Texas

Country’s Largest Prison Cemetery Is ‘Quiet Green Oasis’ in Texas

A 22-acre spread in Huntsville, Texas, is the burial ground for thousands of inmates whose bodies were never claimed by their families. The Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery is the country’s largest prison graveyard, the New York Times reports. It first opened in the mid-1800s, but its current name honors an…

Jan 6, 2012 11:30 AM CST

Chemerinsky on 3 Texas Election Cases with Potential for ‘Enormous’ Consequences

Three election cases from Texas, with potentially enormous legal and political consequences, will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 9. The immediate issue in Perry v. Perez, Perry v. Davis and Perry v. Perez is: which plan should be used to delineate voting districts in races for the…

Jan 3, 2012 2:40 PM CST

Onetime Billionaire Allen Stanford Is Competent for $7B Fraud Trial, Judge Rules

A onetime Texas billionaire who has been imprisoned as a flight risk since 2009 is competent to stand trial next month in a $7 billion fraud case, a federal judge in Houston ruled today. Although experts for R. Allen Stanford, 61, said he suffers from amnesia and other mental impairments…

Dec 22, 2011 9:15 PM CST

Jury Awards Record $150B in Boy’s Burning Case; Family Says Prosecution, Not Money, Is What’s Needed

Updated: The parents of a young man who was severely burned at age 8 and died of a related skin cancer 13 years later won $370 million in compensatory damages and $150 billion in punitive damages from a Texas jury this week. The amount is a record in a personal…

Dec 21, 2011 2:41 PM CST

Is Onetime Texas Billionaire Faking Memory Loss to Avoid Trial in $7B Alleged Fraud?

R. Allen Stanford is scheduled to go to trial in January in an alleged $7 billion fraud in which investors were duped into buying so-called certificates of deposit at an offshore bank that are now worth next to nothing. But the former Texas billionaire isn’t competent to defend himself, he…

Dec 20, 2011 7:12 PM CST

‘Extraordinary Legal Event’ Unfolds as Man Exonerated of Wife’s Murder Seeks to Hold DA Accountable

Michael Morton spent nearly 25 years in prison for murdering his wife before Texas authorities finally tested DNA evidence and determined that another man was responsible for the slaying. Formally exonerated by a Texas judge today, Morton is asking, through his lawyers, to try to hold accountable the prosecutor he…

Dec 19, 2011 9:57 PM CST

14-Lawyer Vinson & Elkins Public Finance Group to Join Bracewell & Giuliani as Partners

A 14-lawyer public finance practice group from Vinson & Elkins will be joining Bracewell & Giuliani in January as partners, their new firm announced today. The group, which also does tax and muncipal securities work, may be joined at Bracewell by additional Vinson & Elkins lawyers in counsel and associate…

Dec 13, 2011 3:26 PM CST

Embattled Texas Lawyer Files Slander Suit Against Suspended Family Court Judge

Corrected: An embattled Texas lawyer is suing a now-suspended family law judge who presided over a contentious custody case the lawyer was involved in, alleging that the judge slandered him in a text message to the judge’s ex-wife. Corpus Christi lawyer David Sibley, who filed suit Friday against suspended Aransas…

Dec 12, 2011 8:38 PM CST

Judge Blasts ‘Spectacularly Incompetent’ Lawyers After Man With Iron-Clad Alibi Is Convicted

Convicted and sentenced to life last month, LaDondrell Montgomery had insisted all along that he wasn’t the man identified by eyewitnesses to an armed robbery. But a Texas jury didn’t believe him and found the 36-year-old guilty in the Harris County case. Yesterday, his conviction was reversed and State District…

Dec 9, 2011 7:32 PM CST

Ex-Office Manager Sues 2 Lawyers for Barratry, Says She Was Fired for Refusing to Solicit Cases

In what may be the first such case brought under a tough new Texas anti-barratry law, a former office manager has sued the two attorneys for whom she formerly worked, seeking damages for allegedly being pressured to solicit business for the firm. Mary Uribe says she was fired after refusing…

Dec 8, 2011 12:59 AM CST

Accused of Evading Arrest, Man Disappeared During Trial, Now Faces New Bail-Jumping Charge

A Texas man on trial in an evading-arrest case now faces a new charge after failing to show up for closing arguments. David Lacroix, 46, was found guilty in absentia in the Montgomery County case and charged with bail-jumping, reports KTRK, an ABC affiliate. The latter charge, if he is…

Dec 7, 2011 8:54 PM CST

Man Sues Fertility Clinic, Claims Ex-Girlfriend Used Stolen Sperm to Get Pregnant

A New York man claims in a lawsuit against a Texas fertility clinic that his ex-girlfriend used in-vitro fertilization to get pregnant with sperm from their used condoms. The plaintiff, telecommunications manager Joseph Pressil, tells the New York Post he learned about the scheme last February when he got a…

Nov 28, 2011 3:27 PM CST

County Attorney to Be Reprimanded by Texas Bar on 1 of 24 Grievances; 23 Will Be Dismissed

A Texas county attorney who faced 24 grievances after a run-in with the county commissioners and a local judge has settled a Texas State Bar complaint by agreeing to accept a public reprimand on one grievance. The other 23 grievances against Williamson County Attorney Jana Duty will be dismissed, reports…

Nov 23, 2011 9:26 PM CST

Jury Convicts Texas Judge in Bribery Case; Campaign Donors Allegedly Expected Favorable Rulings

A Texas judge was convicted yesterday of multiple counts of bribery and other crimes, in a case focused on 2008 campaign donations from individuals who allegedly expected favorable rulings in a family court matter, in exchange for the money. District Judge Suzanne Wooten, 43, testified that she knew nothing about…

Nov 23, 2011 9:02 PM CST

Texas Supreme Court Suspends Judge Shown Beating Daughter in YouTube Video

The Texas Supreme Court has suspended the judge whose videotaped beating of his daughter was captured on a video posted recently on YouTube. The paid suspension was made public on Tuesday, report CNN and the Associated Press. William Adams went on leave in early November after his daughter, now 23…

Nov 23, 2011 3:37 PM CST