Texas

Texas Appeals Court Denies Habeas to Hood, Despite Judge’s Claimed Affair

Updated: As 10 legal ethics experts today protested the planned execution of a murderer convicted in a trial in which the judge allegedly was having a secret affair with a prosecutor, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has denied his habeas petition. In an order issued late in the day,…

Jun 17, 2008 12:13 AM CDT

Death-Row Inmate Claims Trial Judge Secretly Dated Prosecutor

A Texas death-row inmate scheduled to be executed on Tuesday claims in court papers that the judge who presided at his trial was secretly dating the prosecutor. The allegation was made in an appeal filed on behalf of Charles Dean Hood, convicted of a double murder in 1990, the Austin…

Jun 13, 2008 12:20 PM CDT

New Theft Conviction for Former 20-Year Texas Prosecutor

For the second time this year, a former 20-year district attorney in Rockwall County, Texas, has been convicted of stealing from the government. Ray Sumrow, 58, shook his head in apparent disbelief when a jury convicted him yesterday of theft by a public servant, reports the Dallas Morning News. He…

Jun 11, 2008 4:22 PM CDT

Lawyer Appeals 90-Day Sentence for Obscene Courtroom Gesture

A criminal defense lawyer from Austin, Texas, is arguing his 90-day sentence for making an obscene courtroom gesture is excessive. In papers filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, lawyer Adam Reposa says the hearing into his conduct was not conducted properly, Texas Lawyer reports. “This was not a…

Jun 9, 2008 1:17 PM CDT

Houston Law Firm May Have to Repay $1M in Legal Fees OK’d By Judge

A prominent Texas law firm reportedly may have to repay up to $1 million in legal fees in a trust litigation matter, even though they were authorized by a state probate judge. Judge Mike Wood was wrong to award $500,000 in fees to Crain Caton & James, a Texas appeals…

Jun 6, 2008 5:30 PM CDT

Lawyer’s ‘Cribtastic’ Office Lands Him Movie Role

Steve Stodghill practices in Dallas as a litigation partner at Fish & Richardson. But a recent movie offer gave him a chance to demonstrate his corporate deal-making skills, too. The offer was to use his “cribtastic” office at the downtown Comerica Bank Tower in Karma Police, a movie that premiered…

Jun 4, 2008 8:19 PM CDT

Polygamous Texas Sect Bans Underage Teen Marriages

Updated: As parents Monday began picking up more than 400 children found to have been taken improperly from a Texas ranch run by a polygamous sect of which they are members, the religious group pledged to comply with state law concerning the age at which teenagers may marry. Teens may…

Jun 3, 2008 10:22 PM CDT

13 V&E Health Care Lawyers Jump to King & Spalding

Thirteen health-care lawyers at Vinson & Elkins, including six partners, are jumping to King & Spalding. The health-care practice at King & Spalding is the highest-ranked in the country, the Am Law Daily reports. The law firm has been expanding the practice group, also hiring lawyers from Powell Goldstein and…

Jun 3, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Texas Judge Returns 400-Plus FLDS Kids to Their Parents

After a Texas Supreme Court ruling Thursday that officials overstepped its authority by removing some 468 children from their homes at a ranch run by a religious sect that advocates polygamy, a judge signed an order (PDF) today returning custody to their parents. Families from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus…

Jun 2, 2008 7:58 PM CDT

DNA Taken From FLDS Leader Jeffs re 4 Alleged ‘Marriages’ to Underage Girls

DNA samples reportedly have been taken from Warren Jeffs, the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in a separate Texas criminal investigation related to the state’s removal of some 468 children from a ranch there last month. (A civil case concerning claimed abuse…

May 30, 2008 11:56 PM CDT

More than 400 FLDS Kids to Begin Returning Home on Monday

Updated: After a Texas Supreme Court ruling yesterday that more than 460 children were illegally removed from their parents’ custody at a ranch run by a religious sect that advocates polygamy, they will reportedly begin returning home on Monday. The return plan was agreed to by Texas Child Protective Services…

May 30, 2008 10:22 PM CDT

Disorder in the Court: Rat Snake Found in Texas Criminal Building

A nonvenomous, 4-foot-long rat snake that somehow slithered up to a fourth-floor closet of a Houston area criminal courthouse initially caused consternation when it was discovered this week because officials feared it was a rattlesnake. Not so, but an investigation is under way to determine how the reptile, which has…

May 30, 2008 8:18 PM CDT

Supreme Texas Win for FLDS Moms: State Shouldn’t Have Taken 400-Plus Kids

Updated: Texas illegally removed more than 400 children from a ranch run by a religious sect that advocates polygamy and sent them to foster homes last month, a majority of the Texas Supreme Court decided today. The ruling is a stunning victory for about 40 mothers and their roughly 126…

May 29, 2008 9:15 PM CDT

From $253M to $0: Reduced $26M Vioxx Verdict Overturned by Texas Appeals Court

A Texas appellate court today has overturned a verdict against Merck & Co. concerning its popular Vioxx painkiller, eliminating the $26 million judgment that remained after a previous $253 million verdict was cut due to a state punitive damages cap. Meanwhile, an appeals court in New Jersey today has reduced…

May 29, 2008 6:27 PM CDT

‘Softy’ Judge Admonished for Refusing to Accept Eviction Filings Before Christmas

For more than 20 years, Texas Justice of the Peace Gary Geick got in the holiday spirit by refusing to accept eviction filings from landlords during the Christmas holidays. He’ll now be changing his ways after a public admonition (see page 16 of PDF file) from the Commission on Judicial…

May 29, 2008 12:05 PM CDT