Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

September 18, 2008

Email Spying Hypocrisy

Ok. This isn’t going to become a fulltime Sarah Palin blog. But this speaks as to what is wrong with government.

Someone hacked Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account. Here is a quote from wired.com

“This is a shocking invasion of the Governor’s privacy and a violation of law,” Rick Davis, McCain-Palin campaign manager said in a statement. “The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them. We will have no further comment.”

September 17, 2008

Kaufman County Bar Meeting- DWI Court

by Robert Guest

The Kaufman County Bar met today. The luncheon was held at Maples Hall, a restored building from 1890 that you can rent for gatherings. It’s an amazing structure and I highly recommend it. If you are in Kaufman, and need to meet for any reason, use Maples Hall.

Kaufman DWI Court

Kaufman is instituting a new DWI court program. What is DWI court? Basically, it’s a new way for our criminal justice system to address addiction. The old way of addressing addiction- incarceration, has not proven effective at changing behavior. An alcoholic who leaves jail is still an alcoholic.

September 17, 2008

Law Firm SEO #1 Google Search Ranking!

by Robert Guest

Nary a day goes by without a phone call or email from an SEO company. SEO stands for search engine optimization. SEO companies promise that they can get your law firm site ranked in the top 5 for attorney google searches. To be fair, I use Justia which designs and markets my blog and website. They don’t spam or splog to achieve results.

I’m often asked how I get readers, or how I got my blog to rank high on Google searches. I’m not afraid to share the secret. I’ve been blogging nearly every day for 18 months. I’ve had over 96,000 visitors and over 160,000 page views. I regularly add new material and my posts are linked on other prominent blogs. That’s the big secret. The web is a meritocracy, if the public likes your content it rises to the top. If you don’t produce relevant and popular content, you aren’t going to be prominent.

How do SEO companies work? Basically by tricking Google with phony links.

September 16, 2008

2007- A New High (and low) For Marijuana Arrests

by Robert Guest

The federal propagandists who argue for marijuana prohibition claim that marijuana consumers are not a burden on the criminal justice system. The numbers tell a different story. Last year 827,721 persons were arrested for marijuana possession.

What The Cops Aren’t Working On

If those numbers aren’t embarrassing enough then consider the millions of police officer/prosecutor hours wasted, and the billions spent incarcerating, warehousing, and processing these defendants. I often blog about the opportunity costs of the drug war.

September 15, 2008

Stumbling Upon Sarah Palin and Writer’s Block

by Robert Guest

Blogging success can bring about trepidation. Case in point. My Sarah Palin post was linked on StumbleUpon.com. As a result, I have had over 20,000 readers in 3 days.

Many readers would be surprised to learn that my site doesn’t usually average 6,000 readers a day. It’s true. This influx of readership has left me wanting to write another blockbuster post. I’ve been waiting for inspiration for the perfect follow up post and….. nothing.

Forced writing is usually the worst. So, instead of delving right back into election commentary I’ll just point out other great blog posts that deserve your attention.

September 11, 2008

Sarah Palin Smoked Legal Marijuana, Why Can’t You?

by Robert Guest

GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin is an ex marijuana consumer. Mrs. Palin smoked her pot in Alaska, which her campaign points out was legal in Alaska at the time. This is a curious defense as John McCain is an advocate for the federal arrest and prosecution of medical marijuana patients and providers who operate legally under California law.

Like any good politician Mrs. Palin she now claims she didn’t enjoy her marijuana, and that adults (besides her) should still be arrested, even though she wasn’t.

“‘I can’t claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled.'” The paper quoted Palin as saying she opposed legalization of marijuana because of the “message” that would be sent to her children.

September 10, 2008

Special Rule of [Attorney Client] Privilege in Criminal Cases- Dead or Alive?

by Robert Guest

The Court of Criminal Appeal’s web site shows that an order deleting the special rule of attorney client privileges in criminal cases was signed on September 1st. (Click on the Order Amending Texas Rules of Evidence and Appellate Procedure Effective September 1, 2008 [pdf]).

This would be a surprise since in July COCA promised to table this deletion for at least 6 months. However, I can’t tell if COCA really deleted this important protection, or merely forget to update their website. Only time will tell. I tried checking the Texas Register with no luck.

To recap- earlier this year COCA proposed to delete this rule that has protected Texans since 1856. Texas Rule of Evidence 503(b)(2)

September 8, 2008

Obstructing a Highway

by Robert Guest

You are charged with DWI. You look good on the video, you refuse to blow, and you have no record. The State offers you a plea bargain in which they will dismiss the DWI if you plead guilty to Obstructing a Highway.

What is obstructing a highway?

OAH is a class B misdemeanor in Texas. It is the same level of offense as a DWI but lacks the $1,000+ driver’s license tax upon conviction. It is also the most frequently pled to charge in a DWI case, other than DWI.

September 6, 2008

MADD meets in Dallas

by Robert Guest

MADD is having a meeting in Dallas. Needless to say they are having a fit over the idea that 18-20 shouldn’t be criminally prosecuted for drinking.

Here is a great quote from MADD’s president, Laura Dean-Mooney,

This is not about rights and responsibilities. It’s about public health and safety.

Laura exhibits the myopic zeal common among petty tyrants. She vows to keep her child from attending any school where officials endorse changing our nation’s failed drinking age laws. To Dean-Mooney and her ilk ignorance and criminal prosecution are the only way to teach young adults how to use alcohol responsibly. This explains MADD’s shameful practice of arguing for the prosecution of our nation’s soldiers who dare to drink on base. Teetotallers have no use for rights, freedom or responsibility- all that matters is their definition of public safety.

September 6, 2008

Case of the Day- Dallas Court of Appeals

by Robert Guest

The police pull you over for speeding. The officer checks your criminal history and you have some old drug convictions. The officer thinks you look “nervous” and ask to search your car. You say no. The cop calls for the drug dog and 30 minutes later finds 200 grams of meth. Is that a legal search?

Such are the facts of The State of Texas, Appellant v. Gregory Daivd Pierce, Appellee. This is an unpublished opinion, but still a useful example of search and seizure. The trial court suppressed the search and all the evidence (drugs) founds. The State appealed and the Dallas Court of Appeals affirmed that the search was indeed illegal.

“But they found drugs!! A lot of drugs!”