Brian T. Hobson changed the law surrounding the 4th Amendment as it relates to searching passengers in a vehicle stopped by law enforcement. The First Court of Appeals ruled a passenger cannot be searched solely on the presence of a strong odor of marijuana in the vehicle. This blog breaks down the court’s decision, and the resulting change in the law.
This post shows an interview on ABC News following Wendell Odom’s not guilty by reason of insanity verdict in the Andrea Yates case.
A criminal defendant’s right to a speedy trial in the state of Texas is governed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Barker v. Wingo. Texas case law makes it imperative that lawyer’s take appropriate steps to preserve this right throughout the criminal process. This blog post examines the state of the speedy trial right in Texas, and the case law that details its scope.
The United States Constitution is a document which aims to limit the power of the federal government. In order to achieve this goal, the Constitution limits what the federal government can do by establishing a base line of rights for all persons in the United States. In criminal law, one of the most important base line rights given to persons by the Constitution is found in the 4th amendment. This blog post examines the fundamentals of the 4th Amendment.
The following cases highlight the threshold the prosecution must meet to justify a conviction for distribution of child pornography in cases involving the defendant’s use of a peer to peer network. The ultimate question is at what point does a person move from possession of child pornography to distribution of child pornography when using a file sharing program? This blog post examines that fine line, and the consequences for crossing it.
Over the last 25 years, Congress has been diligent in reviewing and revising the Federal Sentencing Guidelines relating to sentences following child pornography convictions. From 1987 to 2009, Congress revised the guidelines in this area nine times, and each revision resulted in longer sentences with heightened mandatory minimums. This blog post reviews the changes in the law, and the state of the law in 2015.