Texas

Fasting After Life Term in Child Bride Sex-Assault, Warren Jeffs Is Now in Coma, Expected to Recover

Sentenced to life earlier this month in a Texas sex-assault case concerning a child bride, the leader of a fringe polygamous religious sect is in a medically induced coma as a result of post-sentencing fast but expected to recover. Prison officials said Warren Jeffs, 55, was not on a hunger…

Aug 30, 2011 5:22 PM CDT

Federal Judge Invites Lawyers to Court ‘Kindergarten Party’ Focusing on Remedial Discovery Skills

Updated: A federal judge in Austin, Texas, has served notice on local lawyers that they would be well-advised to try harder to get along. In a Friday court order, he issues a mandatory invitation to two apparently squabbling members of the bar to attend what is described as a “kindergarten…

Aug 29, 2011 11:13 PM CDT

Juror Held in Contempt, Gets Community Service for Effort to Friend Defendant on Facebook

In what a prosecutor in Tarrant County, Texas, says is the first such matter of its kind there, a juror in a civil auto accident case has been held in contempt for trying to friend the defendant on Facebook and discussing the case on his Facebook page. Jonathan Hudson, 22,…

Aug 29, 2011 7:55 PM CDT

Texas Supreme Court Upholds Nude Dancing Customer Fee

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that a law requiring nude dancing establishments to pay a fee of $5 per customer does not violate the First Amendment. The fee has been dubbed a “pole tax,” the Austin Legal blog reports. The ruling today overturns an intermediate appeals court that found…

Aug 26, 2011 4:28 PM CDT

Another Attorney Charged in RICO Case, Accused of Paying Texas Judge for Rulings

An Austin attorney has been federally indicted concerning his alleged role in a Texas court corruption scheme in which a former state district judge and two other lawyers have already taken pleas. Marc Garrett Rosenthal, 49, is accused in a 13-count indictment unsealed yesterday of paying ex-Judge Abel Corral Limas…

Aug 23, 2011 5:51 PM CDT

Perry Nomination Could Motivate Trial Lawyers to Spend Big Bucks on Obama

Trial lawyers are already gearing up to oppose Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry. The Texas governor presided over several rounds of tort reform, and that makes him unpopular with the trial bar, Politico reports. “Among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred—and fear—as Perry,”…

Aug 22, 2011 4:37 PM CDT

Texas Lawyer Reportedly Begins Day Badly: Her Lexus U-Turns into Patch of Wet Concrete

A Texas lawyer seemingly did not have a good start to her day yesterday. A dark Lexus registered to the unidentified woman made a U-turn during rush hour into a patch of wet concrete that road workers had just put down in Houston. News of the incident, which stranded the…

Aug 17, 2011 11:29 PM CDT

Burleson Opens New Office in Denver

A rapidly expanding Houston-based energy law firm announced today that is has opened an office in Denver. It is the third new office for Burleson in the past two years, the not-quite-100-attorney firm said in a press release. It will be headed by Jack R. Luellen, who formerly practiced at…

Aug 17, 2011 5:57 PM CDT

Texas Lawyer Convicted in Internet Paramour Extortion Scheme Is Permanently Disbarred

A Texas lawyer convicted in an Internet paramour extortion scheme has been permanently disbarred. The Legal Profession Blog notes the disbarment order for San Antonio lawyer Mary Roberts, whose conviction was affirmed by a Texas appeals court in January. According to prosecutors, Roberts posted Internet ads claiming to be “full…

Aug 16, 2011 12:02 PM CDT

Police Find $838K in Storage Locker of Disbarred Lawyer Who Sued over Past Cash Stash

Delaware police say they found $838,000 and two guns in a disbarred lawyer’s storage locker and $12,000 in his Chevy Tahoe on Saturday. The former lawyer, 66-year-old John Kennedy, was arrested at a Motel 6 after Wilmington police learned he was wanted in Texas on a charge of practicing law…

Aug 15, 2011 12:11 PM CDT

Appellate Lawyers Challenged to Write Twitter-Length Briefs

Texas appellate lawyers are being challenged to write a Twitter-length brief in 140 characters or less. The State Bar of Texas Appellate Section is holding the Twitter brief competition for lawyers attending its annual meeting in September, according to the Texas Lawyer blog Tex Parte. Anne Johnson, who co-chairs the…

Aug 15, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

South Texas Attorney Takes Plea in Corrupt-Judge Case

A Texas attorney has taken a plea in a judicial corruption case. Jose Martin “Joe” Valle, 54, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Brownsville to aiding and abetting extortion by former State District Judge Abel Limas, according to the Brownsville Herald and the San Antonio Express-News. The case concerned…

Aug 11, 2011 8:03 PM CDT

9 1/2 Years Lopped Off 10-Year Sentence Because State Turned Away Convicted Child Molester

A convicted child molester who tried without success to turn himself in 16 years ago won’t have to serve his 10-year sentence. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday on behalf of Stanley Blackwell, the one-time owner of an Austin funeral home, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The court said…

Aug 11, 2011 11:59 AM CDT

Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs Gets Life in Child-Sex-Assault Case

A Texas jury today deliberated only half an hour today before sentencing the leader of a splinter religious group today to a life prison term for the sexual assault of a 12-year-old child bride. The life sentence for Warren Jeffs, 55, will be followed by a consecutive 20-year term for…

Aug 9, 2011 5:45 PM CDT

Caught in Cocaine Sting Set Up By Client, Ex-Prosecutor Takes Plea, Gets Probation

Corrected: A former prosecutor in Bexar County, Texas, pleaded no contest to a felony drug charge yesterday as his trial for purchasing crack cocaine was about to begin. However, Gammon Guinn, 56, can avoid having the conviction on his record if he successfully completes his sentence of deferred adjudication probation,…

Aug 9, 2011 12:41 PM CDT