It lives! The Fourth Amendment lives!
In a decision handed down on October 29, 2009, the United States Court of Affirms, er... Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, reversed a trial court ruling and ordered evidence in a drug case obtained by a warrantless search be suppressed.In US v. Menchaca-Castruita, McAllen (Texas) police were called to investigate a large marijuana stash and an alleged assault. It turns out that Mr. Menchaca was two months behind in his rent when his landlord knocked on his door. When Mr. Menchaca didn't answer, the landlord's husband went around and

State troopers on the prowl for drunk drivers
If you're planning on cruising the highways in the Lone Star State this holiday weekend, you might want to watch your speed, make sure you're buckled in and find a designated driver. The Texas Department of Public Safety has announced state troopers will be on the lookout for speeders, drunk drivers and unrestrained passengers over the Thanksgiving holiday. Last year over the Wednesday through Sunday holiday weekend, state troopers arrested 252 motorists on suspicion of drunk driving. Let's do some math... That's 252 motorists whose licenses would have

Judge overturns conviction based upon actual innocence
In New York, Manhattan Supreme Court (trial court) justice John Cataldo reversed a conviction on appeal on the grounds that the defendant had proven his actual innocence by clear and convincing evidence.It has long been the rule that in order to appeal a conviction a defendant had to show he was harmed by a trial court's ruling or that there was no evidence that was not available at his trial. Whether one was factually innocent or not was not a question the appellate courts were concerned about.Judge Cataldo's order in New York v. Bermudez might change the c

DIVERT = deferred adjudication
I overheard a little pow-wow with the prosecutor, defendant and defense counsel on a DWI case in Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 3 on Friday. The judge asked the defendant for his plea in the case and the defendant responded "guilty." The (visiting) judge then told the defendant he was being placed into the DIVERT program and that if he completed the terms of his probation the case would be dismissed.Umm... not so fast.As pointed out in a previous blog update ("New DWI program sounds more and more like deferred adju

What's a qualified vampire, er, technician?
Section 724.017 of the Texas Transportation Code governs the admissibility of evidentiary blood samples in DWI cases. The codes says:(a) Only a physician, qualified technician, chemist, registered professional nurse or licensed vocational nurse may take a blood specimen at the request or order of a peace officer under this chapter. The blood specimen must be taken in a sanitary place...(c) In this section, "qualified technician" does not include emergency medical services personnel.The State of Texas does not overse