Texas District & County Attorneys Association

James v. State - 3rd COA

The defendant's guilty plea to sexual assault of a child should not be overturned because the trial court failed to admonish that he would have to register as a sex offender under CCP art. 26.13(a)(5). By amending CCP art. 26.13(h) to expressly provide that failure to admonish is not a ground to set aside a conviction, sentence, or plea, the legislature foreclosed any relief for the defendant. James v. State, 03-07-00487-CR.

Sims v. State - CCA

Character evidence, in the form of opinion testimony, is admissible under CCP art. 37.07 when that opinion was formulated from a specific extraneous offense that the jury was entitled to hear about. Both types of evidence are admissible in a punishment hearing, and there is no reason that they cannot be combined during punishment proceedings. Any complaint about the officer's opinion being based on a single encounter goes to the weight rather than the admissibility of

Ex parte Forward - CCA

Under CCP art. 42.18 §8(d), when sentences involve the stacking of pre- and post-1987 offenses, those sentences should be treated as one unit for the purpose of determining when a defendant is eligible for release on mandatory supervision for all sentences that are eligible for mandatory supervision. Under CCP art. 42.18 §8(c), a release date for mandatory supervision for all the mandatory-supervision-eligible sentences would be calculated as a unit, and then add the length of any mandatory-supervision-ineligible sentences to arrive at a final

Warner v. State - CCA

If a person pulls free and runs away from a police officer after the officer has grasped his arm and told him he is under arrest, under PC §38.06(a), he has not esacped from custody. Escape can occur only after an officer has successfully restrained or restricted a suspect -- that is, when the officer's grasp has amounted to an arrest. Warner v. State, PD-1644-06.

Witnesses differ on murder victim's reasons for leaving husband

July 21, 2008 - 9:14PM
Jeremy Roebuck, The McAllen Monitor

EDINBURG - Yrazema Placencia had grown increasingly unhappy with her life's prospects in the months before her husband killed her, witnesses in his murder trial testified Monday.

But the reasons the 25-year-old Alton woman decided to finally cut ties with the man she had lived with for more than a decade differed with who was telling the story.

Daniel Garcia, 32, stands accused of stabbing Placencia to death 58 times on Aug. 13, 2007, on the front lawn of their Alton home.

Convicted killer ordered to serve 10 years' probation

July 21, 2008, 11:21PM

Attorney says man was defending himself at the time of fatal shooting

By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

A veteran longshoreman convicted of murder in an east Houston taqueria shooting will spend 10 years on probation, a jury ruled Monday.

Esteban Garza, 52, killed Fernando Gutierrez, 43, shortly before 8 a.m. on April 23, 2006, at Doña Vicky's Restaurant, 7715 Harrisburg.

The photos you post online may become evidence at your trial

10:30 AM CDT on Monday, July 21, 2008

Prosecutors: Man killed teen mom to cover up relative's rape

July 21, 2008 - 9:44PM
Jeremy Roebuck, The McAllen Monitor

EDINBURG - A man accused of fatally shooting his 16-year-old girlfriend, burning her body and then abandoning her infant child on the side of a busy Weslaco road nearly two years ago stood before a jury Monday.

Prosecutors allege Samuel Villarreal, 40, killed Aida Mae Rodriguez in November 2006 because she had walked in on him at their Mercedes apartment as he raped a then 13-year-old relative.

Killer gets 25 years

By Kari Griffin
Baytown Sun

Published July 22, 2008

Federal grant designed to aid abuse victims

July 21, 2008, 11:15PM

Funds to hasten protective orders, train officers and refer services

By RUTH RENDON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Beaten and stabbed last month, Jan Wilson Hardy finally concluded enough was enough.

The 54-year-old teacher sought and received a protective order against her alleged attacker — a live-in companion of two years. Hardy joined nearly 6,000 others, men as well as women, in Harris County who request help every year keeping alleged abusers at bay.