I read a lot of other lawyers' work. When I'm retained to write a petition for discretionary review in the Court of Criminal Appeals, I have to read their briefs. When I see an interesting opinion out of one of the intermediate courts or the CCA I read the briefs that the decision is based on. It's not too pretty at all. I use that as a

Imagine two murders. Both are legally unjustified, both premeditated and in cold blood. In the first one, the defendant is delusional. He believes that an angel has ordered him to kill the victim, and it's the right thing to do. In the second one, the defendant knows that what he is doing is wrong. He knows that he is making the world a worse place. He killed

Alien Anthropology There's a style of thought experiment that starts Imagine how this looks to someone without your preconceptions …. Imagine a Venusian looking at your political system. Imagine a future archaeologist unearthing your bathroom ritual. Imagine how advanced spacefaring civilizations see your planet.¹ We take things for granted. That's not entirely a bad thing—none of us have the time or the mental capacity to

Jemadari Williams won his own appeal to the San Antonio Court of Appeals, but then the State filed a petition for discretionary review, and the Court of Criminal Appeals granted review. I came in to help Jemadari in the Court of Criminal Appeals. The San Antonio Court had made the right ruling (the indictment was defective) but for the wrong reason. In the CCA we (Jemadari is

One in 35 Americans will be in a car crash in the next twelve months. What is your chance of being in a car crash in the next twelve months? One in a million Americans will be struck by lightning in the next twelve months. What is your chance of being struck by lightning? The answer to both is that you have no idea. Whether you are

There have probably been times when one lawyer has had a string of habeas wins on a specific issue (we got 11.07 relief for several people after winning Ex parte Lo in 2013) but no defense appellate or postconviction lawyer has, I suspect, won six cases on different topics in the Court of Criminal Appeals in a year. Until now. From June 19, 2024 to June 4,

I like that Texas appellate courts mostly video-record oral arguments now, and I like to share my argument videos, because I enjoy oral argument, and I think my arguments are generally entertaining to watch. (Sharing them also gives potential clients a chance to see me "taking my wits for a walk," thinking on my feet in the courtroom, before they hire me; that's not a bad thing.)

Under section 46.05(a)(3) of the Texas Penal Code, it is a felony to possess, manufacture, transport, repair, or sell a "prohibited weapon," including a chemical dispensing device. Chemical dispensing device means a device, other than a small chemical dispenser sold commercially for personal protection, that is designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of dispensing a substance capable of causing an adverse psychological or physiological effect

Entrapment is a rarely-used defense in Texas criminal cases for several reasons: Difficult Standard. "It is a defense to prosecution that the actor engaged in the conduct charged because he was induced to do so by a law enforcement agent using persuasion or other means likely to cause persons to commit the offense. Conduct merely affording a person an opportunity to commit an offense does not

Forgery involves creating, altering, or using a false document with the intent to defraud or harm another person. This could range from signing someone else's name on a check to creating a completely fake driver's license. If you or a loved one is facing forgery charges in Texas, you need a top Houston criminal-defense lawyer by your side. In this blog post, we'll discuss what constitutes