This section went all the way to the United States Supreme Court in Deal v. United States 113 S.Ct. 1993 (1993), in which Mr. Deal got a bad deal at court of 105 years in prison for possessing a firearm during five bank robberies. The Court explored whether “second or…
Thus, if you bring a firearm to a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime, you will have a mandatory minimum of five years in prison. If you brandish it, which means show it or make it visible to other people, it goes up to a mandatory minimum of…
It is a very bad idea to possess a firearm while robbing a bank, committing any federal crime of violence, or trafficking drugs. Congress has imposed stiff, sometimes unconsciounable penalties for doing so. These include mandatory minimums that, with multiple offenses, could get your mandatory minimum sentence into centuries of…
Importantly, the Penal Code does not define what an “explosive or incendiary device” is, which is a big problem in prosecuting a hoax bomb case. The legislature needs to revisit this issue and make the definitions more clear. Under 46.01(2), “‘Explosive weapon’ means any explosive or incendiary bomb, grenade, rocket,…
Irving Police based their investigation on investigation of possession of an explosive weapon or hoax bomb. When it was ruled out that the item was not an explosive weapon, possession of which would be a third degree felony, the fall back statute became possession of a hoax bomb. Texas Penal…
Ahmed Mohamed recently became an international celebrity by being detained by the Irving Police on suspicion of a hoax bomb at school. Mr. Mohamed brought a “rearranged” clock to school in a carrying case which reportedly looked suspiciously like a bomb or bomb detonating device. In the post 9-11 world,…
Section 15.02 of the Texas Penal Code makes criminal conspiracy a crime one level lower than the actual substantive offense. It states: “(a) A person commits criminal conspiracy if, with intent that a felony be committed: (1) he agrees with one or more persons that they or one or more…
Thus, following the shooting, the police had the right to not only arrest any person they observed shooting weapons at others, they would have the right to conduct a protective sweep of not only the outside of the restaurant, but the inside of the restaurant for persons they believed would…
Each biker shooting at other bikers without justification could be arrested for murder or capital murder. It is capital murder in the state of Texas to unlawfully kill two people in the same criminal episode. However, none of these shooters appear to have been identified in the media. It has…
Last week, all the news circled once again around a Waco, Texas law enforcement situation. Twin Peaks restaurant was apparently hosting a “biker” day, and several motorcycle clubs were in town for a meeting of a council of clubs. One Dallas lawyer said the meeting revolved around legislative issues dealing…