First the good: State v. Golding, out of the First Court of Appeals today, is an appeal from the granting of a Padilla writ by the best damn judge in the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, our friend Larry Standley. Judge Standley showed yet again that he is not afraid to grant habeas relief, and the State appealed,

1. Propaganda. Aside from what the government and the media have told you, how do you know that Osama Bin Laden even existed, much less that he was responsible for 9/11?2. Substantive Due Process. Assuming that the government has told us the truth about Osama bin Laden, I think that most will agree that a quick death was not excessive punishment. We will likely never know what

Texas Rule of Evidence 404(b):Other crimes, wrongs, or acts. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith….Rule 405:In all cases in which evidence of character or a trait of character of a person is admissible, proof may be made by testimony as to reputation or by testimony in the form

So I’ve been taking martial arts classes. (Don’t worry, this will not be a self-indulgent “here’s why I haven’t been posting and I promise to post more” posts. Those of you who cared have emailed me, and as my priorities shift I may well post less. It will, however, be self-indulgent: there is lots of “this is my life” stuff and there are many shoutouts to some

The idea behind a lawyers' assistance strike force is that when a criminal-defense lawyer is under attack for doing her job, the strike force can intercede for the lawyer and protect the defense function. NACDL has a strike force; I helped several lawyers out of contempt citations on behalf of HCCLA's strike force, and will lead that strike force next year.When I had a civil lawyer trying

A couple of months ago I mentioned Texas rep Leo Berman's attack on theocracy.Now it turns out  that the voices in his head inspired him.(Nobody is surprised.)

This was the only reference to time in the search-warrant affidavit:In the past 72 hours, a confidential informant advised the Affiant that Chris was seen in possession of a large amount of methamphetamine at his residence and business.The trial court and the Amarillo Court of Appeals held that the warrant was invalid because it contained no indication of when Chris had meth.According to the Court of Criminal

Popehat and Abel and Draughn and Hit & Run and Kennedy and Greenfield have already visited the subject of the video of a TSA goon groping a six-year-old girl at the airport in New Orleans (insert tacky Mardi Gras bead joke here, if you absolutely must). For me, the video did nothing more than reaffirm my decision not to take my young children through airport security.But this,

Ellen Alexander (the nicest person in the courthouse, and not just in contrast to her judge, who's a grump [but only to criminals, and fools, and the unprepared]) is once again raising money for the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Two years ago Becky Pope, Ellen Alexander, and Robb Fickman raised $14,475 for M.D. Anderson. Last year they raised $19,276. Robb is the cheerleader of

I was making an appearance on a first DWI. My client had declined to participate in the cop’s agility exercises (also known as “field sobriety tests”), both at the scene and at the station. The cop claims that at the scene my client showed signs of intoxication, but on the video from the station my client is rock solid.In court, I handed the file to the number-two