Tag Archive for: Longview criminal defense attorney

When it Comes to Drugs, The Nose Does Not Always Know

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If you are facing drug charges in a case where a drug sniffing dog or a police officer’s assertion that he or she smelled marijuana was the reason that you, your vehicle, or your property was searched, refuting the reliability of drug dogs and officer smell tests may play an important role in your defense. Even though both drug dogs and an officer’s sense of smell are permitted to serve as the basis for a search under Texas law, numerous studies have found both methods to be unreliable predictors of the presence of drugs.

For example, a pair of studies suggests that there are two fundamental flaws with relying on trained dogs to detect drugs. Both a study which was conducted by the Chicago Tribune and a study which was published in the Journal of Animal Cognition by Researchers from the University of California at Davis suggest that drug dogs often alert in areas where drugs are not present and have not been present. The frequency of false alerts is so high that the dogs are actually wrong more often than they are right.

The same two studies also pointed to something even more disturbing regarding drug dogs’ abilities to sniff out illegal substances. We all know that dogs are incredibly sensitive to even the most subtle feelings of the people that they have close relationships with. Drug dogs have strong bonds with their handlers, and when those handlers believe that drugs are present in a situation, the dogs are likely to alert even if there are no drugs in the area. Also, if a dog’s handler has any racial bias, the dog that they are handling will often alert on people of the race that the handler is biased against, whether or not drugs are present.

Police officers are allowed to stop or arrest and search people if they believe that they smell marijuana. As you can imagine, this results in quite a few searches. Two studies that were published in Law and Human Behavior examined the reliability of the officer smell test. One study found that officers who stand at a driver’s window and assert that they can smell marijuana that is supposedly in the trunk of the vehicle are not actually able to detect that odor from that position, because of other smells that are normally present during a roadside traffic stop, such as diesel fuel. The second study examined an even more improbable situation, where officers assert that they can smell marijuana in the chimney fumes from a marijuana growing facility. As one might expect, the study found that this simply does not happen.

Fortunately, Texas courts are becoming increasingly aware of the problems associated with relying on drug sniffing dogs and police officers’ noses to detect the presence of controlled substances. In 2010, the highest criminal court in Texas overturned a conviction based on identification of the suspect by a drug sniffing dog. Winfrey v. State, 323 S.W. 3rd 875 (2010)

If the search that led to your drug charges occurred because a drug sniffing dog alerted near you or a police officer believed that they smelled marijuana near you, that search may have been invalid. A knowledgeable East Texas defense attorney can help you to present your best possible case to the court and help you to achieve the best possible results under the circumstances. To learn more, call Longview criminal defense attorney Alex Tyra today to schedule your free consultation. We can be reached at (903) 753-7499, or you may visit website to submit a convenient online contact form.

 

How to Start Building Your Criminal Defense Case Now

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There are many stages that a criminal case passes through before it runs its course. From the arrest and booking to the arraignment, pre-trial hearings, and trial, there are many opportunities for a defendant to put his or her best foot forward and make a case for the reduction or dismissal of his or her charges.  Accordingly, if you are currently facing criminal charges in Texas, there are a few things that you can do that could improve the outcome of your case.

One essential ingredient for a successful criminal defense is information. Your Texas criminal defense lawyer needs information from you so that they can approach your defense from as many angles as possible. If your lawyer asks you for information, get it to them as quickly as you can so that they can decide how they will use it. The same is also true when you have questions about your case. Your attorney has a wealth of knowledge and information about criminal law, and you can access that knowledge by asking questions when you are confused, concerned, or simply want to know more about something. Statistics have shown that clients who are responsive to their attorneys’ requests for information and other communications, and who ask questions when they have a need for information, are more satisfied with the outcomes of their cases than clients who are not actively involved in communicating with their attorneys.

If drug or alcohol use is associated with the criminal charges that you are facing, then substance abuse counseling and/or treatment are likely to be required of you during probation. You can get a head start on addressing any substance abuse issues that you may have by finding an appropriate doctor, treatment facility or counseling provider and beginning to work on those issues now. When you go to court, there is a good chance that whatever program or treatment you are using can become part of your probation, if you can show that it is working for you. Choosing your own doctor, counselor or treatment program gives you the best chance at successfully addressing your substance abuse issues, instead of letting the court decide which programs you will attend.

A third thing that you can do which will both benefit you and help you to present a solid case in court is to continue doing those things that you were doing prior to your arrest which were good things. If you can keep working at your job, do it. If you were in school, stick with it. Some people let things fall to pieces after they have been arrested, and this often creates problems that extend beyond the consequences of the original arrest. Continuing on with your life’s positive endeavors is a great thing for both you and your criminal case because it can help you to remain confident that you will have a positive outcome, and because it creates an image of you as a generally law-abiding citizen who made a mistake.

An experienced Longview criminal defense attorney can help you to navigate your criminal case, from start to finish. Schedule a free consultation with East Texas criminal defense attorney Alex Tyra today, by calling (903) 753-7499, or visit our law firm website to submit an online contact form.

 

Sex, Drugs, and the Entrapment Defense in Texas

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The defense of entrapment is something that many people have heard about, yet few people fully understand. Typically, people think about entrapment when someone is arrested for committing a drug or sex crime, especially during law enforcement “sting” operations.  Some people mistakenly believe that any time a police officer or other government official “sets up” a situation in which a person commits a crime, (such as soliciting a prostitute or selling drugs), there automatically is a case of entrapment. This is simply not true, and, unfortunately, this mistaken belief may provide some criminal defendants with the false hope of getting their charges reduced or dismissed.

In reality, true cases of entrapment are actually quite rare.  Law enforcement officials are well aware that if they cross the line between merely providing an individual with an opportunity to engage in criminal activity and convincing an individual to commit a crime through the use of persuasion, then their case will not succeed. Texas uses an objective standard to determine whether entrapment has occurred in any particular case.  In applying the objective standard, the courts look at the actions of the police officers and any individuals that were working under the officers’ direction in carrying out the scenario that led to the purported entrapment. If the court determines that the actions of the officers and/or the individuals assisting them were calculated to induce, seduce, coerce, or otherwise cause someone to commit a crime, then a defense of entrapment may be successful.

Examples of inappropriate action by law enforcement include sexual favors, excessive financial incentives, and repeated requests combined with emotionally charged stories. Perhaps the best way to explain entrapment is to distinguish situations where entrapment actually occurs from situations in which a person is merely afforded an opportunity to commit a crime and freely chooses to do so. For example, if an undercover police officer asks a person multiple times over the course of a few weeks if he can buy drugs from them, and eventually asserts that he wants to buy the drugs so that he can give them to his mother, who has only days to live and is in extreme pain, than an entrapment defense may succeed because of the officer’s over-the-top behavior. On the other hand, if an undercover police officer dresses like a prostitute and stands near the street, and a someone drives over to where she is standing and asks her how much money it would cost for him to have sex with her, that individual will probably not be successful in asserting an entrapment defense because the undercover officer merely provided an opportunity for the crime of soliciting prostitution to occur.

If you have been charged with a drug crime or a sex crime and you feel as though you were coerced, bullied, badgered, or otherwise strong-armed into committing an unlawful act, you may be able to use the defense of entrapment. A knowledgeable Longview criminal defense attorney like Alex Tyra can help you to determine whether the defense of entrapment is available to your particular case. Call our Longview office for a free consultation, at (903) 753-7499, or submit a case contact form via our law firm website.

Stolen Guns are a Texas Sized Problem in the Lone Star State

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Did you know that more guns are stolen in Texas than in any other state?   It makes sense, if you think about it, because Texas has a larger population than many states. Not only that, but when you consider that many Texans own firearms, it is not really a surprising statistic. Earlier this year, the President ordered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to conduct a study and report the number of firearms that have been reported lost or stolen on a state – by – state basis. Nearly nineteen thousand guns were reported stolen or lost in Texas last year. Of course, there is no data available on the total amount of firearms that were lost or stolen, because many more guns are stolen than are actually reported as stolen.

Stolen guns pose a greater threat to the public than guns that are purchased legitimately. Many guns that are stolen from private individuals or businesses are later used to commit crimes, and many of these guns are recovered at the scenes of the crimes. If your gun turns up at the scene of a crime, you may be facing even bigger problems than whether or not you will get your stolen gun back. When you take precautions to prevent gun theft, you not only reduce the chance that one or more of your guns will be stolen, you reduce the chance that one or more of your guns will make it into the hands of a criminal who uses it to commit a crime.

Your first line of defense against criminals stealing your gun and using it to commit crimes is to keep it stored in a secure place. In case you are wondering, a locked vehicle is not necessarily a secure place, especially if the gun is within view of people looking inside of your vehicle. A gun safe really is your best bet, especially one which can be mounted to your wall or floor. Not only do gun safes reduce (and practically eliminate) the chance of your guns being stolen, they help to keep your family and children safe, too. In addition to keeping your gun locked away in a safe place, it is important that you keep a file or notebook of detailed information about your guns, including pictures, serial numbers, and detailed descriptions as well as service records. This information can be used to file a report if one of your guns does get stolen, and can help you to prove that the gun is yours if it is eventually recovered. One other way that gun owners can prevent gun theft is to be very careful about lending your firearms to anyone. If the borrower does not keep your gun in a secure place, other people whom you did not authorize to borrow your gun may have access to it and it may end up in the wrong hands.

If your gun is lost or stolen, it is a good idea to report it even though Texas law does not currently require that you do so. Many stolen guns that are used to commit crimes are left at the crime scenes, where they are discovered by police. Reporting your gun as stolen can help you to clear your name if your stolen gun is later used during the commission of a crime. It can also increase the chances that your gun will eventually be returned to you.

Gun theft is a big problem in Texas. If you live in East Texas and your stolen gun has been used to commit a crime, contact The Law Office of Alex Tyra, P.C., for a free consultation at (903) 753-7499. Phone calls are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.