Texas

Judge: Death Penalty Unconstitutional; AG: ‘Unabashed Judicial Activism’

In what the attorney general of Texas is describing as a “legally baseless” act of “unabashed judicial activism,” a state trial-court judge has granted a pretrial defense motion that the death penalty be declared unconstitutional in the murder case of John Edward Green Jr., reports the Houston Chronicle. “It’s safe…

Mar 5, 2010 6:52 PM CST

Houston Transit Official Denies Lawyers Were Fired for Objecting to Document Shredding

The chairman of the Houston-area transit system is denying that two agency lawyers were fired because they objected to the destruction of records involving top rail system officials. Metro board chairman David Wolff “emphatically denied” that Metropolitan Transit Authority chief counsel Pauline Higgins and a second lawyer were fired because…

Feb 26, 2010 1:52 PM CST

Widow Sues Widow Over Small Plane Crash Into IRS Office, Alleges Duty-to-Warn Breach

The widow of an Internal Revenue Service employee killed after a suicidal pilot apparently intentionally crashed his small plane into a Texas office building has sued the pilot’s widow. In addition to alleging that pilot Joseph Stack operated the Piper Cherokee in a negligent manner, the Travis County District Court…

Feb 24, 2010 10:39 PM CST

Former Managing Partner Gets 99 Years in $25M Investment Scheme

When Edward Digges Jr. bilked one of his best clients at Digges Wharton & Levin out of $3.1 million in an overbilling scheme, he served two years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 1990 to mail fraud. He also was fined $1 million and wound up with a $3.6…

Feb 24, 2010 7:17 PM CST

Appeals Court Reverses Death Sentence, Doesn’t Mention Judge-Prosecutor Affair

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has reversed the death sentence for a convicted double murderer who was nearly executed in 2008 before the state ran of out time to perform the lethal injection. But in determining that Charles Dean Hood should be resentenced, the court makes no mention of…

Feb 24, 2010 6:16 PM CST

Ethics Prosecution Blasts Report, Seeks Sanction of Top Texas Judge

Saying that a special master who evaluated the evidence in an ethics case against the top criminal judge in Texas missed the point, prosecutors in the ethics case are seeking sanctions for what they describe as her willful and incompetent disregard of established court procedure in a death penalty matter.…

Feb 19, 2010 10:18 PM CST

Attorney John O’Quinn’s Museum-Quality Cars to Be Auctioned to Pay Some $50M in Debts

The 1911 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost used in the filming of the Titanic is being held back. But a 1966 replica of the Batmobile made famous by the Batman television series and a 1938 armor-plated Cadillac used as a parade limousine by three presidents are among the museum-quality vehicles that…

Feb 19, 2010 7:26 PM CST

Apparently Angry at IRS, Pilot May Have Intentionally Crashed Small Plane Into Office Building

A man identified as the pilot of a small plane that crashed into an office building in Austin, Texas, this morning apparently did so intentionally to get back at the Internal Revenue Service. The building houses nearly 200 IRS employees, and Joseph Andrew Stack, 53, who piloted the Piper Cherokee,…

Feb 18, 2010 7:41 PM CST

Texas AG Tries to Intervene—1 Day Too Late?—in Same-Sex Divorce Case

The attorney general of Texas is seeking to intervene in a divorce case involving a same-sex couple, arguing that the two women can’t be legally divorced in the state because it doesn’t recognize their Massachusetts marriage as valid. However, Attorney General Greg Abbott made his move a day too late,…

Feb 18, 2010 12:28 AM CST

Top Texas Court Sued Over Case Delay: We Want a Decision, Says Lawyer

After waiting more than four years for a ruling in an interlocutory appeal before the Texas Supreme Court, the plaintiffs in a class action case have made a federal case out of the delay. They have sued the court’s nine justices individually in in the U.S. District Court for the…

Feb 17, 2010 7:44 PM CST

Ken Starr to Leave Law School Deanship to Become Baylor President

Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr will give up his post as dean of Pepperdine University School of Law to become the new president of Baylor University. In his six years as dean at Pepperdine, Starr helped raise the law school’s ranking in U.S. News & World Report to 55th place,…

Feb 16, 2010 1:04 PM CST

It’s Airstream v. Airstream in This Cross-Country Cupcake Battle

In the “burgeoning local trailer-food market” in Austin, Texas, Hey Cupcake is an early pioneer, having established its presence in 2007, operating out of an airstream trailer topped with a giant iced cupcake. Hey Cupcake hopes to expand nationally at some point. So when it discovered the existence of the…

Feb 12, 2010 4:15 PM CST

Woman Charged with Felony, Used Fake Craigslist Job Ad to Harass Ex-Boss, Cops Say

Seeking to harass a former boss, a 33-year-old Houston woman allegedly posted a fake job ad on Craigslist, sending a flood of calls to his office from would-be applicants. But Amanda Anderson created an even bigger problem for herself, according to Friendswood police. She has now been charged with a…

Feb 9, 2010 6:43 PM CST

Associate’s Pro Bono Work for Legal Aid Catches on at Firm

An associate’s enthusiasm for his volunteer work at Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas caught on at his firm, and gave the not-for-profit agency a much-needed boost. Cantey Hanger is better known around Fort Worth and in Texas for its representation of Fortune 500 companies and utilities, not family court cases…

Feb 8, 2010 7:27 PM CST

Whistle-Blowing Nurse to Stand Trial for Reporting Doctor to Disciplinary Authorities

In what the New York Times identifies as possibly an unprecedented prosecution, a former Texas nurse faces trial today on charges that she misused official information when she reported a doctor to state medical authorities. The nurse, Anne Mitchell, reportedly considered she may lose her job as a result of…

Feb 8, 2010 6:01 PM CST