Texas Wrongful Death Jail Lawsuit Settles For $375,000 by In June 2006, Navarro County, Texas, agreed to pay $375,000 to the family of a juvenile prisoner who received no medical attention following his imprisonment in the county jail and died the following day. Jesus Martinez, a minor, was arrested on …
Prima Facie Showing of Actual Innocence Defeats Texas Successive Writ Rule by On April 4, 2007, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that a state prisoner may defeat the rule against filing a successive state application for a writ of habeas corpus, Article 11.07, Section 4, Texas Code of …
Texas Attorney General Determines Documents' Exemption After Use of Force Against Prisoner by The Office of the Attorney General (AG) for the State of Texas opined the legal parameters regarding the release of investigative records and polygraph procedures used for testing employees of the Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). This …
Texas DA's Closed Files Exempt From Disclosure Under Act by Harris County, Texas, District Attorney (DA) John Holmes appealed an appellate affirmation ordering the disclosure of "closed" investigative files. The order was reversed because internal records disclosure was not statutorily mandated. Holmes possessed active and closed files of past and …
Texas Grand Jury Information, Prisoners' Record Requests Statutorily Denied by Texas State pro se prisoner Alvin Harrison appealed the dismissal of his petition for a writ of mandamus regarding the 1997 denial of his request for grand jury documents involved in his conviction. Dismissal was affirmed because grand jury documents …
Op-Ed: TYC Facilities Need Independent Oversight by Michele Deitch Op-Ed: TYC Facilities Need Independent Oversight? Michele Deitch?3-22-07 The scandal engulfing the Texas Youth Commission has thus far provoked governmental responses that involve temporary investigative measures. We have heard calls for the appointment of a conservator, a new TYC board, a …
Texas: Late Affidavit of Indigence Satisfies Fee Payment Requirement; Case Dismissed on Remand by On May 26, 2006 the Supreme Court of Texas held that a state court of appeals erred when it dismissed a prisoner's appeal after he filed an affidavit of indigence in response to the court's instructing …
ADA Doesn’t Apply to Police Shooting Mentally Ill by ADA Doesn't Apply to Police Shooting Mentally Ill Claims of excessive force and of assault and battery by the police were precluded by the plaintiff's conviction for assault with a deadly weapon arising from the same events. A police shooting and …
Texas Prison Guard’s Convictions Upheld Again by Texas Prison Guard's Convictions Upheld Again The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) upheld the conviction and sentence of a Texas prison guard for sexual assault and impersonating a police officer. This was the second time the CCA reviewed this case. In 1997, …
Fifth Circuit: No FLSA Minimum Wage for Texas Prisoners by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) did not apply to Texas prisoners working in Texas state prisons. Douglas Loving, a Texas state prisoner, filed a civil rights suit under 42 U.S.C. § …
M.P. v. Texas Youth Commission, TX, Memo on Enforcement, Juvenile Pepper Spray, 2007 TEXAS YOUTH COMMISSION ED OWENS DIMITRIA D. POPE Acting Executive Director Conservator November 27, 2007 To: All TYC Staff From: Dimitria D. Pope Acting Executive Director Steve Foster General Counsel Re: TYC Rule 97.23 (Use of Force) …
Prison Drinking Water and Wastewater Pollution Threaten Environmental Safety Nationwide by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Aging infrastructure concerns are not limited to America's highways, bridges and dams. Today, crumbling, overcrowded prisons and jails nationwide are bursting at the seams -- literally -- leaking environmentally dangerous effluents not just …
Suit Over Death in Rockwall County, Texas, Settles for $100,000 by Rockwall County, Texas, and Lake Pointe Medical Center will pay $100,000 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the mother of a prisoner who died after being turned away from the hospital twice in 2004. Sharon Mann claimed …
Texas Last State in Union to Get Prison Phones by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On May 15, 2007, legislation took effect that brought Texas into the fold of the other 49 states that have prisoner telephones in state prisons. State Senator Letica Van de Putte filed SD 1580, authorizing …
Dallas County Jail Deficient, Says 2006 Report; DOJ Files Suit by Gary Hunter Just over two years ago, the jail in Dallas County, Texas (DCJ) failed state certification inspections and came under fire for numerous high profile cases of prisoner deaths and neglect. A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) report, …
Federal Prisoner Beaten On Texas Recreation Yard Awarded $350,000 by On March 12, 2007, a federal district court awarded $350,000 to a prisoner who was beaten by about 40 other prisoners on the recreation yard of a federal prison in Texas. Plaintiff Luis Garza claimed that while on the recreation …
Texas Jail Pays $200,000 to Settle Rape/Suicide Suit by Val Verde County, Texas and its contract Del Rio jail operator, GEO Group, Inc., agreed in March 2007 to pay $200,000 to the surviving family of a 23-year-old woman prisoner who, upon becoming depressed after being raped in the jail, hung …
M.P. v. Texas Youth Commission, TX, Mot to Enforce Judgment and Dismissal, Pepper Spray, 2007 .' ., (;~\ev:~ ~~o;;;/. ;;,~~' '\;~ """; ,,'\ Vj \;0' . "" \'. C,,. ""J ~. .\:\ ~ CAUSE NO. D-I-GN-07-002998 M.P., by and through his next friend, A.T., D.M., by and through his next …
Texas Parole Board Revamps Urinalysis Procedures by The Texas Parole Board is replacing its old, error-prone drug testing procedure with a new method it says will reduce mistakes and provide for independent confirmation of positive test results?something that has been unavailable in the past. Some aspects of the testing procedure …
Texas Allows Actual Innocence Claim in Non-Capital Habeas Actions by The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has held that a habeas corpus applicant may raise a free-standing claim of actual innocence in a state habeas corpus proceeding. Randolph Roy Sparks, a Texas state prisoner, filed a post-conviction petition for a …
