Houston Texas Criminal Defense Blog

If you are charged with assault and battery it's important to understand a few things. In addition to the situation that resulted in your charges, focus on the potential penalties and the best way to avoid the most serious consequences.

It's important to note that no two assault and battery cases are the same, with some straightforward and others full of complex details that complicate the legal process.

In Texas and across the country, ankle monitors have often been promoted as a humane alternative to traditional incarceration. After a spate of negative publicity exposed the practice of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to separate undocumented immigrant parents and children, families have now been monitored through these devices. In addition, people accused of white-collar crimes have also been assigned ankle monitors on a fairly frequent basis. Research indicates that police and other agencies' use of electronic ankle monitors has more than doubled between 2005 and 2015.

A growing light has been shed on the negative social consequences of excessive incarceration, especially on communities of color. In response, ankle monitoring has been promoted as an alternative to prison. However, people who live with the monitors have noted that they face extensive restrictions that are often poorly understood. The monitors are usually equipped with GPS tracking, and people have spent time behind bars if the signal drops or provides inaccurate information.

Media outlets in Texas have reported that officers from the Austin Police Department discovered 50 pounds of methamphetamine, six pounds of heroin and 82 pounds of cocaine during a routine traffic stop in Travis County on the afternoon of July 10. The drugs are said to have a street value of about $4.8 million. A 43-year-old Weslaco man was taken into custody in connection with the narcotics haul. The man has been charged with three first-degree felony counts of delivery of a controlled substance and faces decades in prison if convicted. Reports indicate that he was transported to the Travis County Jail for processing and his bail has been set at $300,000.

According to a police report, the man's pickup truck was traveling northbound on Interstate 35 in the vicinity of the Onion Creek Parkway when an APD officer pulled it over after noticing that it did not have a front license plate. The officer says that he became suspicious when the man behind the wheel produced an expired Tennessee driver's license and made contradictory statements about his travel plans. The man is then said to have consented to a search of his vehicle.

As the country's opioid crisis becomes more widespread, many states, such as Texas, are starting to blame others when an opioid overdose death occurs. This means that the drug dealer who sold the user the drugs that resulted in the overdose, the user's friends and even his or her relatives could face legal consequences following a fatal overdose.

Drug-induced homicide laws in some states allow authorities to hold someone responsible for an overdose death. Although the laws in most states were designed to just hold the drug dealer responsible, some law enforcement agencies are beginning to bring charges against other users who might have been sharing drugs with the person who died. When an overdose death occurs, many law enforcement agencies treat the scene as a crime scene by recording any potential evidence of criminal activity.