generally not a conviction for most purposes under state law, but it can be