Sex Offender Registration Under Texas Law (Part 2 of 2) What are the Registration Requirements for Sex Offenders? Chapter 62 of the Texas CCP sets out the many requirements for maintaining registered sex offender status. Among other requirements, a sex offender must abide by certain information reporting requirements, notify law enforcement of any changes in…
Exigent Circumstances The exigent circumstances doctrine is most commonly used to justify warrantless entries into homes. Courts are more willing to scrutinize the justification for a warrantless entry into the home because of the degree of the invasion of privacy. A search based upon exigent circumstances requires both probable and an emergency including: hot pursuit;…
A petition for nondisclosure is the procedure through which a person can have certain aspects of his or her criminal record shielded from public view. As of September 15, 2015, the law related to petitions for nondisclosure in Texas has changed. Importantly, the changes do not apply to offenses that occurred before September 15, 2015. Filing Fee…
Part I of this post discussed the new automatic nondisclosure of certain misdemeanors. Another significant change in Texas nondisclosure law is eligibility for nondisclosure of probation in some instances. Nondisclosure of Probation in Texas In the past, only successfully completed terms of deferred adjudication were eligible for nondisclosure. Under the new law, probation (which is…
Part I of this post discussed the new automatic nondisclosure of certain misdemeanors. Part II of this post discussed petitions for nondisclosure of misdemeanor probation. As of September 15, 2015, Texas law now permits courts to grant nondisclosure of some misdemeanors for which a defendant received a jail sentence. Nondisclosure of Convictions with Jail Sentences…
As a criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor, I have been asked by a number of friends and civil law colleagues about my thoughts on the Netflix series, Making a Murderer. Disclaimer: this is an editorial – these are my opinions with which you may agree or disagree. Though I have years of experience in…
Deferred adjudication is a form of community supervision (like probation) that a judge may impose after a plea of guilty or no contest. A person who is placed on deferred adjudication is generally subject to terms and conditions including monthly reporting to a probation officer, random drug testing, and community service. Terms of deferred adjudication…