A shrimp company told a Texas federal court that its insurer cannot duck its bid for coverage of losses it says it incurred when an attorney misappropriated bail money meant for…
Read the full article here: https://www.law360.com/insurance-authority/articles/1605837/insurer-can-t-duck-bail-money-coverage-suit-court-told
While both sound like something that the IRS would frown upon, tax evasion and tax avoidance are two different things. Tax avoidance refers to the use of legitimate methods to reduce your tax liability, while tax evasion involves the use of deception and other fraudulent activities to do the same. While some taxpayers knowingly perform tax evasion, others fall for the promise that a “third party” can reduce the amount of taxes they owe. The IRS often catches people involved in these schemes and will sometimes find their clients to be guilty of evading their taxes.
The process of “tax avoidance” involves the use of tax deductions, credits, and adjustments for which you are legally eligible. Most taxpayers do it, and there’s nothing wrong with it. The government created these methods to help qualified taxpayers to lower their tax liability.
Tax deductions can be used to lower your taxable income. So when you take them, you can reduce the amount you will have to pay. Some of the common tax deductions can include but may not be limited to:
You can also choose between an itemized deduction or taking the standard deduction.
Tax credits can help you to lower your tax bill “dollar-for-dollar.” Taking them will reduce the amount of tax you owe on your income. Some of them are also referred to as “refundable,” which means that they can increase your tax refund if the amount of the credit is greater than the amount of remaining taxes you owe. There are a number of tax credits related to children and dependents that are commonly used (such as the child tax credit). There are also tax credits related to education, student loan interest, and even green energy.
When it comes to tax fraud, most people think of large corporations that cheat on their taxes or identity thieves who file fraudulent returns, but the same is true for tax evasion (which refers to the intentional and illegal attempt to not pay or underpay taxes). You may not even realize you’re evading your taxes. If you have a nanny, housekeeper, or yard maintenance person that you pay in cash, you may have to send them a W-2 every year for the purpose of tax reporting. Otherwise, it could be considered a form of tax evasion if their wages are considered to be payroll tax payments.
You can also get in trouble by ignoring overseas income. It doesn’t matter where you earned your money. If you’re a US citizen (or even a US person), the IRS always gets a cut. Any money you earned abroad (such as wages, tips, consultancy fees, alimony, capital gains, rental income, and gambling winning) can be taxed. Even if you have a foreign bank account that’s earning interest, you need to report it to the IRS. Not paying it can lead to your passport being revoked.
One of the most common forms of tax evasion is claiming deductions and credits for which you’re not legally eligible, but it can also involve the following:
If you knowingly or mistakenly under-reported your taxable income, you can file an amended return for previous years. If you have already corrected the problem, the IRS is less likely to pursue you for tax fraud. Some taxpayers could end up being guilty by association if they worked with a tax preparer who got arrested for tax evasion.
Tax evasion is considered a criminal offense that can come with severe penalties, which can include time in jail. You never want to claim benefits for which you don’t qualify, and you want to make sure that anyone who prepares your taxes uses honest methods to reduce your taxable income. The IRS also knows the difference between a mistake and an act of fraud, so you don’t have to worry if you made an error. Before they can charge you with tax evasion, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division has to prove that you willfully committed the offense.
If you’re facing tax evasion charges and are looking for a criminal defense attorney in Corpus Christi to help you with your case, be sure to get in touch with Gale Law Group.
County commissioner talks next steps in lawsuit against Nueces County District Attorney
Judge threatens change of venue in case seeking to remove Nueces County District Attorney
DA Gonzalez files motion to dismiss the petition to remove him from office
Mark Gonzalez responds to petition to oust him, calls it ‘hearsay’
Approximately 32 people in the United States die in drunk-driving accidents every single day, which is one person every 45 minutes. In 2020, 11,654 people died in an alcohol-related traffic accident, which was a 14% increase from 2019. all of them could have been prevented. Driving a car is an important part of modern life. But when people drink before they get behind the wheel, it can become a serious crime. DUI-related accidents take the lives of thousands of people every year, but it can also lead to steep fines and even jail time.
Some of the important DUI statistics in the State of Texas include the following:
In Texas, someone gets hurt or killed in a drunk driving accident approximately every 20 minutes. This illustrates how serious the problem is and why it’s so important to educate people about it. Driving after having a few drinks may seem like a casual mistake, but it can literally be a matter of life and death.
Alcohol can lower the function of the brain. This can impair your thinking, reasoning, and muscle coordination. All of these abilities are important for the safe operation of a motor vehicle. As alcohol levels rise in your system, the negative effects it can have on your central nervous system will increase. It’s absorbed directly through the walls of your stomach and small intestine. It then moves into your bloodstream, where it will accumulate until it’s metabolized by the liver.
A person’s alcohol level is measured by the weight of the alcohol in a specific volume of blood. This number is called Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). When it gets to .08 grams of alcohol per deciliter (g/dL) of blood, your risk of getting into a crash will increase exponentially (which is why it’s illegal in all 50 states). But even a small amount of alcohol can affect your driving ability.
Here is a breakdown of all the BAC levels and how it can affect you:
Driving after consuming alcohol is deadly, but it keeps happening across the United States. If you drive while you’re impaired, you could get arrested. You may even be involved in a traffic accident that will lead to serious injury or death.
If you’re facing DUI charges and are looking for a criminal defense attorney in Corpus Christi to help you with your case, be sure to get in touch with Gale Law Group.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Now that Nueces County Attorney Jenny Dorsey is the lead attorney in a petition to remove Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez from office, the visiting judge in the case is giving her two weeks to re-present the petition in her own words.
Petition to remove Nueces County district attorney to be amended; second hearing coming
https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/mark-gonzalez/2023/03/08/petition-to-remove-nueces-county-district-attorney-to-be-amended/69949089007/
District Attorney Mark Gonzalez asks Nueces County to pay legal fees in removal petition
https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/mark-gonzalez/2023/03/22/gonzalez-asks-nueces-county-to-pay-legal-fees-in-da-removal-petition/70037670007/
Lots of articles last month about a high profile case involving the current District Attorney Mark Gonzalez. Stay tuned for developments!
Nueces County District Attorney appears in court as defendant
https://www.kristv.com/news/local-news/nueces-county-district-attorney-appears-in-court-as-defendant
Nueces county attorney re-files petition to remove DA Mark Gonzalez
https://www.kristv.com/homepage-showcase/nueces-county-attorney-re-files-petition-to-remove-da-mark-gonzalez
If you’re facing criminal charges in Texas, it would be in your best interest to contact a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible because it will make sure your rights and freedoms will be protected. A lot of people don’t understand the role that this person plays in their case. So, if you have been arrested because you were suspected of a crime, you should speak to a criminal defense attorney in Corpus Christi immediately.
Some of the things that a criminal defense attorney will do to help your case will include the following:
If you’re looking for a criminal defense attorney in Corpus Christi that can help you with your case, be sure to reach out to Gale Law Group.
Some of the advantages of hiring a criminal defense attorney will include the following:
It’s always in your best interests to hire a qualified attorney to help you with your case, so you can get your life back to normal. If you’re looking for one of the best criminal defense lawyers in Corpus Christi, be sure to get in touch with Gale Law Group.
Everyone has heard the phrase, “You have the right to remain silent.” It’s often followed by, “Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law.” Most of us have heard these words in movies or on TV, and some have heard them in real life. These words are part of what is referred to as the Miranda warning. While most people are familiar with it, many of them don’t know how important it is to invoke their right to remain silent after they have been taken into custody.
The right to remain silent is protected by the U.S. Constitution. In a lot of cases, invoking this right can help you to fight your charges and avoid a conviction. If you have been arrested for any criminal offense, you should speak to a qualified attorney as soon as possible. This person will make sure you understand your rights so you don’t incriminate yourself.
The Fifth Amendment protects American citizens from incriminating themselves both during and after an arrest. In Miranda vs. Arizona, the Supreme Court ruled that any arrested person can’t be questioned by the police until they’re aware of their right to remain silent. Officers are legally required to read your Miranda rights when you’re taken into custody. This includes informing you of the following:
If a police officer doesn’t read your Miranda rights, any statements you make during an interrogation can’t be used as admissible evidence in your case.
According to Federal Law, police officers are legally required to give you a Miranda warning when they take you into custody and ask you questions during an interrogation. You’re considered to be “in custody” when you’re not free to leave. If you’re not in custody, the office isn’t required to read your Miranda rights. A lot of people don’t understand when they’re actually in police custody, which is why they may feel pressured to answer questions being asked by officers. That’s why you should ask the officer if you’re free to leave.
In most cases, it’s in your best interests to cooperate with law enforcement. But, there’s a difference between cooperation and incrimination. The police may force you to make incriminating statements, which is why you need to know when to invoke your right to remain silent.
If the police stop you, keeping quiet and refusing to answer the officer’s questions can look suspicious. It may be best to answer any questions unless it can be used as incriminating evidence. But if an officer arrests you and takes you into custody, you should exercise your right to remain silent. You also want to use your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by not answering any questions until your lawyer is present.
If you want to invoke your right to remain silent, you must explicitly say that you’re asserting your Fifth Amendment right. This was made clear in Salinas vs. Texas, when the Supreme Court allowed the prosecution to use the defendant’s silence as evidence of their guilt. If you don’t explicitly say that you’re invoking your right against self-incrimination, your silence during a police interrogation can be used as admissible evidence of your guilt.
If you have been arrested for a crime in the State of Texas, you should explicitly say that you want to exercise your right to remain silent (which is the right way to avoid self-incrimination). After the Salinas vs. Texas case, the importance of explicitly invoking this right can’t be overstated.
If you plan to “plead the Fifth” by refusing to answer questions, you must inform the police. Otherwise, the police will continue with their questioning and use your silence as evidence that you are either guilty or have something to hide. Once you explicitly invoke your right to remain silent, the police can’t use your refusal to answer questions as evidence of your guilt.
If the police pressured you into making an incriminating statement or used any other illegal tactics, you should speak to a qualified attorney as soon as possible because he or she can make sure it isn’t used as admissible evidence.
If you’re looking for a criminal defense attorney in Corpus Christi to help you with your case, be sure to reach out to Gale Law Group.
If you have been charged with a crime, you might be wondering what types of defenses you can use to help your case. To answer this question, you need to know the different legal defenses associated with criminal law. Once your case goes to trial, the prosecutor must prove that you’re guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” But you’re also entitled to come up with a defense, which can be done in a variety of ways. You can try to “poke holes” in the prosecutor’s case, claim that someone else committed the crime, or claim that you had a legal and reasonable defense for doing it.
Here are some of the possible defenses that you can use in a criminal case.
This is one of the simplest defenses to any criminal case. It can be used if you didn’t commit the crime of which you have been accused, but there’s one thing you should remember. The prosecution has to prove that you’re guilty of every part of the crime with which you have been charged “beyond a reasonable doubt.” If you’re innocent of the crime, you don’t have to prove anything. You do, however, have the option of offering testimony, documents, and other types of evidence that support your claim.
These types of defenses can be used if there’s a question of how the police and other law enforcement officials collected evidence. You don’t want to miss any of these defenses, because it could lead to a dismissal of your entire case. Some constitutional violations can include the following:
Police officers will often make mistakes in the way they do their jobs, and they may require the evidence used against you to be suppressed. It may even lead to a dismissal of the prosecution’s case.
Some criminal defenses (such as the alibi defense) are considered “affirmative defenses,” which means that you must be able prove it. For an alibi defense to work, you must be able to prove that you were somewhere other than the crime scene at the time it took place. Some of the supportive evidence you can use for this defense can include:
Be sure to speak to a qualified attorney for more information.
You might have heard about this defense from watching TV courtroom dramas, but the insanity defense isn’t used very often for a few different reasons. The first one is that it’s an affirmative defense, so you must prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that you were suffering from a severe mental disorder or defect at the time you committed the crime.
The insanity defense is used to prove that you were either unable to know right from wrong at the time you committed the crime (known as the “M’Naghten Rule”) or you had an “irresistible impulse” to commit the crime (which means that you knew that what you were doing was wrong but wasn’t able to stop doing it).
Another reason why the insanity defense isn’t used that often is because it requires the defendant to admit that he or she committed the crime. If you use this defense and the jury doesn’t agree that you were insane, you have already admitted to too many facts against you (which will most likely help the prosecution’s case). But if the insanity defense is successful, institutionalization will be the most likely outcome.
This type of defense can be used in cases that involve assault, battery, and murder when the violence being used was a justified response to a violent act or any threat of violence from the victim. But the amount of force you used must be reasonable and proportionate (which is usually the same or less) to what was used by the victim.
This involves any justified use of force or violence in the defense of others. It can be used if you used violence to protect someone else (such as a spouse, a child, another family member, or even a stranger).
This defense could work if you used force or violence to protect any property (such as land or items) from damage or destruction, but it does have one limitation. The amount of force being used to protect your property can never be lethal.
If you’re looking for a criminal defense attorney in Corpus Christi to help you with your case, be sure to reach out to Gale Law Group.