Two of the dozen or more individuals who are allegedly involved in an organized crime ring recently entered guilty pleas. One man received a fifteen-year prison sentence, and the other was sentenced to twenty-eight years in prison for his role in stealing approximately eighty thousand dollars’ worth of ATVs.  A third individual is alleged to have participated directly in the theft, and about ten other people were allegedly involved in indirect ways before, during, and after the theft took place.

The two men, along with a couple of accomplices, participated in a similar ATV theft one week after the first theft, this time in Louisiana. After an anonymous tip set into motion a chain of events that included gathering evidence and arresting accomplices, authorities were able to unravel the details of the ATV thefts and make connections between those crimes and other ATV thefts and rooftop burglaries which had occurred throughout several states.

The two men were apprehended earlier this year, and at the time of their arrest, authorities seized cell phones which provided multiple types of evidence that implicated them in the organized crime activities for which they recently entered guilty pleas.

Some crimes are isolated incidents, but other crimes are part of something more complicated. When people work together to plan and carry out a series of crimes, they are subject to organized crime charges in addition to charges for whatever criminal activities they have allegedly participated in. Chapter 71 of the Texas Penal Code describes organized crime and sets out the penalty scheme for various activities that fall into the category of organized crime. Basically, a defendant who is accused of any crime or any combination of crimes can also be accused of being a part of organized criminal activity if it can be shown that they committed the crime or combination of crimes “with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang”. (Texas Penal Code Section 71.02)

It is important that people understand that actual participation in the crimes is not a prerequisite for organized crime charges. In addition to direct involvement or indirect involvement, an individual may be charged with conspiring to commit organized crime.

Sometimes, one or more of the people who are participating in an organized crime scheme withdraw fully from it before it is completed. Some of these people may even go so far as to renounce their involvement in it, and they might even inform authorities of the plans that had been made. Renunciation is a defense to organized crime charges, but just like any other defense to any crime, its effectiveness is directly tied to the facts of the situation.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Defending Texans against Criminal Charges

If you have been charged with organized crime, you need someone in your corner who can safeguard your rights and build the best possible case on your behalf. If you have been charged with organized crime and you have questions, please call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499. Alternatively, you may contact us online.

If you like wild animals like exotic cats, bears, or primates, you may have wondered whether you can keep one as a pet. In Texas, people may keep some dangerous wild animals like tigers, jaguars, lynx, coyotes, monkeys, and other similar animals as pets provided that the individual who is keeping the animal applies for a permit to do so and renews that permit annually.

A woman was recently arrested and charged with theft and child endangerment after it was discovered that she was keeping dangerous animals in her home. She had sold one of the animals, a Savannah kitten, to a man in California, but he never received the kitten because she claimed that it was sick. The woman fled to Nevada with her daughter and the animals, presumably because she feared that she would be found out. She was located in Nevada; the animals were confiscated, and authorities took her into custody.

Since it is illegal to keep dangerous wild animals as pets without registering them, it is important for would-be exotic pet owners to know about the requirements for registration. The rules appear in the Texas Health and Safety Code, and the registration requirement appears in § 822.103, which specifies, among other things that a person may not keep a dangerous wild animal unless they obtain a certificate of registration from the applicable animal registration agency. Registration certificates are not transferable, applicants may have to pay a fee, and certificates must be renewed annually.

When someone wants to apply for permission to keep a dangerous wild animal, they must provide information about themselves, information about the animal that they wish to own, information about where the animal will live and its enclosure, and give permission for the agency that would issue the application to inspect the animal and its home to ensure that it is being kept safe and taken care of. If the person gets permission to keep the animal and the animal attacks someone, the owner must notify the agency that issued the registration certificate right away.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Defending Texans against Criminal Charges

Texas has more permissive rules for keeping dangerous wild animals as pets than many other states do. However, there are laws that govern the keeping of these animals, and they must be followed to protect the health and safety of the animals and other humans. Failing to register your exotic pet could not only cost you your pet, but it could also carry financial and other penalties that you can avoid by following the registration and renewal requirements. If you make a mistake and fail to register your animal or to renew your registration, speak with an attorney right away. Your Texas criminal defense attorney has a working understanding of the law, and they will use that knowledge to build a strong case on your behalf. If you have been charged with keeping a dangerous wild animal in violation of the law or with some other crime related to animals and you have questions, please call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499. Alternatively, you may contact us online.

The use of DNA evidence in criminal cases continues to increase, as does the amount of research that dedicated to understanding how it works and how to use it responsibly. Recent concerns regarding the probabilities that scientists use and prosecutors rely upon in explaining the degree of conclusiveness associated with DNA evidence may lead to a reopening of thousands of criminal case verdicts across the state.

The science of the collection and analysis of DNA evidence is constantly changing and evolving. The evolution of our knowledge about DNA and how to use it as evidence is, of course, a positive thing. As is the case with any other scientific issue, the movement towards a greater understanding of the issue is the very aim of the scientific process. Unfortunately, as our knowledge and experience with DNA evidence increases, we sometimes learn that we have not been able to determine things with the degree of certainty that we had thought that we could.

The advancements that scientists have made regarding the probability by which a particular DNA profile appears at random in the population cast doubt on the current probabilities described to jurors in association with the use of DNA samples in cases where DNA from two or more people was present at the crime scene. These cases are commonly referred to as “mixed” DNA cases. DNA evidence is often described as being a type of evidence that can help jurors answer the question of how likely it is that a particular event occurred.

The potential implications of the concern regarding the accuracy of the probabilities associated with DNA evidence are serious. Since 1999, there have been more than twenty-five thousand Texas criminal cases involving mixed DNA evidence. It is possible that some of the defendants convicted by juries who analyzed the evidence presented to them after hearing what we now know to be inaccurate statements regarding the credibility and certainty of DNA evidence were wrongfully convicted. If retrials are necessary, the defendants, the crime victims, and their families must all repeat the painful process of reliving the trial and hearing all of the evidence again.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – The Strong Defense That You Need

The concerns regarding the analysis of DNA evidence are not likely to reduce its role in criminal cases. Fortunately, criminal defense attorneys can learn about advances in the field of DNA evidence just as quickly as prosecutors, forensic experts, and others who are involved in the criminal case process. Your criminal defense attorney can stay on top of the most current knowledge regarding DNA evidence and use that knowledge to help you if your case involves DNA evidence. Even if your case does not involve DNA evidence, your Texas Criminal Defense Attorney has an up to date working knowledge of all of the types of evidence used in criminal cases, which they will use to build a strong case on your behalf. If you are charged with any type of crime, please call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499. Alternatively, you may contact us online.

If you have been charged with a drug crime, you are probably rather concerned about how it will impact your present situation as well as your future. If you know that you did not commit the offense, you may be even more worried and you may wonder whether there is any way that you will be able to show the court that you did not commit the offense. This is a real concern because sometimes, individuals are wrongfully convicted of drug crimes.

One example of a wrongful drug crime conviction occurred when a Houston police officer plucked a spot of white powder off the floorboard of the defendant’s car after he had just detailed it. The officer tested the powder with a simple test kit that is known to have a high error rate, and it came back positive for cocaine. No one mentioned that the sample would be tested by a crime lab to double check the officer’s test kit result. Although the driver maintained his innocence, he accepted a plea deal because a conviction could have given him up to thirty years in prison. Seven years later, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office notified him that there had been no cocaine found in the sample. After successfully filing a writ of habeas corpus with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, he was finally exonerated.

Unfortunately, that driver’s story is not the only story where crime lab test results could exonerate a defendant who was convicted of a drug offense. Nearly three hundred similar instances have been revealed by a recent audit of drug cases by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. In all of these cases, roadside tests or officers’ observations were used to establish probable cause for the arrests. While roadside drug tests are not very accurate and cannot be used as evidence, they are still used to establish probable cause which leads to arrest.

In many of the wrongful convictions discovered during the audit, the defendants sat in jail as they awaited trial because they were unable to post bail. Drug offenders, including misdemeanor drug offenders with little or no criminal history, are often required to post bail. Some of these defendants even accepted plea deals to get out of jail faster even though they had done nothing wrong.

One of the effects of the audit was a change in the District Attorney’s policies. Prosecutors generally won’t  accept a guilty plea in a felony drug cases before they receive lab reports that confirm the evidence. However, defendants should know that plea deals are still accepted prior to lab testing in misdemeanor drug cases and in select types of felony cases which enable jailed defendants to qualify for probation.

The reason that test results are not always readily available is that lab officials had implemented system for drug testing that had test results coming back months or even years after the defendant entered their guilty plea. Some test results showed officer errors like misidentification that led to the arrests. Overall, the audit demonstrated that drug case evidence could be flawed, and that is something that each defendant can remember to explore with their attorney as they proceed through the stages of their criminal matter.

Facing drug charges can be tough, but you do not have to go it alone. A knowledgeable East Texas Defense Attorney can help you navigate your criminal case all the way through to its resolution. To learn more, call attorney Alex Tyra today at (903) 753-7499 to schedule your free consultation.

There is an interesting bit of misinformation that has been making the rounds, and it has resulted in an unusual crime trend. The Texas police report that the number of offenses committed by people carrying imitation weapons is on the rise. One possible reason for the trend makes perfect sense – imitation weapons like bb guns are inexpensive, easy to obtain without any background check, and effective because they are realistic looking enough to intimidate people. There is also another reason that people choose to use imitation weapons to commit crimes. Some people believe that if a weapon used in the commission of a crime is not real, the person who used the weapon during the crime will not be punished as harshly as they would had they been holding or using an actual gun.  That is simply not true, and, as you might imagine, some unsuspecting folks have gotten some rather unpleasant surprises after they committed crimes using imitation weapons.

In Texas, if a person uses an imitation gun while committing a crime and the victim of the crime believes it to be real, the individual who committed the crime can be charged with a first-degree felony. The maximum sentence that could follow a conviction on a charge like that is incarceration for life. Many different types of crimes have been committed by individuals armed with fake guns. From armed robbers to gang members disturbing the peace, the use of imitation weapons appears to have broad appeal.

The severity of the charges that can follow a crime committed with an imitation weapon are just one type of unpleasant surprise that a criminal can encounter when using a fake gun. Many Texans are licensed to carry firearms, and if someone who has a real gun by their side believes that they are about to be shot, or someone else is in danger of being shot, you can pretty much guess what happens next. The same goes for police officers – if an individual is brandishing a gun, an officer does not have any meaningful opportunity to examine it to determine whether it is real before they act to protect their life and the lives of others around them. Many imitation weapons are nearly impossible to distinguish from their authentic counterparts at any distance, and it is even harder to see what a gun looks like when the person holding it is concealed, in a dark area, moving, or waving the gun around.

Some states have banned the sale of realistic imitation weapons, and while Texas may eventually join in the effort, there is no such law here right now In the areas that do have those restrictions, imitation guns must have distinguishing characteristics, such as brightly colored stripes down the barrel.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Protecting the Rights of all Texans

Whether the gun crime that you are facing charges for involved a real or an imitation weapon, a conviction could have many effects on your life. An experienced Texas criminal defense attorney can help you understand the possible consequences of a conviction, as well as possible strategies for avoiding conviction. If you would like to learn more about how Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra could help you, call our office today, at (903) 753-7499.