JOHN T. FLOYD LAW FIRM
Houston Criminal
Lawyer
EXPERIENCED CRIMINAL
DEFENSE LAWYER
TRIALS, SENTENCINGS, AND APPEALS
FEDERAL AND STATE CRIMINAL DEFENSE
"Serious Criminal Defense in Houston "
Comments on Current Events In Criminal Law
November 12, 2007
U.S. CONSTITUTION IMPALED ON THE SWORD OF FANATICISM
HOUSTON CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY Discusses The United States Supreme Court’s Refusal To Hear El-Masri And Allegations Of CIA Torture
November 05, 2007
LEON “ACE BOON-COON” HORNE: THE KILLER OF A WOMAN
I worked in the prison laundry at the David Wade Correctional Center in Homer, Louisiana with Leon Horne.
October 29, 2007
YET ANOTHER HARRIS COUNTY DNA EXONERATION
Houston Criminal Defense Attorneys Beware! Exoneration Marks Third Criminal Defendant Wrongfully Convicted Because of Mishandling of Evidence by the Houston Police Crime Lab
October 22, 2007
CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS KNOW FIRST HAND THE FBI CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH UNCHECKED INVESTIGATIVE POWERS, ADMINISTRATIVE SUBPOENAS
The USA Patriot Act was became law on October 26, 2001 – some six weeks after the 9/11 terrorists attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The Act increased the government’s surveillance powers in both criminal and intelligence investigations, permitting an easier process for the law enforcement and intelligence communities to share information while conducting these two types of investigations.
October 15, 2007
POLICE POWERS VERSUS RIGHT OF PRIVACY/FREE SPEECH
Criminal Defense Attorneys Will Face Expanded Use of State WireTapping
The Texas Legislature recently increased the powers of law enforcement to conduct electronic surveillance. The new legislation (SB823) allows cities with populations of 500,000 or more to operate their own “pen register” devices that have the capacity to capture real time outgoing telephone numbers dialed from a targeted telephone.
October 08, 2007
CRIME VICTIMS MOVEMENT AND THE DEATH PENALTY
Essay by Billy Wayne Sinclair
E-mail Billy Wayne Sinclair - Billy@JohnTFloyd.com
Newton Anderson was put to death by lethal injection in Texas on February 22, 2007 for a double murder that occurred eight years ago.
October 01, 2007
STATEMENTS OF CO-CONSPIRATORS
Criminal Defense Attorneys must Fight to Prevent Admission of Prejudicial Statements of Unindicted Co-Conspirators
September 24, 2007
Expert Testimony in Child Pornography Cases
In a previous Web Front Page Column (CHILD PORN: WHAT IS VIRTUAL, WHAT IS REAL), it was pointed out that in federal child pornography prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(B) the Government is under no statutory or constitutional obligation to present “expert testimony” that the alleged pornographic images are of a real child. See, United States v. Rodriquez-Pacheco, 475 F.3d 434 (1st Cir. 2007). While the government has a constitutional burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the alleged pornographic images are of a real, non-virtual child, the matter is an issue of fact to be decided by the jury and those determinations can be based on the actual images, videotapes, photographs, etc., absent expert testimony. Id,, at 444.
September 17, 2007
FISA AND THE PROTECT AMERICA ACT OF 2007
Criminal Defense Lawyers Will Find Evidence Obtained By Secret FISA Warrants Can Be Used In Domestic Criminal Prosecutions
September 10, 2007
A FORGOTTEN PRISON DEATH
Essay by Billy Wayne Sinclair
E-mail Billy Wayne Sinclair Billy@JohnTFloyd.com
“This is why we love our jobs,” the tall, lanky prison Colonel shouted as he stormed up and down the cellblock tier.
September 3, 2007
THE LETHAL INJECTION PROTOCAL
Essay by Billy Wayne Sinclair
E-mail - Billy Wayne Sinclair - Billy@JohnTFloyd.com
Philip Ray Workman was executed in the Tennessee death chamber on May 9, 2007.
Twenty-six years before, on August 5, 1981, Workman robbed a Wendy’s restaurant in Memphis. He forced all the employees and a customer into the manager’s office where he collected the day’s receipts into a bag. See, Workman v. Bredesen, ____ F.3d _____, 2007 WL 1311330 (6th Cir. Tenn.) [May 7, 2007].
August 27, 2007
INTERNET SEARCH FOR TEEN SEX A COSTLY PROPOSITION
Chris C. was really a small town gentleman living in a big city, Houston, Texas. He was married, mid-40s, professional with a nice home, and a secure job. All outward appearances indicated he was a normal, hard-working husband/father, but he had a problem. He had a perverse desire to have sex with a teenage girl. He wanted the sex to be safe, anonymous, and away from home. He had heard of the opportunities to find such sex on the Internet. He was initially hesitant, afraid, knowing that the Internet was filled with traps.
August 20, 2007
Punishments for Convictions Upon Multiple Counts of Indecency with a Child, Sexual Assault of a Child, Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, and Incest Can be Stacked and Run Consecutively
Multiple counts in an indictment can charge different discreet and specific criminal acts. Multiple instances of certain sex crimes involving children have been specifically defined as arising out of or being part of the same criminal episode. Section 3.03 of the Texas Penal Code expressly authorizes sentences arising from convictions on multiple counts of sex crimes against children to run concurrently or consecutively. Stacking punishments can therefore be authorized in cases involving multiple acts against a single victim or single acts committed upon multiple victims. Therefore, it is possible that a single indictment against a single defendant could allege hundreds of counts of sexual assault of a child upon which a conviction could be had on each count and the sentences for each count stacked.
August 13, 2007
Online Solicitation of a Minor The Impact of Adam Walsh on 18 U.S.C. § 2422(B)
It was a perfect photo op: President George W. Bush surrounded by crime victim advocates and key Congressional leaders as he signed on July 27, 2006 the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.”
August 06, 2007
Online Solicitation of a Minor The Impact of Adam Walsh on 18 U.S.C. § 2422(B)
It was a perfect photo op: President George W. Bush surrounded by crime victim advocates and key Congressional leaders as he signed on July 27, 2006 the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.”
Twenty-six years ago young Adam Walsh was abducted from a Florida department store and murdered. His parents, John and Rev, have waged relentless, high-profile efforts to protect children from “sex predators.” The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was the result of their efforts, and the efforts of many other parents of murdered children who lobbied Congress for the key component of the Act: an expanded National Sex Offender Registry, imposing up to a maximum of twenty years for sex offenders who do not register.
The second key component of the Act is that it increased the minimum sentence that can be imposed for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) from five to ten years. Section 2422(b) provides:
July 30, 2007
HOUSTON CRIME LAB NEEDS SPECIAL MASTER
Two years ago the “crime lab” for the Houston Police Department was a national scandal. Its shoddy analysis and unprofessional investigation protocol had apparently resulted in the conviction of scores of innocent criminal defendants. Mayor Bob White vowed to clean up the disgraceful mess and restore law enforcement integrity to the crime laboratory. Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department inspector, was assigned the task of investigating the crime lab, its procedures, and issue recommendations. Bromwich fulfilled his commission on June 13, 2007 when he issued a 400-page report whose recommendations were not readily embraced by the very city officials who pushed for Bromwich’s investigation in 2005.
July 24, 2007
Rule Against Multiplicity and Child Pornography Crimes, United States v. Buchanan, No. 04-41364 (5th Cir. 04/10/07)
18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2) provides:
(a) Any person who –
(2) knowingly receives or distributes, any visual depiction that has been mailed, or has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or which contains materials which have been mailed or so shipped or transported, by any means, including computer, or knowingly reproduces any visual depiction for distribution in interstate or foreign commerce or through the mails, if –
July 16, 2007
THE EXECUTION OF ROBERT WAYNE WILLIAMS
Essay by Billy Wayne Sinclair
E-mail Billy Wayne Sinclair: Billy@JohnTFloyd.com
The death penalty is state lynching.
It is an evil response to the primal need in man to take revenge. This need was graphically illustrated in a dank, foul-smelling Iraqi death chamber moments before Saddam Hussein’s neck was snapped by the hangman’s noose in December 2006 as his enemies celebrated.
July 11, 2007
Court Allows U.S. Citizen to be Executed in Iraq
Mohammad Munaf is an American citizen. In 2005 he traveled to Iraq where, one year later, he was convicted on kidnapping charges and sentenced to death by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. See, Munaf v. Green, WL 1029074 (D.C. Cir. 04/06/07)
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