Category: Criminal Defense

The legal team at the Kyle Law Firm in Texas understands that probation may be confusing for people who find themselves in the criminal justice system. According to the Texas statutes, if you qualify for community supervision, the court may defer criminal proceedings or suspend some or all of a sentence and place you in a program with conditions you must meet.

When a Texas law enforcement official attempts to question you about anything having to do with an alleged crime, whether or not (s)he indicates (s)he thinks you may be the suspect (s)he’s looking for, you need to know your Miranda rights. As FindLaw explains, these rights stem from the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona.

In March 2016, police were notified of a loud argument at an apartment in Seattle, Washington. By the time police arrived at Solomon McLemore’s apartment, the argument had subsided, but police say they heard the sound of glass shattering inside. For 15 minutes, the police engaged in an argument with McLemore about whether he should open the door.

Should the federal government be able to add you to a terrorism watch list just because of your religion? Because you bought a computer at Best Buy? After you waited at a train station for your mother? Shouldn’t you have to have done something suspicious before you’re placed on a government list that keeps you from flying or traveling abroad?

We’ve discussed the case of Joe B. before. A former Clifton, Texas, high school principal, Joe was convicted of his wife’s 1985 murder. The evidence seemed pretty persuasive at the time of his trial, but that evidence is quickly unraveling.

Family law attorneys have been telling their clients to stay away from social media during the divorce proceedings for many years now, since nothing is ever really as private as you believe. They warn their clients that their posts and pictures could come back to haunt them in courtroom battles for property or custody of their children.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable government searches and seizures. The general rule is that the government needs a warrant, or an exception to the warrant requirement, for a search or seizure to be constitutional. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that no warrant or even probable cause is required for customs officers to search at the U.S. border or 100 miles into the interior in what is called the “border zone.” The border zone includes Houston, San Antonio and even New Braunfels.

Each year, the FBI releases its Uniform Crime Reports for the previous year, which are based on data provided by local law enforcement agencies. These reports give us crucial information about what types of crimes, and how many, have been reported to police. Similar reports are issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which gauge how many crimes were actually committed, even if they weren’t reported. These are the two main sources used to determine America’s crime rate.