Defending People

the tao of criminal-defense trial lawyering

Probation Eligibility in Texas

| May 18, 2008

A Texas judge can give deferred-adjudication probation to a person pleading guilty unless: (1) the defendant is charged with an offense: (A) under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code [DWI offenses]; or (B) for which punishment may be increased under Section 481.134(c), (d), (e), or (f), Health and Safety Code [Drug-Free Zone], if it is shown that [...]

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Texas Amicus on Virginia v. Moore

| April 25, 2008

Can anyone tell me why, when Virginia v. Moore is irrelevant to Texas state cases, Texas’s Attorney General Greg Abbott wastes his time and taxpayers’ money filing an amicus brief in that case?

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Lucky Stars — an Anti-Whine.

| June 16, 2007

Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice informs us that, in the People’s Democratic Republic of New York, there is no right to expunction (only he calls it “expungement,” which, according to my OED, is “rare” — not that there’s anything wrong with that). So I presume that if you get arrested for something in New York, [...]

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Jury Sentencing in Texas

| June 5, 2007

Gideon, following Doug Berman’s train of thought here, asks, Why don’t we have jury sentencing in non-capital criminal cases? In Texas, we do have jury sentencing in non-capital cases. The accused can elect before trial to have the jury set punishment in the event of a conviction (and we get jury trials for everything). If [...]

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