2008 TDCAA Annual Conference is POSTPONED!

The 2008 TDCAA Annual Criminal and Civil Law Conference in Galveston has been postponed.  We are already working on revised dates and locations.

2008 TDCAA Annual Conference is POSTPONED!

The 2008 TDCAA Annual Criminal and Civil Law Conference in Galveston has been postponed.  We are already working on revised dates and locations.

Palestine man sentenced to life for murder

Published: December 04, 2008 02:09 am

By PAUL STONE
The Palestine Herald

CROCKETT — A 22-year-old Palestine man was sentenced to life in prison last week by a Houston County jury for the murder of a 30-year-old Grapeland woman shot to death at her residence this past summer.

Eric Lamond Davis, 22, of Palestine was sentenced to life in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Nov. 25 following his five-day murder trial at the Houston County Courthouse in Crockett.

Hines v. State - 6th COA

The trial court erred when it allowed the State to repeatedly tell jurors that they could arrive at a nonunanimous verdict during the State's closing argument. The indictment alleged that the defendant did "with the intent to arouse or gratify" his sexual desire, "intentionally or knowingly engage in sexual contact" with the victim by "touching the anus and genitals and breast" of the victim. The jury charge directed the jury to find the defendant guilty if he did "intentionally or knowingly . . .

Rendon v. State - 3rd COA

While a general allegation of, or allusion to, sexual activity does not constitute an obscene comment for the purpose of prosecution for harassment, the specific language and its usage in this case do qualify because the words were spoken with the intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass the complainant.

Study: Mental illnesses predict repeat offenders


Published December 2, 2008

2nd man sentenced in Texas tot pot-smoking video

Associated Press

— One of two men videotaped coaxing two toddlers into smoking marijuana pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was sentenced Tuesday to up to seven years in prison.

Man with bullet in head accepts plea deal

12/02/2008

 

Associated Press

A Port Arthur teenager has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in a case that made world headlines when police wanted to remove a bullet from his forehead to prove he tried to kill a man.

Crime victims remembered with ‘Tree of Angels’

Published: December 01, 2008 11:04 pm

By Matthew Jackson
Huntsville Item Staff Reporter

More than 100 people packed into the conference room at the Texas Prison Museum Monday night to commemorate the 13th annual Walker County Tree of Angels, an annual holiday monument to victims of violent crime in the county.

Stringer v. State - 2nd COA

The defendant forfeited his Confrontation Clause objection to the felony history portion of his PSI when he placed his criminal history at issue and accepted the benefits of the order requiring the PSI. He was estopped from asserting a Confrontation Clause objection. Stringer v. State - 2-05-111-CR.