San Antonio Criminal Lawyers Blog

The recent release of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin (also known as the West Memphis Three) may remind the residents of San Antonio and Bexar County of another young man - Ruben Cantu. Ruben Cantu was a Texan who was tried in San Antonio, Texas for the murder and attempted murder of two males at a construction site. While the two cases vary in both the scope of the crimes and the outcomes of those convicted, they can teach us an indispensable lesson in the fallible nature of our criminal justice system.

In both cases, all four young men were all tried as adults (despite the fact that Damien Echols was the only one who was over the age of 18 years old at the time of his alleged crime) and there was no physical evidence linking them to the crimes. In addition, the prosecution's entire cases hinged on the shaky testimonies of sole eye witnesses. Testimonies that were later recanted.

In San Antonio, Ruben Cantu was convicted and later executed for armed robbery and murder that occurred in 1984. Many believed, and still believe, that Ruben Cantu became the prime suspect months later when he shot an off-duty police officer in a barroom altercation. Was Ruben Cantu framed for a crime he did not commit because of an unrelated incident? In the years following his conviction, the surviving victim Juan Moreno, the co-defendant David Garza, the then Bexar County District Attorney Sam Millsap, and the head juror have all publicly declared that Ruben Cantu's guilty verdict and death sentence were a mistake. The state of Texas administered a lethal injection to an innocent man.

Continue reading "Did Texas Execute an Innocent San Antonio Man? Freeing of the West Memphis 3 Reminds Us That the Criminal Justice System is Not Perfect" »

The regular 82nd legislative session ended on May 30, 2011, and the following House Bill will take effect on September 1, 2011. This new law will impact San Antonio's Mental Health docket and criminal defense attorneys and other court staff alike will need to apply the new rules to Defendant's suffering from mental health problems. The following summary of the law concerns the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Health and Safety Code. This new law, and all Texas laws, can be located at the Texas Constitution and Statutes website. As with all new laws, the changes made apply only to offenses committed on or after the effective date.

HB 748, Relating to a criminal defendant's incompetency to stand trial, to certain related time credits, and to the maximum period allowed for restoration of the defendant to competency. Code of Criminal Procedures Articles 42 and 46B are amended. Health and Safety Code Section 574 is also amended.

Standards for determining whether a person is competent to stand trial in either a felony or misdemeanor case are outlined in Article 46B of the Code of Criminal Procedure. HB 748 addresses and clarifies standards and procedures that the court system must follow in regards to individuals who are awaiting a determination of competent or incompetent to stand trial.

The bill addresses the disparity in the current law that limits a judge's ability to give time credit to a person who is waiting for a competency hearing or waiting in jail for a bed to open up at a mental health treatment facility. HB 748 gives a defendant credit for time served in a jail, mental health facility, and residential care facility if that defendant is found incompetent to stand trial. The bill would also compel a judge to give a convicted person credit on their sentence for the time they have already spent in confinement. The time credit would include when a person was confined in a jail waiting to transfer to a mental health facility, release on bail to enter into an outpatient treatment program, or a trial following any temporary restoration of the defendant's competency to stand trial.

Continue reading "Changes to Law Regarding Competency to Stand Trial Will Impact San Antonio and the Rest of Texas Courts Dealing With Defendants With Mental Health Issues" »

A 43-year-old man in San Antonio, Texas was sentenced Friday on 22 counts of possession of child pornography to 220 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Each count of possession of child pornography, a 3rd degree felony, carries a maximum range of punishment of 10 years. But, Judge Herr of the 186th elected to run each sentence consecutive to one another, making one of the longest sentences that prosecutors can remember in Bexar County history.

During the punishment hearing, the prosecutors presented two women who testified that they were sexually abused by the defendant when they were very young. The prosecutors told the judge that he was not just possessing hardcore child pornography, but he was a sexual predator who would strike again if he was released in 10 years.

What you do in the privacy of your home may not be so private when it comes to the internet. With the internet making information readily accessible, prosecuting cyber and computer crimes has been pushed to the forefront of the U.S. Attorney's agenda. Recently, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made news when he announced that 72 two defendants will be prosecuted in the most expansive possession of child pornography case in U.S. history. U.S. officials used the name Operation Delego to investigate a vast international online community that was allegedly trading graphic images and videos of adults sexually abusing children.

Continue reading "Bexar County, Texas: San Antonio Man Gets 220 Years for Possession of Child Porn" »

A female teenager in Texarkana, Texas has been formally charged with three counts of capital murder in the deaths of a Texarkana woman and her two children. According to reports, the suspect's mother contacted officials saying that her daughter confessed. After being interviewed at her home, the teenage girl was arrested and remains at a juvenile detention facility. According to police, the girl had information about the May 11th fire that killed the three individuals that only someone at the scene would have known.

There are several ways that a murder becomes a capital offense in Texas. One being whoever "intentionally commits the murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit...arson..." Tex. Penal Code §19.03.

This case raises two interesting legal points. First, privileged communications that are recognized under the law. The Texas Rules of Evidence govern what privileged communications are not admissible in court. There are certain privileged communications that the courts will not allow to be admitted against a defendant in court. For example, the common privilege is the attorney-client privilege. Other common privileged communications are the husband-wife privilege, clergy-penitent privilege, and the physician-patient privilege. There is no parent-child privilege specifically addressed by the Texas Rules of Evidence. There have several attempts by lawmakers to add a parent-child privilege to the Federal Rules of Evidence, however none of them have ever passed. Thus, it remains in Texas and in Federal Court that parents may be forced to provide incriminating information against their own child. Even the few states who do recognize parent-child privilege only apply the privilege to communications between a minor child and his or her parent.

Continue reading "Texas: 16 year old Girl Charged With Three Counts of Capital Murder" »

The regular 82nd legislative session ended on May 30, 2011, and the following House Bill will all take effect on September 1, 2011. The following summary of the law concerns the Code of Criminal Procedures. This new law, and all Texas laws, can be located at the Texas Constitution and Statutes website. As with all new laws, the changes made apply only to offenses committed on or after the effective date.

HB 351, Relating to the expunction of records and files relating to a person's arrest. Code of Criminal Procedures Article 55.01 is amended.

Expunging a record is a legal process in which a person, who is charged with a crime, is able to erase or remove completely their misdemeanor or felony arrest records under certain circumstances. Under the current Texas law, the expunction process could be expensive because it must be handled by a private attorney and, in some cases, the statute of limitations for the offense has to expire before the expunction can happen. When the new law takes effect, it will expand the circumstances in which an expunction can happen, establish timelines and mandatory procedures for courts and prosecutors, and abolishes the current rule that prevented an individual who had a felony conviction in the preceding five years from expunging his new case. Under previous law, a dismissed case normally would have had to wait the statute of limitations period before seeking an expunction. Under the new law, certain dismissed cases will be eligible for expunction before the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Supporters of the bill argued that people who are tried for offenses in which they are acquitted , found not guilty, pardoned, or otherwise proven innocent are entitled to "have all records and files relating to the arrest expunged." In addition, it is unfair to burden individuals whose cases were never prosecuted or who were actually found innocent with a criminal record. This can have adverse effects when those individuals are applying for such things as employment or housing.

Continue reading "Governor Perry Signs Several Laws That Will Impact the Criminal Justice System in San Antonio and all of Texas - Part III" »

In a modern twist of the Old West's wanted posters, twelve digital billboards around San Antonio, Texas are now showing the names and pictures of individuals who have warrants for felony driving intoxicated related offenses with the word "WANTED" directly above the person's name. In addition to showing the face and name of the suspect, the billboard also lists the specific felony offense they are charged with. The billboards only show individuals who already have an active warrant for their arrest.

According to the San Antonio Police Department, there have been approximately 3,500 driving while intoxicated related offenses so far in 2011. Mothers Against Drunk Driving supports the use of the billboards which are being donated by Clear Channel Outdoor.
The billboards are not the only recent efforts law enforcement officials have implemented this year. The San Antonio Police Department working in conjunction with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office are now making all weekends and most long holidays, such as the week of Fiesta, "no refusal" weekends. This means if an individual arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated refuses a breath test, the officer will get a warrant to draw the individual's blood. Defense attorneys practicing in Bexar County have also noticed the plea offers for all DWI's have increased.

Continue reading "San Antonio, Texas Billboards Show the Names and Faces of Those Wanted on Felony DWI Charges" »