How Do I Find Out if I Have A Warrant Out For My Arrest?

October 28, 2020

By Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

Here is the link to search for warrants in Collin County.  Here is the link for warrants in Dallas County.  Tarrant County wants you to contact the individual municipality where the warrant originated.  Denton County also makes you contact them for warrant info.

There is a database for warrants nation-wide, but unfortunately it’s not public.  Checking for warrants can be a pain-staking process if you suspect you have a warrant for your arrest but aren’t sure.  The counties which make you call them to inquire doubtlessly do it in an effort to draw folks who have a warrant into their spider-web.  My guess is it backfires because many people are too scared to call.

The vast, vast majority of arrest warrants are for mundane purposes such as traffic tickets or probation revocations (I love my readers, but I don’t do traffic tickets – so please don’t call me for those!).  Most warrants simply sit there unless or until someone gets pulled over or has some other type of benign law enforcement contact which results in them being run for warrants.

Can Warrants Be Hidden on Purpose?

Yes.  Law enforcement can issue warrants and have them be sealed.  They might do it if there is an on-going investigation of a conspiracy they don’t want to spoil – and then they arrest everyone at once.  The FBI, DEA and other federal law enforcement agencies do this frequently.  Another reason could be they want to arrest someone in person for whatever reason.

Pocket Warrants

Police can also get an arrest warrant but not enter into the national or local databases.  We might see these in cases like sexual assault or injury to a child.

They keep it in their “pocket” in an effort to arrest and immediately interview a suspect.  Think of it this way — if they have a murder suspect and they get a warrant from a judge — if they enter it into the national database, they risk having someone from another agency arrest the suspect at 3 a.m.  This could give the suspect several hours to “lawyer up” and not participate in an interview or interrogation.  The pocket warrant allows the officer to pick the exact time, place, and manner of arrest.

What Should I Do if I Have a Warrant for My Arrest?

You have to turn yourself in.  Most people don’t like hearing this.  Warrants don’t go away on their own and it’s very rare to be able to get a warrant thrown out before arrest.  Most judges and prosecutors have policies in place they won’t even deal with you unless the warrant is taken care of first.  And here’s what I tell my clients — if they don’t take care of the warrant on their own terms, then the warrant will be executed against them at the worst possible time.  Maybe while they are on a dream date.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  He is designated as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.

 

Leave a Comment » | crimes against children, Drugs, Federal Court, federal criminal defense, Homicide, Murder, Police, sex cases, sex crimes, sexual assault, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

Netflix American Murder: The Family Next Door and 21st Century Courtroom Storytelling

October 24, 2020

By Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

jeremy@texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

What a horrific, tragic, and deranged murder!

Trying to compartmentalize and separate the legal aspects of Netflix “American Murder: The Family Next Door” from the human aspects is difficult to do – but it’s exactly what we do as criminal defense lawyers.

I’m writing because I’m very impressed with how Netflix was able to tell the story through all the text messages, home and police videos, and social media.  It’s really a view into what 21st century crime investigation and courtroom story telling can look like.

This story in particular is nothing short of soul-crushing and everyone is happy Shannan Watts, her children and her family got the justice they deserved and Chris Watts is behind bars for the rest of his life.  But 21st century evidence such as cell phone texts, videos, social media including police advances in body-camera evidence are revolutionary ways to prove innocence too.

How Netflix Told the Story

I was fascinated by how Netflix was able to tell the story – not through talking heads or narration – but just by showing us the text messages, then showing us police body-cam videos, sprinkling in home movies, showing us social media posts and comments, and on and on.  Isn’t it amazing how our technology and ways of communicating can tell our stories this way?

Cell Phone Evidence

I lecture on the topic of cell phone evidence in the courtroom and have written about it as well.  It’s not nearly as easy to do as Netflix made it look.  We were able to see victim Shannan Watts’ texts to her family and friends as well as to Chris.

Notably absent in my mind were Chris’ texts to anyone other than Shannan — and this tells me they weren’t able to get into his phone.

Police Body-Cam Evidence

I can’t understate what an amazing, wonderful tool police body-cameras are.  In the American Murder: The Family Next Door, we got to see Chris Watts’ charade with our own eyes when the police initially came over to his house to locate Shannan the day after the killing.  We got to see Chris Watts face, demeanor, and mannerisms — the smallest details.

In the past – we’d have gotten a police officer’s recollection from the witness stand and potentially some of the other people there too.  Their testimony would be almost always be shaded and slanted for no other reasons they are humans with a particular perspective.  If this case had turned into a trial – they’d have had to have testified anyway… but the point I’m trying to make is the body-cameras cut through all of that.  We see what we see.

The law has often pushed police towards recording interviews and statements.  Texas has a statute (Tex.Code.Crim.P. 38.22) which requires custodial interrogations to be recorded.  It protects both the police and the accused from an unfair spinning or characterization of how the interview actually went.

Unfortunately, in the past it has been a law enforcement tactic for a police officer to “forget” their recording device before an interview – so they can spin the interview how they’d like in court later.  Police agencies who require bod-cams basically put an end to it.

And as a side note – sometimes the police forget to turn off the body cameras and we get to see the water-cooler talk about the case and we hear weaknesses about the cases we’d never hear in a courtroom from the police.

Social Media Evidence

It’s difficult to know what, if any, artistic license Netflix took in this arena.  They presented several home videos as if they were social media posts.  Perhaps they were and perhaps that was just how they presented them. What they did use was effective in telling the story.

Legally this would be far more complicated to use in a courtroom than in a documentary.  There are issues with what we call “authentication” and it could involve having to deal directly with social media mega-giants who often treat both prosecutors and defense lawyers like fleas they shake off when they get annoyed with us.

Police Interviews and Polygraph

This was the part of the Chris Watts story which is more old-school and presented nothing new. Bringing in a suspect for a polygraph is a very common investigative tactic.  The polygraph itself is inadmissible in court and as lawyers we’re always very leery of who is conducting the polygraph… because they’re all based on the questions and the questions can be slanted in certain directions.

When Police do a polygraph they almost always want to do a follow-up interview.  They think the person will fail the polygraph, and just like a linebacker wants to crush the quarterback after the ball is snapped — the police want to get a confession right after someone takes the polygraph (even if the results are inconclusive or if they accuse the person of using “countermeasures” or trying to game the test).

It worked for the police like a charm against Chris Watts.  They even used  the age old, “are you a monster or just some guy who made a mistake” line on him — which is a question we hear all the time in cases like sexual assault, child abuse, or domestic violence.  If the suspect chooses, “I just made a mistake” then the police have their confession.

The police also pretended to know more about Chris’ life than they actually knew at the time.  I don’t recall anything they’d seen at the time of his interview which suggested they would know he was having an affair – but when he admitted to it, they represented to him they knew this all along.  It’s a part of the Reid method of interrogation (that’s another topic).

Overall I found the show — again horrific and tragic — yet fascinating from a lawyer’s perspective.  The Chris Watts murder may be a high-budget and high profile outlier in how the story was able to be told… but during the 21st century, I’m pretty certain we’ll be using text messages, home videos and police body-cams to tell much more complete stories for other types of cases too.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  He has been designated as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.

 

 

 

Comments Off on Netflix American Murder: The Family Next Door and 21st Century Courtroom Storytelling | Assault, Civil Liberties, Computer Crimes, Domestic Violence, Homicide, Police and Prosecutors, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by niftybrady

Will I Be Arrested if I Shoot an Intruder?

October 22, 2020

By Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

www.texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

Texas law allows you to use “deadly force” in certain circumstances to defend yourself.  One of those circumstances is when an intruder has forcefully and unlawfully entered your home.

Will you be arrested?  Perhaps, but the law may let you out of it if you qualify.

 

What is Deadly Force?

“Deadly force” means force that is intended or known by the actor to cause, or in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing, death or serious bodily injury.  Tex.Pen.C. 9.01(3).

When Can I Use Deadly Force to Protect My Home?

Tex.Pen.C. 9.32 discusses the defense of use of deadly force and in relevant part says this:

(a) A person is justified in using deadly force against another:

(1) if the actor would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31; and

(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:

….(B) to prevent the other’s imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.

(b) The actor’s belief under Subsection (a)(2) that the deadly force was immediately necessary as described by that subdivision is presumed to be reasonable if the actor:

(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person against whom the deadly force was used:

(A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor’s occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment;

(B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the actor’s habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or

(C) was committing or attempting to commit an offense described by Subsection (a)(2)(B);

(2) did not provoke the person against whom the force was used; and

(c) A person who has a right to be present at the location where the deadly force is used, who has not provoked the person against whom the deadly force is used, and who is not engaged in criminal activity at the time the deadly force is used is not required to retreat before using deadly force as described by this section.

(d) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), in determining whether an actor described by Subsection (c) reasonably believed that the use of deadly force was necessary, a finder of fact may not consider whether the actor failed to retreat.

The Statute Translated and Broken Down

In English – if you are in your habitation, vehicle, or place of business AND someone has not only unlawfully entered but did so by using force AND you have done nothing to provoke the person AND you yourself are not committing a crime – then if you shoot the person, you have self defense available to you.  Additionally, you do not have the duty to retreat.

What Does it Mean My Actions are “Presumed to be Reasonable”

Remember – the law could very well go to a jury in any legal case.  The jury decides whether what a person did to defend their home was reasonable.  This law assists them and ‘nudges’ them to tell them it was reasonable.  It also encourages police and prosecutors not to arrest or go forward where cases where this applies.

Why Does the Intruder Have to Use Force to Break In for Me to Be Able to Shoot Him?

This prohibits situations where someone is invited over, an argument ensues, and then the person doesn’t leave despite being told to do so.  In that instance, the person’s entry into the home would be unlawful yet not forceful.

What Does it Mean I Can’t Be Committing a Crime?

This is a confusing part of the statute.  Remember, this law is designed to protect the homeowner who wakes up at 3 in the morning to find a burglar in their home or who comes home for lunch to find their door kicked in and someone rummaging through their possessions.

The law isn’t designed to protect someone running a drug house or prostitution ring.  Also, the law had to have a touch of flex too because it covers car-jacking situations – and not bar fights which turn into fights in a car.

But if you Recklessly Shoot a Third Person…

If you use deadly force and in doing so harm or kill a different – innocent – person, then the self defense protections are unavailable to you.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law.  He has been designated as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.

 

Comments Off on Will I Be Arrested if I Shoot an Intruder? | Assault, Deadly Conduct, Domestic Violence, Drugs, Homicide, Murder, Self Defense, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by niftybrady

Is it a Crime to Have a Positive Drug Test?

October 21, 2020

By Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

www.texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

It’s not a crime in Texas to fail a drug test or urine analysis (“UA”).  Possession of any illegal drug such as marijuana, cocaine, or any other controlled substance without a prescription is defined as “actual care, custody, control or management.”  Tex.Pen.C. 1.07(39).  Failing a UA does not demonstrate this as backward as it may sound.

Texas courts apply what is known as the Corpus Delecti rule.  Corpus Delecti is latin for “body of the crime.”  The prosecution in every case must prove a crime was committed.  An out of court confession, in and of itself, is never enough to sustain a conviction.

A classic and more clear example of corpus delicti is someone who confesses to arson – yet the building the person claims to have burned to the ground is completely unharmed.  Legally, this is indistinguishable from a person failing a drug test to prove a person had “actual care, custody, control or management” of a drug they shouldn’t have had.

You Can Still Be in Trouble for Failing Drug Tests

If you are on bond for a crime – a failed UA is legally sufficient to hold your bond insufficient and have you re-arrested.  It can also be grounds for a motion to revoke probation or a motion to adjudicate.  This is because the formal requirements of the corpus delicti rule are loosened for these proceedings and because typically terms of bond and/or probation are more broad as well to prohibit failing drug tests.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  He is designated as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.

Comments Off on Is it a Crime to Have a Positive Drug Test? | Cannabis, Civil Liberties, Drugs, Homicide, marijuana, pre trial diversion, THC, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by niftybrady

Your Right to a Speedy Trial – and The Effect of the COVID Pandemic

October 8, 2020

By Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

jeremy@texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

This could probably be a full blown law review article but I’ll stick to good blogging etiquette – long enough to cover the basics and short enough to keep interest.

These days I sound like a broken record with my clients.  “We’re not able to have your jury trial yet.  We need to reset your case again.  Sorry.”

Many of my clients don’t want a speedy trial and many are happy to put off their prosecution indefinitely.  Everyone is different and their circumstances are different so I can see it both ways.  The Constitution guarantees a right to a speedy trial for no other reason that it takes away a possible prosecutorial ploy to ruin someone’s life by just maintaining a cloud of suspicion over a person without ever having to prove their case.

I find courts and prosecutors still struggle with their own understanding of what a speedy trial is or isn’t.  Unfortunately my experience is Courts and prosecutors generally don’t take speedy trial issues very seriously and only see it as an arbitrary escape hatch for a criminal to avoid responsibility.  Our challenge is to show the Court why the Constitution means what it says and says what it means about speedy trials in every case.

How Speedy Trial Works under the Law

The cornerstone case for speedy trial for both State and Federal purposes is called Barker v. Wingo.  That case weighs four separate factors in determining whether there has been a violation of someone’s rights to a speedy trial.

The Barker v. Wingo Factors (Quickly)

The Court Weighs:

  1.  The length of the delay;
  2.  The reason for the delay;
  3.  The time and manner in which Defendant asserted their right;
  4.  The degree of prejudice Defendant has suffered because of the delay.

Prejudice suffered can be anywhere from the natural stress and anxiety which comes from being criminally prosecuted to things which more directly impact the case such as witnesses being more difficult to find or memories about an event fading.

Another big factor is the reason for the delay.  Courts typically try and calculate who is at fault for how much of the delay.  In Barker v. Wingo, the accused was a co-defendant in a homicide.  The prosecution wanted to convict the other person first so they sought 13 or 14 continuances on Barker’s case for strategy reasons.

COVID Delays

We won’t know how the Courts will construe speedy trial delays under Barker for the purposes of the pandemic.  I don’t think they can blame the defense, obviously, for the delay – but the question is whether the Courts will attribute the delays to the government because of of public safety?  Could courts turn around and try to blame Defendant for asserting rights such as the right to confront witnesses in person – or not having a judge trial instead of a jury trial?  It’s hard to know.

Stay Tuned

In 2021 and almost certainly beyond – we are looking to have a major backlog of court cases which will need to be resolved.  Courts have often been dismissive of speedy trial issues but the issue may have a resurgence.

What Lawyers Should be Doing Now

There is really no reason a lawyer shouldn’t file a speedy trial demand in each of their cases set for trial during the pandemic.  Those speedy trial demands can always be waived, but it helps establish the third prong – that the defense is trying to assert their right early in the process.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  He is recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.

 

 

Comments Off on Your Right to a Speedy Trial – and The Effect of the COVID Pandemic | Assault, Civil Liberties, Computer Crimes, Divorce related crimes, DWI, Homicide, Police and Prosecutors, sex cases, sex crimes, sexual assault | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by niftybrady

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »