Archive for May, 2017

Texas Family Law Attorney Talks about the Problem of Child Marriages

Saturday, May 13th, 2017

Did you know that Texas has the second highest child marriage rate in the country? Between 2000 and 2014, four thousand Texans got married before their eighteenth birthdays. In 2014 in Texas, 6.9 out of every 1000 people who were between the ages of 15 and 17 got married. Presently, approximately two thousand Texas youth get married every year. Under current law, individuals who are sixteen or seventeen years of age can legally marry if they have permission from one of their parents, and people who are under sixteen can also marry if a court gives them permission to do so. Fortunately, this could change soon if lawmakers decide to increase the minimum age for marriage to eighteen years of age by passing Senate Bill 1705.

When very young people marry, in Texas and elsewhere, it isn’t always about love. Some parents force their children to marry early, often to older spouses, so that the children will be “taken care of.” Unfortunately, far too many of these unions become abusive, and the younger spouse often feels completely powerless to stand up against the older spouse upon whom they may have become financially dependent.

Former child brides provided compelling testimony in support of raising the minimum age for marriage. One woman was only fourteen years old when she married someone who was twenty-six. She became a mother shortly after that. As she looks back on how her life unfolded, she realizes that she was not at all prepared, either physically or psychologically, for either of those major life changes, let alone both of them so close together. Her marriage lasted four years, and during that time the woman felt powerless because of her age, and she got abused emotionally, physically, verbally, and psychologically. During her marriage, she asked her mother if she could go back home, and she was told “no.” She had been permitted to enter a marriage that she was not legally old enough to make a decision to end. Fortunately, she did divorce her husband when she was able to do so – other child brides remain trapped in abusive marriages because of poverty or the effects of abuse on their psychological well-being that make them feel as though they are unable to leave their marriages.

If the age for marriage gets raised to eighteen, couples who want to marry can get emancipated and then they can marry, or they can wait until they are of age. The protective effects on Texas youth that could result from raising the minimum age for marriage far outweigh the effects of any additional efforts, such as waiting until age eighteen or getting emancipated before then, that couples who were determined to marry would endure on their way to the altar. Since minors would have to get emancipated before they could marry, they would be legally able to divorce if they ever needed to.

In Texas, marriage and divorce laws do occasionally change. If you have any questions about your Texas divorce, a family law attorney can help you find the answers that you need. Call our office at (903) 753-7499 today, to arrange a consultation with Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra. You can also visit us online to complete a convenient online contact form.

Texas DWI Defense Attorney Reports Expansion of Record Sealing Legislation Possible

Friday, May 5th, 2017

The Texas Senate recently approved legislation that would allow individuals who are convicted of single-offense, nonviolent misdemeanors to have a “second chance” by asking a court to seal their criminal records. The bill, House Bill 3016, returned to the House so that the House may consider some changes proposed by the Senate.

If House Bill 3016 passes, it applies retroactively, to any person who ever got convicted of any single-offense nonviolent misdemeanor. Sealed records are just that, records that are hidden from public view. When a person’s record gets sealed, doors are open to them that would have remained closed while their offense was publicly visible on their criminal record. Sealed records are visible to police, and to others who are involved in sensitive industries like education and banking. This legislation is important for Texans because criminal convictions hold people back in many areas of their lives, limiting employment opportunities, housing options, and more. If the legislation passes, it will clear the way for many people who made one-off mistakes to move forward in areas of their lives where the consequences of those mistakes have been holding them back.

The “second-chance” provisions of House Bill 3016 apply to class C misdemeanors, and to DWI convictions where the driver’s blood alcohol level was under 0.15. If the bill becomes law, qualifying DWI defendants could ask a court for an order of nondisclosure after only six months of compliant usage of an ignition interlock device. Alternatively, an order of nondisclosure would be available to qualifying defendants after five years has passed since the time that they completed whatever sentence they got for their DWI. The opportunity for record sealing is not available to defendants that get convicted of crimes that the judge has determined to be sexual or violent in nature, even if it is their first offense. House Bill 3016 is not unique in its purpose. It is designed to build on to legislation that got passed in 2015, which applies to Class A and Class B misdemeanors that are nonsexual in nature and which do not involve family violence.

Texas DWI Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Standing Up for the Rights of Texans Accused of Driving While Intoxicated

If House Bill 3016 passes, it could help you recover from the adverse effects that your DWI conviction has had on your life. If you face DWI charges in Texas, the best thing that you can do is get help from a Texas DWI defense attorney. Your attorney can help you find the answers to the questions that you have about how to proceed with your case, how to minimize the impact of your DWI case on your life, and help you find any other information that you seek.  Arrange for a consultation with Texas DWI Defense Attorney Alex Tyra today, by calling or office at (903) 753-7499. Alternatively, you can set up an initial consultation by submitting an online contact form through our website.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Says Cattle Rustling Isn’t Just a Historical Crime

Monday, May 1st, 2017

Recently, a man got charged with a crime that many people think exists only in legends from days gone by. The man is charged with cattle rustling, stealing cattle. Since the animals that the man got charged with stealing belonged to his very elderly stepfather, it is possible that if the man is convicted, he will receive an enhanced penalty because his stepfather is ninety-seven years old. If the victim of a crime is sixty-five years old or older, any offense against them is a crime against the elderly and eligible for an enhanced penalty.

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is the agency that has authority to investigate cattle rustling cases. When the Special Ranger who was assigned to investigate the case looked into whast had happened, he found that the man took some of his stepfather’s cattle to be auctioned at a cattle market. He sold some of the cattle on behalf of his stepfather but he sold other cattle under his own name and profited more than seven thousand dollars from those sales.

The case above is not a unique occurrence. Special Rangers who work for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association investigated over seven hundred agriculture-related cases last year, many of which involved the unauthorized sale of livestock. The incidence of livestock theft follows the price of meat – when the price of beef is up, more cattle get stolen. When prices fall, there is less incentive to steal cattle, so fewer people do it. Fortunately, unlike the people who were responsible for tracking down cattle rustlers in years past, the Special Rangers have modern tools and technologies to assist them in their quest to catch cattle crooks. Digital databases track every head of cattle sold in Texas. The ear tags that have been used to mark cattle for years have been updated to include tracking devices that are so sophisticated that they are capable of sending notifications to their owners’ smartphones or email addresses. DNA evidence helps prove whether cattle are stolen or not by providing information about their genealogy. Stealing cattle involves a high risk of getting caught, but, unfortunately, that does not deter all would-be cattle thieves. The Rangers report that the people who commit the crime of cattle rustling are often individuals who work on farms and ranches because handling cattle and getting them to market involves both access to cattle and skilled knowledge. Modern cattle thieves don’t operate in a standard manner, sometimes it is just a few head of cattle that get stolen, at other times, massive thefts occur.

The penalties for cattle theft vary, depending upon the amount of head of cattle that get stolen. For example, if fewer than ten head of cattle is involved, the person or people who took the cattle may be charged with a third-degree felony which carried a penalty of up to ten years in jail. If the victim or victims of the crime were over sixty-five years old, additional penalties might get imposed.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Strong Representation for Texas Defendants

If you get charged with any crime, it is essential that you talk with a Texas criminal defense attorney about what to do. The choices that you make now affect how your criminal case affects your life. If you’ve got a Texas criminal law question, call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499, or connect with us through the online contact form on our website.