Pretrial & Defense

A Matter Of Life And Death

A man with his hand pressed up against glass window. Photo via BRANDON THIBODEAUX FOR HUFFPOST

Obel Cruz-Garcia, a 46-year-old Dominican man who did not speak English, sat in a Houston courtroom on a Friday in July 2013. He faced a jury that would decide whether to sentence him to death for the gruesome killing of 6-year-old Angelo Garcia — a crime he has maintained he did not commit. His life, quite literally, depended on the outcome of the case.

Read the rest of this story from Huffington Post.

Texas bill requiring 10-year prison sentences for gun felonies faces opposition from criminal justice and firearm advocates

Semi-automatic weapons are laid on a table at a gun show in San Marcos in January. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune

A Texas bill that would require a 10-year prison sentence for people who use a gun while committing a felony has drawn concern from two groups that aren’t usually on the same side of legislative debates: criminal justice reform advocates and gun rights groups.

Read the rest of this story from the Texas Tribune.

Why Do People Keep Dying in the Harris County Jail?

Incarcerated people are seen in step-down area of the mental heath unit at the Harris County jail. Image via ERIC GAY/AP PHOTO

Like all teenagers, Fred Harris longed for freedom. At 18, he was small: 5 feet tall, 98 pounds. He also acted much younger than his age, which meant other kids bullied him. His mother, Dallas Garcia, told The Appeal and Type Investigations, “[He] didn’t understand, like, just extremely how different he was.”

Read the rest of this story from The Appeal/Type Investigations.

Editorial: Why is Harris County paying private attorneys to do the public defender's job?

Photo via Houston Chronicle: Judge Amy Martin listens to Andre Jackson's defense attorney Jerome Godinich, right, and prosecutor Tiffany Duprie, left, discuss Jackson's case in the Harris County Criminal Courts, Wednesday, June 19, 2019, in Houston.

It'd be easy to make Jeanie Ortiz the poster child for all that ails the Harris County court system. After all, when you scroll through the indigent defense data for Texas, Ortiz is the only defense attorney in the county who raked in more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars representing low-income defendants last year. 

Editorial: Is 1 indictment in jail death of Jaquaree Simmons justice? Ask his mother.

Larhonda Biggles holds a photo of her son, Jaquaree Simmons. Photo via Houston Chronicle

It’s been almost two years since Jaquaree Simmons died after being found unconscious in the Harris County Jail. Shortly after, 11 employees were fired and another six were suspended without pay. But in the months since, his mother LaRhonda Biggles has waited to see how many of them would face criminal charges in the death of her 23-year-old son.

Houston police union, criminal justice attorney differ on reforms amid Tyre Nichols killing, botched Galveston raid

A group of demonstrators protest outside a police precinct in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. photo via Houston Public Media

Five other officers seen on video beating Nichols were fired and charged with second degree murder and other offenses. And locally, Galveston’s police chief Doug Balli has been placed on administrative leave after police botched a raid. While the cases are not related, the two incidents have sparked conversations about police training.

Equal access to the polls includes jail-based voting

Sign at polling place reading Aqui Vote Here

In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court opined that pretrial detainees maintain their right to vote, and in Texas, you do not lose that right if you are convicted of a misdemeanor offense. Nevertheless, localities and the state government have failed to effectively mobilize the necessary resources to create sufficient voting access for incarcerated, eligible voters to cast a ballot during elections.

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