Understanding Court Records and Who Can Access Them One of the most common questions asked by clients who face criminal charges is whether the public will be able to access their records. The answer is that it often depends on what court records are involved. If you are not certain whether records are open to… Read More
Understanding Probable Cause vs Reasonable Suspicion The Fourth Amendment protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures. To determine whether law enforcement has an adequate standard of proof to perform a search or seizure can be a particularly complicated question. To protect your rights, not only is it helpful to know how to respond to law… Read More
Understanding What Counts as Insurance Fraud Most people who own motor vehicles or businesses rely on insurance in case an unexpected accident occurs. Unfortunately, some people attempt to fraudulently use insurance in cases for which coverage does not apply. Other times, people end up charged with insurance fraud when they did not do anything illegal… Read More
How Post-Conviction Relief Can Help Your Case Even after being convicted of a federal offense and running out of appeal options, there is a potential in some situations to obtain relief for the offense for which you have been charged. This term is called post-conviction relief. Many times, this relief comes in the form of… Read More
What Happens During Pretrial? While many people are familiar with the trial process, few people know what exactly occurs during the pre-trial period. In reality, this phase of a criminal case is an extremely important role. In many cases, pre-trials have a significant influence on what ends up happening during the trial. For this reason,… Read More
Understanding the Process of Felony Expungement Also called record sealing, felony expungement refers to the process by which felony charges are deleted from a person’s criminal record. Once an expungement is obtained it is like the offense never occurred. The possibility of obtaining a felony expungement depends on a number of circumstances, including whether the… Read More
Federal Indictment Meaning & More An indictment is a type of formal accusation against one or more defendants that charges the individuals with one or more offenses. In federal courts of law, prosecution relies on the indictment as the primary method to initiate criminal proceedings. If you find yourself faced with a federal indictment, contact… Read More
Wire Fraud Charges in Criminal Law Federal prosecutors often pursue wire fraud charges when they lack sufficient evidence on which to base another charge. Other times, the offense is charged as a way to make a person face federal charges for a crime that would otherwise be pursued in a state court. The offense can… Read More
The Severity of a Probation Violation It is uncommon for a person who is convicted of a federal crime to receive a probation sentence without any other type of penalties, but it does happen. More often, though, a person is required to serve a probation term after being released from federal prison. Based on the… Read More
Three years after being sentenced to federal prison for the receipt of bribes from a San Antonio lawyer, a former district judge lost an appeal. Part of the appeal alleges that the man’s former attorneys convinced him not to cooperate with an FBI investigation because these attorneys were among those being investigated. Due to this… Read More