Kaufman County Criminal Defense Lawyer

July 29, 2012

Dallas Court of Appeals Rules for Kaufman Sheriff in Open Records Case

What happens when an inmate sues the sheriff for open records information?

Today’s case of the day is In Re Brian Edwards Johnson-

In 2008 Brian Edwards Johnson was incarcerated in the Kaufman County jail and sustained an injury. Not sure why he was in jail, or what the injury was. In 2011, Johnson was still an inmate (not sure where) and he filed an open records request to obtain records regarding the 2008 injury. The Sheriff denied the request and asked the AG to rule on the issue. The AG agreed with the Sheriff. Johnson filed suit and appealed to the 5th District in Dallas.

July 27, 2012

Kaufman County Criminal Court Records

by Robert Guest

For the longest time I’ve been using KaufmanCountyClerk.com to search for case information. You click on “court public record search” and get directed here.

As long as I’ve been in Kaufman the KCC site has been a reliable cornucopia of case information. Recently something strange has happened to the search site and now it’s mostly FUBAR. New cases don’t appear, old cases have entries deleted, it’s a mess. I’m not sure what’s going on, and I don’t have time to investigate.

Fortunately, Kaufman County has another online database for case information available through KaufmanCounty.net. Click on Court Records and you are sent here.

June 24, 2012

Kaufman County Failure to Register Conviction Reversed

by Robert Guest

A Kaufman County conviction for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender was reversed last week for factual insufficiency. Basically, it appears the State indicted the defendant under the wrong section of the code of criminal procedure. Factual insufficiency reversals are pretty rare, so let’s walk through how the court reached it’s decision.

Today’s case of the day is- Roberts vs. State.

What happened?

May 16, 2012

Kemp Police Department Disbands

by Robert Guest

Some old news from last week, the Kemp, Texas police department is being shut down due to budgetary concerns. This isn’t the first small town Kaufman County PD officer to face massive layoffs. Last year, almost the entire Combine police force was jettisoned.

How will this affect your Kemp PD criminal case? It depends on where these officers go and if they are available to testify in the future. If not, that could present some challenges for the State. Especially for the typical “pull the car over for innocuous traffic offense, find dope” case. You have a right to confront the witnesses against you, cops included.

In the interim, KSO will take over for Kemp PD.

April 18, 2012

Dallas Court of Appeals Affirms Kaufman County Drug Conviction

by Robert Guest

I often have a hard time quickly explaining to my non-lawyer friends exactly how the appeals system is stacked against criminal defendants. Fortunately today’s case, Barnes vs. State, crystallizes how the constitutional rights of defendants are effectively waived through nonsense technicalities. It’s a Kaufman County Drug case, appealed to the 5th District in Dallas.

What happened?

Barnes filed a motion to suppress claiming the police investigation was unconstitutional. Specifically, Barnes sought to exclude statements made during the investigation. This motion was denied (as are most motions to suppress).

March 30, 2012

Dallas Court of Appeals Overturns Prohibited Weapon Conviction

by Robert Guest

Today’s case of the day is Michael Scott Page vs. The State of Texas. It’s a Kaufman County weapons case that was appealed to the 5th Circuit in Dallas.

What happened?

Michael was out on bond (agg assault). While on bond Michael told his neighbor he we was going to blow up the courthouse. Michael’s neighbor called the police and relayed the details of this conversation. Michael’s bond was then declared insufficient (a topic for another post) and an arrest warrant was issued.

April 27, 2011

Kaufman County DWI Court-

by Robert Guest

Facing a DWI charge in Kaufman county? Have a serious drinking problem and/or a history of alcohol related offenses? DWI court may be in your future.

What is the Kaufman County DWI court? This is from a handout I found in CC2. I think the DA’s office made this although I can’t be positive as no authorship is claimed.

“The Kaufman County DWI court is a twelve month minimum program that integrates local criminal justice resources, case management, and alcohol abuse treatment to rehabilitate targeted repeat DWI offenders. There are two aspects of the program, the Court side, and the Treatment side and there are three phases to the court side. As a participant progresses through the phases, the intensity of the program lessens.”

January 9, 2011

Kaufman County Jail- Inmate Information

by Robert Guest

Have a loved one stuck in the Kaufman county jail? Want to know what the charges are and how much bail is set at?

Where is the Kaufman County Jail Located?

1900 U.S. 175, Kaufman, TX 75142. If you got to 175 and 34 and take the service road East, it’s on the right, past the new Whataburger and Walmart, just keep going.

January 7, 2011

Flying While Intoxicated? Boating? Amusement Ride Operating?

by Robert Guest

Kaufman County had a rare flying while intoxicated arrest this week. Allegedly, the pilot landed on FM 429 and was arrested shortly after.

Best quote about this arrest from Kaufman Chief Public Defender Andrew Jordan. “This defendant may have trouble making bail… because he poses a flight risk.” Rim shot!

In my entire legal career I had never seen a Texas FWI case. It just doesn’t happen that often. First, most pilots don’t land near police officers. They go from small airport to small airport. Second, we don’t have any aeronautic speed traps. Pilots don’t face the constant leo harrassment that drivers face. If you can find a way to only commute in an airplane, you’d save a lot in potential traffic tickets/police harassment (thought not enough to cover your airplane overhead).