Texas

Capital murder trial begins for man accused of slaying bystander in shooting outside courthouse

Jury selection began Tuesday in the Galveston, Texas, capital murder trial for a man accused of slaying a bystander when he also shot family members outside the Jefferson County courthouse in Beaumont last year. Investigators say Bartholomew Granger shot Minnie Ray Sebolt, 79, outside the courthouse door as he was…

Apr 2, 2013 10:44 PM CDT

Search warrant seeks cellphone records in DA’s slaying; why did security detail leave?

A search warrant filed by the Texas Rangers seeks access to the cellphone records of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, who were found shot to death in their home on Saturday. The warrant also seeks records of all cellphone traffic near the couple’s home in…

Apr 2, 2013 1:00 PM CDT

Another Texas DA steps in to help 10-prosecutor office cope after Kaufman County DA is slain

In the wake of a weekend slaying of a Texas district attorney and his wife that has put law enforcement officials there and elsewhere on high alert, a district attorney from another jurisdiction has gone to Kaufman County to help the 10-prosecutor office cope with the situation. Randy Reynolds, who…

Apr 1, 2013 7:33 PM CDT

Texas DA and his wife are killed, two months after slaying of another prosecutor in his office

A second prosecutor in Texas’ Kaufman County has been shot to death along with his wife in their home about 20 miles east of Dallas. Authorities discovered the slain couple, District Attorney Mike McLelland, 63, and his wife Cynthia, 65, on Saturday at their rural home in Forney, report the…

Apr 1, 2013 12:21 PM CDT

Probe of Colo. prisons chief murder focuses on other slayings, possible gang involvement

A continuing investigation into the killing of the Colorado prisons superintendent is focusing on at least two questions: Whether the deceased suspect in the case, Evan Spencer Ebel, could be responsible for any other murders. And whether 211 Crew, the white supremacist gang of which Ebel was said to be…

Mar 29, 2013 6:22 PM CDT

Private lawyer to act as special prosecutor in county attorney’s domestic violence case

A private practitioner in Abilene, Texas, has been asked to act as a special prosecutor in a misdemeanor domestic violence case against Tom Green County Attorney Chris Taylor. The special prosecutor, attorney Kenneth Leggett said he had been asked to handle the Taylor case by Judge Charles Chapman. “I’m still…

Mar 29, 2013 4:45 PM CDT

After more than 25 years in business, ex-lawyer takes bar exam and resumes law practice

Jim Addams is practicing law once again at a Dallas law firm after a hiatus of more than 25 years. Addams, 64, is joining Shackelford, Melton & McKinley as of counsel, according to the Texas Lawyer’s Tex Parte Blog. He spent more than 25 years in the business world, most…

Mar 28, 2013 6:31 PM CDT

Baker Botts gets another $5.2M in litgation over $142M fee award in $6B bankruptcy case

After years of litigation, Baker Botts was awarded another $5.2 million in legal fees on Tuesday for defending its earlier $142 million fee award for representing a copper mining operation in a bankruptcy case. The law firm’s representation of Asarco LLC was part of a long-running legal battle that began…

Mar 28, 2013 6:13 PM CDT

As trial looms for ex-DA accused in RICO enterprise case, feds make new accusations

Federally indicted on corruption charges while he was still the sitting district attorney in Cameron County, Texas, a now-former prosecutor faces new allegations in a case in which he is accused of running his office as a racketeering enterprise. The case is allegedly part of a wider cash-for-court-favors and graft…

Mar 27, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

After leaping to DLA Piper from Hogan Lovells, 4 of 5 partners in energy group return to former firm

A little over a year after they left Hogan Lovells for DLA Piper, four of the five energy partners who made the high-profile move have headed back to their former law firm. Among the exiting group is Kevin Lipson, the co-chief of the energy practice both at DLA Piper and,…

Mar 26, 2013 9:59 PM CDT

LAPD to get tapes of defense lawyer talks with convicted ‘Charles Manson family’ killer

After months of litigation and two court rulings, it looks like the Los Angeles Police Department may be on the verge of getting hold of long-ago taped conversations between a now-deceased Texas defense lawyer and a member of the notorious Charles Manson “family” convicted in multiple 1969 murders that terrorized…

Mar 26, 2013 8:34 PM CDT

Sheriff says ballistics link gun in Texas traffic shootout with slaying of Colo. prisons chief

Ballistics evidence shows that the same gun used in a Texas shootout that began with a routine traffic stop was also used in the earlier slaying of the Colorado prisons superintendent at his home, authorities announced Monday afternoon. The El Paso County, Colo., sheriff’s office said shell casings in both…

Mar 25, 2013 9:24 PM CDT

Lawyer’s suicide may void his judicial bribery case conviction

Convicted last year in a judicial bribery case and sentenced to three and a half years, a South Texas lawyer may have cleared his conviction by committing suicide Feb. 28 as he was due to report to federal prison. Because Ray R. Marchan, 56, had an appeal pending at the…

Mar 25, 2013 7:16 PM CDT

Did man killed in Texas gunbattle have anything to do with slaying of Colo. prisons chief?

Authorities in Colorado and Texas say they are investigating whether a suspect killed after a high-speed chase, crash and shootout in Texas on Thursday has any connection to the slaying of the Colorado prisons superintendent at home earlier this week. The suspect, Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, was driving a black…

Mar 22, 2013 3:43 PM CDT

U of Texas regents OK external probe of law school funding

In a close vote after an unusually contentious meeting Wednesday, the board of regents for the University of Texas System voted 4-3 to approve an outside probe of a law school funding controversy. The controversy centers on some $5.5 million in loans provided by the University of Texas Law School…

Mar 20, 2013 9:16 PM CDT