The Texas Criminal Reports

This reference work was compiled as a resource for those needing assistance in locating Texas criminal justice statistics. R. Scott Harnsberger has compiled more than 600 entries describing statistical sources for Texas crime; criminals; law enforcement; courts and sentencing; adult and juvenile corrections; capital punishment and death row; victims of crime; driving/boating under the influence; traffic fatalities; substance abuse and treatment; polls and rankings; and fiscal topics such as appropriations, revenues, expenditures, and federal aid. The sources for these statistics originate primarily, but not exclusively, from federal and State of Texas agencies, boards, bureaus, commissions, and departments. The following types of publications are included: annual, biennial, and biannual reports; reports issued in series; analytic and research reports; statistical compilations; budgets and other fiscal documents; audits, inspections, and investigations; census publications; polls; projections; rankings; surveys; continuously updated online resources; and datasets. Harnsberger has annotated the entries to provide sufficient detail to enable users to decide whether the listed resources merit further investigation. Additional notes contain URLs and information regarding the scope of the published data; title changes; related publications; and the availability of earlier data, previous editions, online tables, and datasets. This book will prove to be a valuable resource for students, faculty, researchers, government officials, and individuals in the law enforcement, correctional, and judicial professions.

Texas Criminal and Traffic Law Manual: Judicial Edition: To create this special Judicial Edition, we worked in conjunction with the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center to refine and rework the scope of our traditional law enforcement manual to include the most pertinent statutes and rule sets for a practicing attorney, criminal justice professional or sitting judge involved with criminal and traffic related matters.

William L. Wright (1868-1942) was born to be a Texas Ranger, and hard work made him a great one. Wright tried working as a cowboy and farmer, but it did not suit him. Instead, he became a deputy sheriff and then a Ranger in 1899, battling a mob in the Laredo Smallpox Riot, policing both sides in the Reese-Townsend Feud, and winning a gunfight at Cotulla. His need for a better salary led him to leave the Rangers and become a sheriff. He stayed in that office longer than any of his predecessors in Wilson County, keeping the peace during the so-called Bandit Wars, investigating numerous violent crimes, and surviving being stabbed on the gallows by the man he was hanging. When demands for Ranger reform peaked, he was appointed as a captain and served for most of the next twenty years, retiring in 1939 after commanding dozens of Rangers. Wright emerged unscathed from the Canales investigation, enforced Prohibition in South Texas, and policed oil towns in West Texas, as well as tackling many other legal problems. When he retired, he was the only Ranger in service who had worked under seven governors. Wright has also been honored as an inductee into the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame at Waco.

This book highlights the variety of problems that judges, prosecutors, and public defenders face within a criminal justice system that is ineffective, unfair, and extraordinarily expensive. Much of the dysfunction originates from crushing dockets and caseloads combined with the lack of time, expertise, and resources for effective decision-making.

Texas Criminal Procedure and Evidence

This new edition of Texas Criminal Lawyer’s Handbook includes updated coverage of a broad range of issues and new text throughout the book to keep you on the cutting edge of Texas criminal law, procedure and practice. The highlights include: New Text on the following topics: Search and Seizure -- Intrusion Upon Property Principle [§2:21.4] Pretrial DNA Testing In Capital Cases [§12:190] Jury Charge Error [§15:24] Charge of Court – Definitions of Terms [§15:125] Reforming Verdicts [§15:166.1] Promiscuity Defense to Child Sexual Assault Cases – Admissibility to Show Motive or Bias [§17:53.5] Post-Trial Issues – Sufficiency of Serious Bodily Injury Evidence [§21:20.7] Expanded Coverage of the following topics: Search of Particular Places – Curtilage [§2:51] Terry Stops [§3:32.1] Ineffective Counsel [§4:95] Immunity Agreements – Purpose and Policy [§5:92] Two-Step Confessions [§6:34] Previous Jeopardy and Subsequent Prosecutions – When Jeopardy Does Not Attach [§8:21] Defendant’s Motion for Change of Venue [§12:55] Constitutional Speedy Trial Motions [§12:63] Competency of Defendant to Stand Trial – Appeal [§12:165] Guilty Pleas – Waivers of Rights [§12:172] Involuntary Pleas [§12: 174.3] Discovery – Exculpatory, Mitigating or Impeaching Evidence [§13:53] Jury Selection/Voir Dire: Challenges for Cause – Bias or Prejudice as a Matter of Law [§14:64] Trial Issues: Impeachment – Bias, Interest, Motive [§15:24.1.1] Deadly Weapon Allegations and Findings – Entry of Finding in the Judgment [§15:78] Mental Status Defenses – Intellectual Disability/Mental Retardation [§15:105.6] Electronic Evidence – Cell Phones [§16:38.3.2] Admissibility of Scientific Evidence – DNA Evidence [§16:52.3.2] Blood Testing and DWI Cases [§16:52.5] Punishment Phase – Enhancement Allegations and Evidence [§20:21] Sudden Passion Evidence in Murder Cases [§20:30] Habeas Corpus – Time Credits [§21:78] Post-Conviction DNA Testing [§21:80]