Kaufman Bar Meeting- Elections and Insurance Disclosures
This past Wednesday was the final Kaufman County Bar meeting for 2009. What a difference a year makes. One year ago there was about a dozen lawyers at what was probably the 5th meeting of the year when Tracy Booker, myself, Keena Greling, and Lisa Gent were elected to office. Largely due to the hard work by President Booker and Secretary Greyling 2009 saw monthly meetings, each with CLE (and lots of those hard to get ethics hours) and a huge spike in attendance. Things are looking up, and more organized for the KC bar. So who will lead the KC bar into 2010? President- Keena Greling Vice President- Me Secretary- Prescot Smith Treasurer- Lisa Gent

Are Constable Raffles Illegal?
I was quoted in DMN today for an article on the Dallas Constables allegedly selling raffle tickets to finance their campaigns. My entire contribution, soup to nuts, was Robert Guest, a local criminal defense lawyer, said he believes the state's anti-gambling law prohibits elected officials from using raffles to raise campaign money. How did I come to that conclusion? It should come as no surprise that I've never actually represented someone for illegal raffling. Such prosecutions are rare. In fact, in my 6 years of law

I rather have a bottle in front of me than a LEO Phlebotomy
In an era of swine flu you would think that drawing blood in a jail, which are usually full of staph and other nasty bugs, would be verboten. Unfortunately police departments across Texas are giving cops a crash course in needle work and setting them loose to prey on the driving public. Does the Constitution provide any protection from police station blood draws? Or will we add yet another DWI exception to the Bill of Rights? This brings us to our case of the day from the Fort Worth Court of Appeals.

The Right To Skype The Witnesses Against You?- Dallas Court of Appeals Case of the Day
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right... to be confronted with the witnesses against him" 6th Amendment- US Constitution You know what I don't use. A web cam. I've never installed one at my office or home. My macbook has one built in but it's always off. I'm not sure I want the entire internet staring at me while I type in my pajamas. This bring me to our case of the day. What happens when a State's witness doesn't want to appear in person? Case- Acevedo vs. State- Facts- Acevedo was found guilty of murder. One witness, his sister, lived in Chicago and testified via web cam. Issue- Can a web cam satis

Hope and Change
Wow. It only took nine months but Barack Obama actually moved to limit federal power and increase State's rights. When Texas finally passes our MM laws (I'm guessing around 2109 after the other 49 states legalize), then our fellow Texans MM patients will not have to live in fear of federal, or state prosecution. The most bizarre response to this common sense move is from Bryan Fischer at GOP.com. Mr. Fischer argues that it's unconstitutional for Obama NOT to arrest MM patients who comply with State law? Frankly, it is unacceptable for a president to pick and choose which laws he wants to enfo