Two recently filed federal lawsuits allege that Corpus Christi police violated the civil rights of two city residents by using excessive force, KRIS 6 has reported. One person died after an incident with police while the other was severely injured.
Two recently filed federal lawsuits allege that Corpus Christi police violated the civil rights of two city residents by using excessive force, KRIS 6 has reported. One person died after an incident with police while the other was severely injured.
Just last month, at least two federal lawsuits were filed against the City of Corpus Christi over alleged misbehavior by police officers.
Having a criminal record can hinder your ability to find work, apply for an apartment or home, and even to get a professional license. There are some cases in Texas Law that allow you to make a request for an expungement or sealing of your criminal history, so it won’t be visible to the general public in most circumstances. In Texas, an expungement (which can also be referred to as an “expunction”) and a record sealing have two different processes. Once both are applied, most potential employers who do background checks won’t be able to access this information. And in many cases, you won’t be obligated to disclose this information.
You might be able to expunge your criminal record if you were arrested for a misdemeanor or felony and if any of the following apply:
If you were arrested and was never charged for a crime, Texas Law requires you to wait for a certain period of time before you can apply for an expungement. The length of this period will depend on the seriousness of the crime. Here are the waiting periods for each of the qualified cases:
If you’re a close relative of a deceased person with a criminal record that can qualify for an expungement, you can have it done on this person’s behalf. The law defines this person as any of the following:
Be sure to speak to a qualified attorney for more information.
You can expunge any arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction, as well as any Class C Misdemeanors that received a deferred adjudication and has completed a community supervision. If you were found guilty, pleaded guilty, or entered a “no contest” to any offense that hasn’t been classified as a Class C Misdemeanor, it’s not eligible for an expungement. You can, however, apply for a non-disclosure if you were granted a deferred adjudication.
You might be able to expunge any juvenile offenses if they were misdemeanors that resulted in a fine and were committed before you were seventeen, were listed under the Alcoholic Beverage Code, or fell under the “Failure to Attend School” section of the Texas Education Code. You may not be eligible if you had multiple juvenile offenses or had an insufficient age during the time of your arrest. If you have convictions that aren’t eligible for an expungement, you might be able to apply for an Order of Non-Disclosure in certain circumstances. It doesn’t eliminate your criminal record, but it does keep it away from the public eye.
The following charges aren’t eligible for an expungement or a non-disclosure:
If you want more information about whether you qualify for an expungement, contact the Gale Law Group today!
Check out our criminal defense page for more.
A panel of judges that upheld reprimands against former Judge Guy Williams found his behavior both on and off the bench “cast public discredit on the judiciary.”
Williams on March 18 went before a special court of review to appeal two reprimands. In them, Williams stood accused of groping three women, including a sitting judge, making disparaging comments about Nueces County prosecutors and mishandling a family law case.
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Former judge Guy Williams spent nearly a decade on the bench in Nueces County but on Wednesday he found himself in court again with a half dozen police officers and firefighters ready to testify at his trial.
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Nueces County has an overdose death rate of 10.4 for every 10,000 people, which makes it one of the highest in Texas. Heroin and other opioids are becoming the primary drug being treated in Corpus Christi rehab centers. Fentanyl (which is a synthetic opioid) is becoming the most dangerous drug in the United States, and the Corpus Christi Police Department as well as local medical personnel get hundreds or overdose calls a year. While the opioid crisis has gained national attention, Corpus Christi has felt its effects as well.
Most people who become victims of opioid addiction either have had problems with their past or are having trouble dealing with the stresses of daily life. Drugs seem to be the only way to escape, and some of them started using when they were as young as ten years old. Some have had parents or loved ones who did drugs, and they turned to what they knew. People who have been abused as children can also be susceptible, because they see it as a way to cope.
Studies have shown that people who had a member of their immediate family do drugs are 50% more likely to become addicted themselves. But to many of them, it didn’t happen immediately. Marijuana is often considered to be the “gateway drug,” which has been the case for many people. It led them to do harder drugs, which is how they would manage to meet heroin — a drug that would numb the pain in a way that nothing else ever could.
Drug use often coincides with other mental illnesses (such as depression and anxiety), because it would give people a way to numb out the negative feelings that can seem overwhelming. They may have suffered abuse or some other childhood trauma, and they turn to drugs because the emotional pain is too much for them to bear.
The true severity of the opioid crisis in Corpus Christi is unknown because before a problem can be fixed, it first has to be identified. No one knows the real number of overdoses in the city, so they use the state database to report the number of overdose deaths. The Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation gives people overdose prevention kits in an effort to save someone who is going through opioid addiction, and some believe that the system being used by the county to classify overdose deaths needs to change.
A drug counselor for South Texas Substance Abuse Recovery Services says that Corpus Christi has a huge heroin problem, and it has been rising among young people who get hooked on benzos. The executive director of the Palmer Drug Abuse Program believes that there are approximately 1,000 overdose deaths in Corpus Christi every single year, and the CEO of Driscoll Children’s Hospital said that the system doesn’t do enough to identify what is considered to be a “public health problem.” If you’re not able to identify the issue, you won’t be able to fix it. And there isn’t enough data to determine the true magnitude of the opioid epidemic in Corpus Christi.
While heroin can have a devastating effect on someone’s life, it can influence society as a whole — especially when law enforcement is concerned. According to the head of CCPD’s narcotics and vice division, heroin is “one of the most prevalent drugs in Corpus Christi.” That’s why all CCPD officers have started to carry Narcan in case they run into an overdose situation. Law enforcement officers are also trying to slow down the heroin trade in the city, with 13 different agencies (including the Drug Enforcement Administration) working together to crack down on heroin dealers. With this coordinated effort, local authorities are hoping to make a proverbial dent in the city’s drug trade.
The problem, however, is that only 7% of people who need to be treated for addiction will get it. The typical waiting list for Charlie’s Place is about 20 days for people who want to participate in the program, which gives them plenty of time to change their minds. Drug addicts can be highly unpredictable. One day, they may want to get help because of a rock-bottom situation. The next day, they’re back on the streets doing what they have always done.
Nueces County has been seeking litigation against several pharmaceutical companies, because they believe that they have been putting pressure on local doctors to prescribe medications that are extremely addictive. Our city has the highest number of opioid-related deaths in the State of Texas. If you or a loved one has been a victim of this epidemic, Gale Law Group has a team of lawyers who would be happy to discuss your case.
To find out how you can get justice for an opioid-related death, get in touch with us today!
Check out our criminal defense page for more.
If you’re currently facing criminal charges, you could be subject to serious penalties (which can include jail time and expensive fines). Not to mention, the long-term consequences of having a criminal record. Before you’re ready for the courtroom, you need to have a defense strategy that you can use against the prosecutor. The most common criminal defense strategies fall under two main categories. Either you weren’t involved in the crime, or you shouldn’t be held responsible because of some additional circumstances.
Here are some common defense strategies that can be used in criminal cases.
You’re innocent until you’re proven guilty, which puts the burden of proof on the prosecution. They have to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. And if your criminal defense attorney can prove that you weren’t involved in the crime, you’ll be acquitted. No matter what type of evidence the prosecution presents in court, you need to find a way to discredit them by poking holes in their story.
An alibi is any evidence that shows a judge that you weren’t there when the crime was committed, which can be used in your favor. If you prove that you couldn’t be at the crime scene when it was committed, there’s no way that you can be found guilty.
If law enforcement officers found that a large group of people was involved in an assault or any activity that resulted in dangerous physical contact, they have to decide who will be charged and who will be let go. But because these kinds of cases can be confusing, they may not know how the altercation started. If you were involved in an assault because of self-defense, the court could mistake it as an act of aggression (which could result in a criminal charge). Your criminal defense attorney will have to prove that you had a physical altercation because you felt like you were in imminent danger.
Law enforcement officers can mistake consensual activities as a crime, which can result in a charge. And while consent can be used as a criminal defense strategy in some cases, it doesn’t always play an important role in getting an acquittal.
This type of defense strategy may be used if you can prove it to a judge. The legal definition of insanity is when someone has “the inability to distinguish right from wrong,” but proving it in court is harder than you think. You need to present evidence from a psychiatrist of healthcare professional to prove that your action were the result of insanity, and you could face rehabilitation instead of treatment. So, an insanity plea won’t mean that you found the proverbial golden ticket.
This type of defense strategy won’t work in a DUI case, but it could be used in a similar way to an insanity plea for other types of charges. If you committed a crime while you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol and can prove that you weren’t in the proper mental state, you could reduce your charges and get a lighter sentence. However, you shouldn’t rely on this defense for an acquittal.
Law enforcement officers will often go undercover to find people who commit crimes, but they may go too far so they can make an arrest. This tactic can backfire if the entrapment defense is used. It’s the act of coercing someone to commit a crime, which can be done to force an arrest. If a law enforcement officer forces someone to sell a controlled substance, this person may not be convicted on the grounds of entrapment.
You can try to come up with a criminal defense strategy on your own, but there may be some part of your case that can be used to your advantage. Gale Law Group has a team of criminal defense attorneys who can help you in court. We’ll look at every part of your case, and we’ll come up with a strategy that will give you the best chance for acquittal. That’s why we’re one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the Coastal Bend.
If you want to work with a criminal defense attorney in Corpus Christi, TX that can get the job done right, get in touch with us today!
Check out our criminal defense page for more.
A short exchange between law enforcement and a man accused of strangling a woman will not be shown at trial.
Trinidad Perez is charged in the death if Yvonne Villanueva, whose body was found stuffed in the back of a couch near Petronila. According to an affidavit, she was strangled during an argument.
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The Texas Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by a former Nueces County prosecutor who said he was fired for refusing an illegal order to hide evidence favorable to a criminal defendant.
Read the full article here:
https://www.statesman.com/news/20190315/texas-supreme-court-justices-call-for-beefed-up-michael-morton-act
During a daylong hearing a panel of three appellate judges called a special court of review heard testimony related to two reprimands handed down against Williams in December. His attorneys Chris Gale and Amie Augenstein appealed the decision….