Blog Posts in 2018

Police Body Camera Footage: How It Can Aid Criminal Defense

In recent years, the use of body cameras by law enforcement has grown more and more commonplace. The main objectives were to protect residents from overly aggressive officers during arrests—especially after several cases of officer-involved shootings in the United States—and to shield police officers from any unfounded complaints by suspects and witnesses. Although these miniature cameras ...

Supreme Court Rules Warrant Needed to Track Cellphone Location Data

On June 22, the U.S. Supreme Court said law enforcement generally needs a search warrant if it wants to track a person’s location through cellphone records of an extended period of time. The ruling was 5-4 with Chief Justice Roberts joining the court’s four liberals. Now, the prosecution cannot obtain the location data of a suspect without written approval from a judge. This ruling comes in favor ...

Supreme Court Says Police Need Warrant to Search Vehicles at Private Homes

In an 8-1 vote last week, the U.S. Supreme Court said that law enforcement must have a warrant to search vehicles parked at private homes. This is the second time this month that the justices rejected arguments by police for expanding the “automobile exception” to Fourth Amendment rules against unreasonable searches and seizures. The case (Collins v. Virginia) arose from a search for a Virginia ...

Eligibility for Deferred Adjudication in Texas

On certain criminal cases in Texas, a defendant may be eligible for deferred adjudication as part of a plea deal. The main difference between pleading guilty through deferred adjudication and pleading guilty outright is that the judge presiding the case does not actually find the defendant guilty, resulting in no conviction (after successfully completing probation). Once the probation is complete, ...