Posted on April 04, 2019 in Uncategorized

Robert Kraft, the owner of Kraft Foods and the New England Patriots football team, was recently arrested in Florida and charged with solicitation. Now, his defense attorneys are fighting to exclude a potentially incriminating video of him at the massage parlor. Their arguments, however, are surprisingly strong and have to do with Mr. Kraft's Fourth Amendment rights.

Patriots Owner Arrested and Charged with Solicitation

Mr. Kraft was arrested in February 2019, in Florida. He was accused of being one of the numerous people who frequented a massage parlor in Jupiter, Florida, and paid for sexual acts.

Rather than accept a plea deal that would have required him to admit that he would have been guilty, had the case gone to trial, Mr. Kraft and his defense lawyers filed a motion to exclude an important piece of the prosecutor's case – the surveillance video that showed him at the parlor.

Motion to Exclude Evidence Based on "Sneak-and-Peek" Warrant

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Uncategorized

A pair of developments in the solicitation case against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft highlights how far prosecutors are willing to go to create a conviction.

Kraft's Lawyers File Motion to Exclude Video Evidence

We covered the setup for the new developments in an earlier blog: Defense attorneys for Mr. Kraft filed a motion to exclude video evidence from trial, claiming that it was obtained in a search that violated Mr. Kraft's Fourth Amendment rights. That search had been performed pursuant to a "sneak-and-peek" search warrant, which is usually reserved for felony-level offenses, not misdemeanors like the solicitation charge against Mr. Kraft.

Prosecutors Try Leaking Video to the Public

Undeterred by the motion, prosecutors at the district attorney's office said that they would release footage of Mr. Kraft and the 24 other men who were charged with solicitation to the public. Prosecutors claimed that the release would be for a pending case against the owners of the massage parlor but would depict Mr. Kraft anyway. They also claimed that they were compelled to release the footage under Florida's expansive public records law.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Uncategorized

The fallout continues from the botched drug raid in Houston back in January that left two suspects dead, several officers wounded, and the police union scrambling for answers. Now, multiple officers involved in the case have filed for retirement, while another has been relieved of duty. Nevertheless, they stand to collect their substantial police officer's pension.

Exodus of Officers Involved in Botched Drug Raid

The Houston narcotics officer who was responsible for the drug purchase that led to the deadly raid – a drug purchase that might not have happened – has filed for retirement from the Houston police force. Officer Gerald Goines was a 34-year veteran with, according to news reports, a 288-page personnel file that included lots of commendations and plenty of controversies, red flags, and written reprimands for shoddy evidence work in drug cases. Those problems led the District Attorney to order a review of all of Officer Goines' 1,400 drug cases, including a handful of currently pending charges.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Uncategorized

A famous actor has been charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) after crashing his car into a utility pole. The news is all over the tabloids and contains an interesting detail that may confuse lots of people in Houston, Texas: He faces multiple charges for a single incident.

DWI defense lawyer Doug Murphy explains how this can happen.

Actor Crashes Car, Charged With DWI

The actor is Michael Madsen, most famous for his roles in Quentin Tarantino movies, like his portrayal of Budd in the Kill Bill movies and Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs.

The incident took place in California, when, back on March 24, Mr. Madsen crashed his Land Rover into a pole in Malibu. No one was hurt in the crash, and Mr. Madsen's vehicle was the only one involved. Police apparently conducted a test for his blood alcohol content (BAC) and found him over the legal limit.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Uncategorized

A local Houston teenager is facing criminal charges after he was arrested for bringing a gun and drugs into a high school in his backpack.

Teenager Arrested for Having Gun and Drugs in Backpack

The arrest happened on Wednesday, April 25, 2019, at the Austin High School in Houston, Texas.

According to the initial reports, high school staff found a pistol and drugs inside an 18-year old boy's backpack and called the police. When the police came, they quickly arrested the boy.

The boy is now facing a criminal charge for firearm possession in a school zone, a third-degree felony that can carry up to ten years in jail if it leads to a conviction.

No drug charges have been filed, yet.

Why No Drug Charge?

The fact that the student has not been charged with drug possession, yet, could mean that law enforcement is still testing the substance that was found in his backpack. When suspicious substances are confiscated, and there are questions about what they are, police are supposed to treat it as potential evidence and have it tested in the lab – a process that can take a few days.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Uncategorized

It seems like there has been an explosion in the number of stores that sell hemp & CBD products in the Houston area overnight. Simply put, an important federal law changed the definition of hemp products, de-listing them from the Controlled Substances Act and legalizing many of them but not all of them.

Unfortunately, the new regulations are far from clear, and a misstep can lead to a serious charge of drug possession or even drug distribution.

What is Hemp?

Hemp is a fibrous and oily plant that is often confused with marijuana because it comes from the same species of plants. However, certain types of hemp plants have very low levels of THC – the active ingredient in marijuana that makes it illegal – and much higher levels of cannabidiol, a chemical that reduces the psychoactive effects of the existing THC.

Hemp has lots of uses. Its fibrous material has been used to make textiles, clothing, and even rope, while the cannabidiol in hemp can be infused in foods and drinks and is supposed to help alleviate a wide variety of medical conditions from nausea to chronic pain to PTSD, though scientific evidence is lacking.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Uncategorized

A driver in Houston is being charged with a felony-level offense of driving while intoxicated (DWI) after she allegedly caused an accident that ended in a fatality. The charges are for intoxication manslaughter, an allegation that can lead to a steep jail sentence in Harris County, Texas, if it ends with a conviction.

Multi-Car Pileup Leads to DWI Arrest in Houston

The incident happened during the late night hours of Friday, April 5, 2019.

According to the initial reports, there was a car accident on the Katy Freeway near exit 766 that stopped traffic on the highway just after three in the morning. Another vehicle traveling on the Katy Freeway, however, did not stop in time upon nearing the congested traffic. The driver slammed into another car, which created a chain reaction that ended up involving four vehicles.

The driver apparently tried fleeing the scene of the crash, but was quickly apprehended by police. She was brought to the hospital for leg injuries sustained in the crash, where she was determined to be under the influence.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 03, 2019 in Uncategorized

A fatal accident in Houston involving a drunk driver is an excellent example of how a single incident of driving while intoxicated (DWI) can quickly amass numerous criminal allegations, each one more severe than the last.

Drunk Driver in Fatal Crash With Lyft Car

On March 1, 2019, a 21-year-old driver ran through an intersection and hit a Lyft vehicle. The Lyft passenger was killed in the collision. The driver was seriously hurt with life-threatening injuries that have put him in a coma.

When police responded to the scene, the driver admitted to having several shots of tequila before getting into his car. Blood alcohol content (BAC) tests found him to be more than three times over the legal limit.

Prosecutors are now charging the driver with intoxication assault for hurting the Lyft driver as well as intoxication manslaughter for killing the passenger. Those charges come on top of the underlying charge for DWI.

Intoxication Assault in Houston

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 03, 2019 in Uncategorized

While details of the incident are still sketchy, reports indicate that a suspected drunk driver hit a police patrol car near Pinehurst, just north of Houston. If the deputy is found to have sustained a serious bodily injury, then the fact that he was in the line of duty could drastically elevate the penalties of a conviction from a regular offense to a felony crime on par with murder.

Police Deputy Hit by Suspected Drunk Driver

The incident happened in Montgomery County during the night of March 9 and early morning of March 10, 2019. According to the initial reports, a police deputy from Montgomery County Precinct 5 was on traffic duty, closing lanes of State Highway 249 near the town of Pinehurst so construction crews could work on the road.

While closing the lanes, a pickup truck slammed into deputy's patrol car – which had its emergency lights on at the time – propelling the car almost 100 feet. The pickup truck driver kept driving through the construction zone until he went off the road and into a ditch.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 03, 2019 in Uncategorized

In theory, at least, laws are supposed to reflect the interests, concerns, and views of the people behind them. In a representative democracy like the one we have in the U.S., that should mean that the laws we have on our books – especially the criminal laws – reflect what we think is important in life.

So it is interesting to see that the laws in Texas that prohibit intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter carry the exact same penalties if the victim of the crash caused by driving while intoxicated (DWI) dies from their injuries or was put into a permanent vegetative state.

Criminal Laws are a Reflection of Our Worries and Fears

It is probably the most fascinating aspect of criminal law: The things and the actions that we condemn as criminal are also the things that we fear the most. Differences between sets of criminal laws – especially those from different cultures – highlight the concerns that people have and what kind of government they live in. For example, Saudi Arabia is a theocratic government where alcohol is entirely prohibited by their religious law. DWI offenses, therefore, can result in huge fines, up to ten years in jail, and even lashes in public.

Continue Reading ››