Articles Posted in Texas Laws

I’ve found that few Texans are aware of the Texas Bill of Rights. It contains many similar provisions to the US Constitution. In theory, these provisions could provide more protection than the US Constitution. In practice, not always.

Article 1 – BILL OF RIGHTS

Section 10 – RIGHTS OF ACCUSED IN CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS

Great news! The Court of Criminal Appeals is tabling their decision to delete the special rule of attorney client privilege in criminal cases. alternative.

From Texas Lawyer

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has defused a heated debate that has raged in blogs and e-mails to CCA judges over a proposal to eliminate a special rule of privilege in criminal cases. CCA Judge Cathy Cochran says the state’s highest criminal court unanimously decided June 16 to defer the proposed deletion of Texas Rule of Evidence 503(b)(2) at least six months to allow ample opportunity for all interested parties to draft a proposed substitute for that rule or to draft a rule or statute to govern the attorney work-product doctrine….

No person shall ever be imprisoned for debt.

Texas Constitution Article I Section 18

A tragic death in Tarrant County highlights the need to reform Texas traffic ticket laws. From CBS 11 news-

Appellate court decisions do not get much MSM coverage. As a public service I will try and break down recent Texas appellate court cases for the non attorney. (This process is made much easier by TCDLA SDR report).

I’m often hard on appellate courts for making decisions I disagree with. However, I want to start this section with some great appellate decisions.

Green v. State, 2008 WL 1822393 (Tex.App.-Waco Apr 23, 2008)

The Court of Criminal Appeals is moving to abolish the special rule of criminal attorney-client privilege. This would leave defendants with a much weaker protection currently only used in civil cases.

Here is the law COCA is seeking to abolish-
Texas Rule of Evidence 503(b)(2)

(2) Special rule of privilege in criminal cases. In criminal cases, a client has a privilege to prevent the lawyer or lawyer’s representative from disclosing any other fact which came to the knowledge of the lawyer or the lawyer’s representative by reason of the attorney-client relationship.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled (see their proposal here) that this protection will be deleted on September 1st, 2008. COCA has made this decision without any public input. The Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association was only notified of this decision after it was made.

This special rule has protected Texans since 1856. There is no reason to change it. This letter by Federal Public Defender Richard Andersondocuments the history and case law surrounding 503(b)(2).

You Can Help
Let these judges know that you do not want 503(b)(2) deleted. The deadline for public comments on this proposal is June 30th. You are the public, and I need you to comment.

Here is their contact information-
Judge Cathy Cochran, mailto:cathy.cochran@cca.courts.state.tx.us
Judge Tom Price, tom.price@cca.courts.state.tx.us
Judge Cheryl Johnson, cheryl.johnson@cca.courts.state.tx.us
Judge Larry Meyers, larry.meyers@cca.courts.state.tx.us
Judge Barbara Hervey, barbara.hervey@cca.courts.state.tx.us
Judge Charles Holcomb, charles.holcomb@cca.courts.state.tx.us
Or you may snail mail your letters to individual judges at:
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, P.O. Box 12308, Capitol Station, Austin Texas 78711
It is bad enough that appellate judges rewrite the Constitution to destroy your rights, now they want to rewrite the rules of evidence.

Continue reading

A reader asked me what the age of consent is in Texas. Great question. Let me begin by stating there is no section of the Texas Penal Code that defines “age of consent.” Rather, you have to begin in the Sexual Assault Provisions of the TPC.

§ 22.011. SEXUAL ASSAULT.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person: