Houston Criminal Defense Attorney

Serious Criminal Defense in Federal and State Courts
Houston, Harris County, Throughout Texas and the U.S.A

Top Criminal Lawyer 2008, 2009 -HTexas

Phone:713-224-0101       Toll Free:866-374-1327
E-mail: JF@criminal-lawyer-houston-texas.com

News and comments about Criminal Issues

December 15, 2009

SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES: THE RIGHT TO PRESENT A DEFENSE EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATED

Defense Attorneys Fight Prosecutors Prejudicing the Jury with Extraneous Acts, Wrong, Crimes

By:   Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

It is the firm belief of among defense attorneys that a criminal defendant should only have to defend against the charge leveled in a charging instrument: a bill of information or a grand jury indictment. But that is not the case in nearly every sexual assault case, especially those involving children. more...

December 8, 2009

MORE EVIDENCE OF BAD EVIDENCE

Criminal Defense Attorneys Must Request and Analyze Procedures for Testing, Accepted Protocols and Handling of Forensic Evidence

By: Houston Criminal Attorney John T. Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

A criminal defense attorney’s worst nightmare is that the prosecution will rely upon bad evidence to convict his/her client. Defending against relevant, admissible evidence is difficult enough, but there is no real defense against shoddy law enforcement’s collection, processing, and storage of the evidence the prosecution will rely upon in criminal cases. The Houston City Police Department (“HPD”) has a long, sordid history of destroying, botching, and even manufacturing false evidence in criminal cases. The HPD crime lab had to be shut down by the Mayor’s Office in 2002 in the wake of disclosures that lab analysts had mishandled DNA evidence, destroyed evidence, and misrepresented evidence in criminal trials. The fallout from the crime lab scandal still reverberates in our criminal justice system with the exoneration of at least six individuals. more...

December 3, 2009

TRYING KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMAD IN FEDERAL COURT IS NOT END OF WORLD

Federal Trials Open to the Public, for Terrorism Cases Support American Constitutional Concepts of Fair Trials, Justice

By Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

While there are many security and legal problems associated with major terrorism trials conducted in federal courts in the United States, Republican critics of the Obama administration’s decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (“KSM”) in a New York federal court have methodically spread unnecessary fear in order to politicize that decision. What may be good for the country, much less our legal system, does not factor into their conservative political agenda to undermine the Obama presidency at every turn. It’s tantamount to an irresponsible lunatic standing up in a crowded theater and hollering “fire” just to see how much panic and chaos he can cause. more...

November 29, 2009

TEXAS FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMISSION LACKS CREDIBILITY

Governor’s Sacking of Commission’s Head Stalls Review of Junk Science Convictions

By:  Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

The Texas Legislature created the Forensic Science Commission (“FSC”) in 2005 to investigate what the Texas Monthly called “scientific negligence and misconduct.” The legislature acted following the February 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham and the October 2004 decision by Pecos County District Attorney Ori White to free Ernest Willis from capital murder charges. Willingham and Willis had both been convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for murders they allegedly committed by setting fires to dwellings in which five people were killed—two women in Willis’ case and Willingham’s three young daughters. more...

November 21, 2009

IS OSAMA BIN LADEN A TERRORIST OR AN “UNPRIVILEGED BELLIGERENT”?

Politics as Usual: Republicans Desperately Seek Outrage to be Relevant

By:  Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently appeared before a U.S. Senate committee hearing to explain his decision to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and his four co-conspirators, in federal civilian court rather than let them be tried before a military commission under the 2009 Military Commissions Act. There were a number of sharp, biting exchanges between Holder and Republican senators, all of whom have joined ranks in a calculated political agenda to oppose the Obama administration not only on this decision but any decision it makes on any front. more...

November 18, 2009

THE AGONIZING GITMO DILEMMA

Enemy Combatant Cases in Federal Courts Chart Uncertain Path

By Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

On January 22, 2009, just days after assuming the presidency, Barak Obama announced that he would close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility where hundreds “suspected terrorists” have been held for years without trial under an official Bush-administration created designation “enemy combatant.” Civil libertarians and prominent constitutional scholars have long advocated the closure of the facility while political conservatives have fought hard in the trenches to keep the internationally-criticized torture facility open. more...