What are Shadow Juries? A shadow jury is made up of individuals who closely match the demographics and backgrounds of actual juries. Shadow jurors are paid to watch a trial and provide attorneys with feedback at the end of each day. Shadow jurors were famously used in the Texas criminal jury trial of Robert Durst. […]
Shadow Juries and Mock Trials Read More »
Federal criminal defense attorney Benson Varghese discusses white collar crimes in this short video. A white collar crime is an offense that is alleged to have been committed by individuals who are professional – whether they are government employees or in the private sector – who have a high degree of trust or access to
What is a White Collar Crime? Read More »
Since 1996, the Silver Gavel Award has been presented by the Tarrant County Bar Association to a current or former member of the Tarrant County judiciary who served Tarrant County for at least ten years while exemplifying three qualities: ability, integrity, and courage. This award is reserved for those rare individuals who never settle for
Judge Brent Carr Receives Silver Gavel Award Read More »
Can Officers Take Discarded Items and Have Them Tested for DNA? Police officers are known to take discarded items and have them tested for DNA. In March of 2015, the Supreme Court decided not to hear Raynor v. Maryland, a case raising the issue of “surreptitious sampling” or the practice of testing discarded evidence. It seems
Can Police Take DNA Without a Warrant? Read More »
Benson Varghese discusses removing offenses and arrests from a person’s criminal history through an expunction in Texas in this short video. In Texas, a person can get an expunction of their criminal record under some circumstances. For most cases, that means either a case was not filed or the case was ultimately dismissed without a
Video: Can I Get an Expunction in Texas? Read More »
We’ve all heard the adage: “Do the crime, do the time.” But what if the judge has some other punishment in mind, like carrying an embarrassing sign, working in a morgue, or getting married? It’s not uncommon for judges to try and send a message with a creative sentence, especially when it’s a condition of
Creative Sentencing: Ten Unusual Punishments Read More »
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
Does Obtaining Cell-Site Location Information Require a Warrant? Read More »
In a recent 5-4 decision , the Supreme Court held that police generally need a search warrant to gain access to your cellphone’s location information. Specifically, in Carpenter v. United States, the Court noted allowing the police to access minute-to-minute location information is the type of surveillance the Constitution’s framers sought to protect against without
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
4 Reasons Former Federal Prosecutors Make Excellent Defense Attorneys Read More »
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