JOHN T. FLOYD LAW FIRM
Texas Criminal
Lawyer
EXPERIENCED CRIMINAL
DEFENSE LAWYER
TRIALS, SENTENCINGS, AND APPEALS
FEDERAL AND STATE CRIMINAL DEFENSE
"Serious Criminal
Defense Throughout Texas"
Phone (713) 224-0101
E-mail jfloyd@JohnTFloyd.com
Comments on Current Events In Criminal Law from the Federal Criminal Courts in Texas
July 21, 2008
JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA’S DISSENT FROM THE DARK SIDE
Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd Discusses Scalia’s Blistering Dissent Accusing Justices of Aiding Terrorist
The Supreme Court on June 12, 2008 issued a decision that marked the first time in the nation’s history that the constitutional right to the writ of habeas corpus was conferred on enemy aliens detained abroad by American military forces engaged in an ongoing war. See: Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. ____ (2008) [Slip Opinion No. 06-1195 & 06-1196].
July 14, 2008
USDA EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO PERMITTING INFESTED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS TO ENTER US
First prosecution in the United States under federal agricultural statute
(LAREDO, Texas) - A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee has pleaded guilty to illegally permitting infested agricultural products to enter the United States from Mexico, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today. He will be sentenced Sept. 3, 2008.
July 07, 2008
FLDS GRAND JURY TAKES NO ACTION, YET
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney Discusses Latest Developments in FLDS case and the Beginnings of a Grand Jury Investigation
A West Texas grand jury sitting in Schleicher County heard testimony from a few of the dozens of witnesses subpoenaed to testify concerning allegations made by the Attorney General’s Office that members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints forces underage girls into “spiritual marriages.”
June 30, 2008
AMERICA’S TORTURED POLICY OVER TORTURE
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd Discusses Bush Administration’s “Torture” Policy and Downstream Consequences
In 1994 America ratified a treaty entitled “Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.” This treaty defined “torture” as “ … any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession," when it is "inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."
June 23, 2008
FIVE CHARGED IN TWO SAN ANTONIO INDICTMENTS WITH MORTGAGE FRAUD – CHARGES PART OF NATIONWIDE CRACKDOWN CALLED OPERATION MALICIOUS MORTGAGE
United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that five individuals have been indicted for their roles in two separate million-dollar-plus mortgage fraud schemes based in San Antonio.
June 16, 2008
FLDS: A LOOK AT AN UNNECESSARY TRAGEDY - Swift Justice?
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd Opines on the FLDS Debacle
This column has examined the FLDS case extensively since the military-style raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas on April 3, 2008.
June 09, 2008
Former Skydiving Company Owner and Ex-Houston Auto Executive Convicted of Tax Charges - Auto Executive Turned Tax Defier Failed to Pay Approximately $1 Million in Taxes
HOUSTON - After a four-day bench trial in the Southern District of Texas, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn N. Hughes today convicted Madison Lee Oden of filing false tax returns for tax years 2000 through 2002, the Justice Department announced.
June 02, 2008
THE FLDS CASE: THE TEXAS SOLUTION, PRISON FOR THE MEN, SHAME FOR THE WOMEN - May 24, 2008
Houston Criminal Defense Lawyer John T. Floyd Discusses Potential Bigamy Charges Facing Those Living on the Yearning for Zion Ranch
May 26, 2008
FLDS: EXPLORING THE SUBJECT OF ABUSE
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney Discusses FLDS Fiasco and the Disproportionate Resources Spent by the State to Persecute this Misunderstood Religious Group
May 19, 2008
FLDS: EXPLORING THE SUBJECT OF ABUSE
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney Discusses FLDS Fiasco and the Disproportionate Resources Spent by the State to Persecute this Misunderstood Religious Group
May 12, 2008
FLDS: A TEXAS-SIZED LEGAL DILEMMA
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John T. Floyd Continues the Discussion about Government Raid at Yearning For Zion and the Potential Criminal Charges to be Filed Against FLDS Members
May 05, 2008
PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney, John Floyd, Discusses Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision Finding Reversible Plain Error in Improper Statements of Prosecutor.
April 28, 2008
FLDS: THE VICTIM THAT WASN’T
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd Discusses Developments in FLDS Case; Anonymous Hoax Caller Used to Support Warrant Illustrates Why Probable Cause Requires More Evidence
April 21, 2008
The FLDS Raid and the Extension of the Police State
Houston Criminal Attorney John T. Floyd Discusses Military Style Raid on Eldorado FLDS Compound, Illegal Arrests and Fabricated Probable Cause
April 14, 2008
KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF OUR BEDROOMS
Houston Criminal Attorney John T. Floyd Discusses Fifth Circuit Decision Striking Down Obscenity Statute Prohibiting Promotion or Sale of Sex Toys, the Right to Private Sexual Privacy
April 07, 2008
MEDELLIN: TEXAS LAW TRUMPS PRESIDENT’S PEN
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John T Floyd Discusses Medellin v. Texas; United States Supreme Court Devastates Mexican National’s Rights Under Geneva Convention While Simultaneously Limiting Presidential Power
March 31, 2008
ELEVEN MEN ARRESTED ON FEDERAL CHARGES FOR FAILING TO REGISTER AS SEX OFFENDERS
United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that federal and state law enforcement officers recently wrapped-up Operation Guardian West, a multi-agency operation targeting registered sex offenders in the El Paso area who were required, but failed to maintain their registration as a sex offender.
March 24, 2008
COURT ALLOWS WRONGFUL CONVICTION LAWSUIT TO PROCEED
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd Discusses Civil Rights Lawsuits Brought by Those Wrongly Convicted of Crimes.
March 17, 2008
Attorney General Abbott Takes Legal Action To Shut Down Illegal Casino Style Gambling - Tigua tribe operating eight-liner gambling machines in violation of Texas law
EL PASO – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today filed an enforcement action against the Tigua Indian tribe for conducting illegal gambling operations. In a motion for contempt of court, the state seeks to enforce a 2001 injunction prohibiting casino-style gambling at the tribe’s Speaking Rock Entertainment Center.
March 10, 2007
VIOLENT SEX OFFENDERS: IS CIVIL COMMITMENT A LEGITIMATE SOCIAL RESPONSE?
Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd Discusses Civil Commitment for Sexually Violent Offenders
The New York Times reported last year (March 4, 2007) that there are approximately 2,700 pedophiles, rapists, and other sexual offenders being held indefinitely by 19 states, mostly in medical treatment centers.
March 03, 2008
THE CASTLE DOCTRINE: STAND YOUR GROUND AND SHOOT TO KILL
Houston Criminal Attorney John T. Floyd discusses the Castle Doctrine and the Growing Support for the Use of Deadly Force in Self Defense
In October 2005 the Florida became the first state in the United States to officially put a “Castle Doctrine” law on its books. Supporters hailed it as a “stand your ground” law while opponents called it a “shoot to kill” license.
February 25, 2008
NO BAIL FOR REPEAT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John T. Floyd Discusses Denial of Bail in a Family Violence Cases
The Texas Council on Family Violence reported there were 187,811 incidents of family violence in 2005 throughout the state. 143 of those incidents resulted in the deaths of women by an intimate partner.
February 18, 2008
COUNSELORS PLEAD GUILTY IN HEALTH CARE FRAUD SCHEME IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
(BEAUMONT, TX) United States Attorney John L. Ratcliffe and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced today that three Southeast Texans pleaded guilty in connection with a health care fraud scheme in Beaumont.
February 11, 2008
VERDICT REACHED IN EL PASO TRIAL
(HOUSTON, Texas) - James Brooks, 48, the former managing director of North American natural gas sales for El Paso Merchant Energy (El Paso), along with El Paso natural gas traders Wesley C. Walton, 45, and James Patrick Phillips, 48, have been convicted by a jury’s verdict, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.
February 04, 2008
SAN ANTONIO DOCTOR SENTENCED ON FEDERAL CHARGES OF BRIBING A PUBLIC OFFICIAL
January 28, 2008
ATHELETES, STEROIDS, FALSE STATEMENTS AND PERJURY: THE NEED FOR COUNSEL
Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd Discusses Lying About Steroids; Recent Criminal Investigations and Convictions
January 21, 2008
WHEN WILD ANIMALS ATTACK
Houston Defense Attorney John Floyd discusses Potential Texas Tort Liability for Zoo Attacks. What if it happened in Texas?
THE ATTACK...
January 14, 2008
Hidalgo County Man Pleads Guilty To Other Charges After Getting 27 Year Sentence In November
Sigifredo Flores to serve concurrent two-year sentence tied to bogus Medicaid counseling
January 07, 2008
Federal Court Upholds Texas Moment Of Silence Statute
Allows Texas schoolchildren to continue to voluntarily “reflect, pray, or meditate” to begin each school day
December 31, 2007
BUSINESSMAN INDICTED FOR ILLEGALLY EXPORTING GOODS TO MEXICO
New federal law at work targeting smugglers
(LAREDO, Texas) - A federal indictment charging a Laredo businessman with illegally exporting goods from the United States into Mexico has been unsealed following the arrest of Gerardo Cantu, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.
December 24, 2007
NAVAL AIR STATION EMPLOYEE CONVICTED OF BRIBERY
(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – A Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi engineer technician has been convicted of bribery, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.
December 17, 2007
FEDERAL GRAND JURY INDICTS LOCAL RESIDENTS IN IDENTITY THEFT SCAM TO FRAUDULENTLY COLLECT UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS
DALLAS — A federal grand jury has returned an 11-count indictment charging six area residents with offenses related to a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District Texas.
December 10, 2007
JOE HORN’S SELF-DEFENSE SAGA CONTINUES
Part Two: Discussion of Use of Deadly Force and Self Defense by Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John T. Floyd
On November 14, 2007 a Pasadena, Texas resident named Joe Horn shot and killed two men who had burglarized his neighbor’s home.
December 03, 2007
Attorney General Abbott Files Enforcement Action Against Cameron County Meat Wholesaler
La Villita Meat Market cited for failure to obtain proper certifications
November 26, 2007
Attorney General Abbott Launches School Safety Initiative To Protect Texas Students
Abbott visits local high school following speech at Texas School Administrators Safety Conference
November 19, 2007
THE RESPONSE TO JUVENILE CRIME AND YOUTH VIOLENCE
Criminal Defense Attorney John T. Floyd
In the 1970s, when crime and violence had turned the nation’s big cities into urban arenas of fear, suspicion and distrust, Former Houston Police Chief B.K. Johnson told TIME Magazine (March 23, 1981) that “we have allowed ourselves to degenerate to the point where we’re living like animals.
November 12, 2007
THE HOLY LAND FOUNDATION VERDICT
Criminal Defense Attorneys in Dallas Raise Reasonable Doubt and Force Mistrial
November 05, 2007
SURVIVING DEATH ROW
Essay by Billy Wayne Sinclair
E-mail Billy Wayne Sinclair Billy@JohnTFloyd.com
Since 1930, when reliable statistics started being kept, and August 2007, there were 4,936 government-sanctioned executions carried out in the United States during that seventy-seven year period. It has been reported that during the sixty-nine year period between 1882 and 1951 an additional 4,730 lynchings in America.
October 29, 2007
“MISTAKES” IN A LAST-MINUTE DEATH APPEAL
Grievances Filed by Criminal Attorneys across the State; Intentional mishandling of the request for an extension of the filing deadline by Judge Sharon Keller reflects the mean-spirited, biased, and callous nature of not only those who advocate but those who enforce the ultimate punishment.
October 22, 2007
HOUSTON CRIMINAL ATTORNEY DISCUSSES CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT, DEATH PENALTY BY LETHAL INJECTION
The United States Supreme Court on September 25, 2007 granted certiorari in the case of Ralph Baze and John C. Bowling, two convicted double murderers, who challenged the constitutionality of lethal injection as it is administered in the State of Kentucky. See: Baze, et al. v. Rees, Comm’r Ky DOC, et al., ___ Ct. ____, 2007 WL 2075334 (U.S.Ky. 09/25/07).
October 15, 2007
A 2007 TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY
The 80th Texas Legislative Session, as other legislators across the United States, was preoccupied with sex offenses and sex offenders. This is hardly surprising given the intense media attention to these types of cases and the public outrage against sex crimes. So, rather than focus on a myriad or other issues that would bring real change to the lives of our citizens and purposeful change to our system of criminal justice, our legislature took the easy way out and focused, again, on an easy target.
October 08, 2007
INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL:THE FAILURE TO INVESTIGATE
Criminal Defense Lawyers Must Diligently Investigate Facts Supporting Possible Defenses, Witnesses
The right to effective assistance of counsel is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. See, McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771 n. 14 (1970). This constitutional guarantee attaches to both retained and appointed counsel. See, Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 344-45 (1980).
October 01, 2007
THE MICHAEL VICK SAGA
A Criminal Defense Lawyers Perspective
Michael Vick and Don Imus. What do they have in common. Well, to begin with, soup for the goose, soup for the gander.
September 24, 2007
CHILD PORN: WHAT IS REAL, WHAT IS VIRTUAL?
Criminal Defense Lawyers Must Closely Examine Evidence In Child Pornography Cases to Rule Out Virtual Images: Government Retains Burden to Prove Images of a Real Child.
September 17, 2007
DEFENDING TERRORISM CRIMES
Criminal Defense Lawyers Begin Fight with Aggressive Pretrial Litigation United States v. Abdi
September 10, 2007
CRIME VICTIMS MOVEMENT AND THE DEATH PENALTY
Essay by Billy Wayne Sinclair
E-mail Billy Wayne Sinclair Billy@JohnTFloyd.com
Newton Anderson was put to death by lethal injection in Texas on February 22, 2007 for a double murder that occurred eight years ago.
September 3, 2007
INDICTMENTS FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD ON THE RISE
Investigations and Indictments for mortgage fraud are on the rise in the current climate of the sub-prime mortgage scandal. From high profile investigations involving the powerful to small time straw buyers, the government is showing a zero tolerance policy when it comes to investigating and prosecution of allegations of mortgage fraud.
August 27, 2007
THE “GREAT WRIT” SURVIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is a Qatari national and a legal resident of the United States. He lawfully entered the United States with his wife and children on September 10, 2001, to pursue a master's degree at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, where he had obtained a bachelor's degree in 1991. The very next day, September 11, terrorists hijacked four jet airliners and ruthlessly attacked the sovereignty of the United States.
August 20, 2007
THE TERROR ATTACK ON CIVIL LIBERTIES
America has lauded itself as a country that cherishes individual liberty. Our constitution and the Bill of Rights are held out as models for the rest of the world to immolate. But America has never been comfortable protecting civil liberties in times of national crises.
August 13, 2007
THE LETHAL INJECTION PROTOCAL
Philip Ray Workman was executed in the Tennessee death chamber on May 9, 2007.
Twenty-six years before, on August 5, 1981, Workman robbed a Wendy’s restaurant in Memphis. He forced all the employees and a customer into the manager’s office where he collected the day’s receipts into a bag. See, Workman v. Bredesen, ____ F.3d _____, 2007 WL 1311330 (6th Cir. Tenn.) [May 7, 2007].
August 06, 2007
IMPACT OF DNA EXONERATIONS ON THE NATION’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
In 2000 a free lance writer named J.J. Maloney wrote a piece entitled, “Will DNA Evidence Revolutionize Criminal Law” for the online publication CRIME Magazine.
In the ensuing decade the nation’s criminal justice system has witnessed the dramatic way DNA evidence has indeed revolutionized the way criminals are prosecuted and defended in a court of law.
July 30, 2007
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE OF POST-CONVICTION APPEALS
The first, and perhaps most important, statute a criminal defendant should become aware of following an arrest is Rule 103 of the Texas Rules of Evidence. Rule 103(a)(1) requires that an objection be made to any pretrial, trial or post-trial error in order for it to be heard on direct appeal. A criminal defendant should stress to his attorney, whether appointed or retained, that he/she expects the attorney to object to any adverse rulings made by the trial court throughout the criminal proceedings against the defendant. While some of the objections clearly will not have a basis in law, the defense attorney should nonetheless make the objection, research the issue, and be prepared to present it on direct appeal. The failure to object by a defense attorney will haunt a criminal defendant throughout the post-conviction process.
July 24, 2007
TWO CASES OF INNOCENCE
Essay by Billy Wayne Sinclair
E-mail Billy Wayne Sinclair: Billy@JohnTFloyd.com
Nearly two hundred innocent persons have been freed from the nation’s prison system over the last two decades through DNA evidence – dozens had been condemned to die and awaiting execution at the time their innocence was discovered.
more....
July 16, 2007
BRYAN MILLER: A REAL GANGSTA’
Essay by Billy Wayne Sinclair
E-mail Billy Wayne Sinclair Billy@JohnTFloyd.com
It was not much of a house. There were no “nice” houses in the “ghetto’ of East Los Angeles. Simply called “the hood,” it was the home of more than a half-million economically deprived residents who lived daily in the crossfire of rival gangs and under the corrupt abuses of the 77th Division of the city’s police department. One of those ghetto residents was Alice Miller – a young woman with an enormous capacity to love and protect her fatherless family.
Standing on the front porch of the house, Alice was watching her son who was standing in their small front yard. He was afraid of a larger boy standing in the street talking “trash” at him. Darren was a bully, always trying to “tip” the younger, smaller boys – particularly Alice’s son Brian. Life brings moments when hard choices are unconditionally imposed. Alice Miller, who had given birth to Brian when she was just sixteen, seized that moment to impose a permanent lesson on her son.
July 11, 2007
Evidence of Torture may become Public at Padilla Trial
In May 2002 Jose Padilla arrived at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport abroad an international flight from Zurich, Switzerland where he was taken into custody by federal law enforcement authorities on a Material Witness Warrant. The federal authorities had allegedly obtained information, through torture interrogation, from al-Qaida operative Abu Zubaydah that implicated Padilla in suspected terrorist activity against the government of the United States. The U.S. Justice Department released information that Padilla was part of an al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in an American city.
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