5th Circuit Court of Appeals US v. Smith No. 23-60321 8/9/24 Issue: Are geofence warrants constitutional under the Fourth Amendment? Holding: No. Splitting ways with the 4th Circuit, the 5th Circuit first concluded that acquiring location history data via a geofence warrant is a search. Comparing geofence warrants to the general warrants of the British … Read more
The National Insurance Crime Bureau’s (NICB) seventh annual National Conference of Insurance Crime Attorneys being held October 8 and 9 in Schaumburg, Illinois. This growing event brings together federal, state, and local prosecutors from across the country who focus on property/casualty insurance fraud and vehicle crimes to learn and discuss current issues and emerging trends, … Read more
Texas Courts of Appeals Alvarez v. State No. 01-16-00407-CR 8/30/18 Issues: Is resisting arrest a lesser-included offense of assault on a public servant? Holding: No. Instructing the jury to consider resisting arrest as a lesser-included offense of assault on a public servant is fundamental error. With some exceptions, this fundamental error requires reversal, even if … Read more
Football is back, and all is right with the world. Don’t get your hopes up yet That’s our disclaimer before we share this bit of news with you: The Judicial Compensation Commission will soon recommend to the Legislature a 15-percent salary increase for all state district and appellate judges. Their official report won’t be issued … Read more
Texas Courts of Appeals State v. Hill Nos. 05-13-00421-CR to 05-13-00425-CR 8/15/18 Issues: Are facts including undue influence by a civil litigant upon the district attorney and presentation of the indictment to the grand jury with impure motives sufficient to warrant dismissal with prejudice for prosecutorial misconduct? Holding: “The trial court had discretion to determine … Read more
Texas Courts of Appeals Young v. State No. 01-17-00039-CR 8/16/18 Issues: Is an officer permitted to remove and search a pill bottle from a defendant’s pocket while conducting a Terry frisk? Holding: No. Under the plain-feel doctrine, an officer conducting a lawful pat-down may seize a non-weapon object “whose contour or mass makes its identity … Read more
Texas Courts of Appeals McMinn v. State No. 14-17-00407-CR 8/14/18 Issues: Is a photograph of a Play-Doh figurine made spontaneously by the victim during an interview at a child assessment center hearsay? Holding: No. Hearsay requires a “statement” defined as “a person’s oral or written expression, or nonverbal conduct that a person intended as a … Read more
Because no notable cases were issued by Texas courts in the last week, TDCAA will not have case summaries for August 10, 2018. We will return with summaries on August 17. Who’s coming to Galveston? If you haven’t already registered for our Annual Criminal and Civil Law Update in Galveston, now is the … Read more
Hot enough for ya? Reading the state budget tea leaves Earlier this month the comptroller gave a presentation to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) that may have been misinterpreted by some who read about it in the local fish wraps, so let us clear up some potential misconceptions. It is true that recent tax collections … Read more
Though contempt is certainly not as common as Hollywood makes it out to be, prosecutors should not be caught unaware of its ramifications. Six years ago, I was a fresh-faced, baby prosecutor about to try his first case to a jury. It was a Class A resisting arrest case. I wasn’t sure how it was … Read more