Tag Archives: Court of Criminal Appeals

David Temple re-trial starts

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The beginning of the next chapter in a long story. For the second time in 12 years, a former Katy-area football coach is standing trial in the murder of his pregnant wife, seeking exoneration after prosecutorial misconduct caused his first … Continue reading →

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Will Ken Paxton ever be prosecuted?

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

At this point, I’d have to say it’s very unlikely. After mulling the question for nearly six months, the nine Republican judges on Texas’ highest criminal court will not reconsider their 2018 ruling that threatens to imperil the criminal case … Continue reading →

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Bills to restore Open Meetings Act filed

Posted on March 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This is good to see. Two state legislators are aiming to restore a provision of the Texas Open Meetings Act that was struck down last week by the state’s highest criminal court. Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and Rep. Dade Phelan, … Continue reading →

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Not so open meetings

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll have to see how big a deal this is. In a major blow to the state’s government transparency laws, Texas’ highest criminal court has struck down a significant provision of the Texas Open Meetings Act, calling it “unconstitutionally vague.” … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutors take their shot at a do-over

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck. In a fiery filing that amounts to a legal Hail Mary, the attorneys appointed to prosecute Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton implored the state’s highest criminal court to take the unusual step of considering their case again because … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutors want another shot

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck. The attorneys appointed to prosecute Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton indicated in a court filing this week that they aren’t giving up a long-running fight to take the state’s top lawyer to court — at least not yet. … Continue reading →

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So you want to run for something in 2020

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

You’re an ambitious Democrat in Harris County. You saw what happened these last two elections, and you think it’s your time to step up and run for office. What are your options that don’t involved primarying a Democratic incumbent? 1. … Continue reading →

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CCA may have killed the Paxton prosecution

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. Just, ugh. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday potentially imperiled the long-delayed criminal prosecution of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, ruling that payments to special prosecutors were outside legal limits. If they cannot get paid, the prosecutors … Continue reading →

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Initial reactions: Statewide

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to do a few of these “Initial reaction” posts about Tuesday’s elections as I try to make sense of all that happened. Here we go. Let me start with a number. Two numbers, actually: 4,017,851 and 48.26%. The … Continue reading →

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A broader look at the statewide judicial races

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib: Judicial candidates are subject to strict campaign finance restrictions, making it difficult to get their names out across a state of 28 million. And they must walk a difficult line as they campaign, running as partisans without … Continue reading →

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“The least-discussed vulnerable Republican on the ballot”

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From Grits: Grits does not expect Beto O’Rourke to win. But if he were to pull off the upset, many other dominos could fall in succession as a result, with at least three Republican senators, Texas’ Attorney General, and potentially … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Don’t forget the judges

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron got some national buzz for their blanket non-endorsement of judges who support the current bail structure, but overall they’re supported a large number of Republican incumbents on the bench. Not all by any means, but well more than … Continue reading →

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Partisan statewide judicial elections upheld

Posted on September 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’d totally forgotten about this lawsuit. A federal judge has rejected a race-based challenge to the way Texans fill seats on the state’s highest courts. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi handed the state of Texas a … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect a Ken Paxton trial to happen this year

Posted on June 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Delays, delays, nothing but delays. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was indicted for fraud nearly three years ago but is unlikely to go on trial before Election Day. Paxton’s trials are on hold while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decides whether the prosecutors on the case are … Continue reading →

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CCA refuses to hear Ron Reynolds’ appeal

Posted on May 24, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting awfully close to midnight. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has refused to review state Rep. Ron Reynolds’ criminal conviction and one-year jail sentence, according to online court records. The Missouri City Democrat had asked the court to … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit over how judges are elected statewide goes to trial

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Hey, remember that lawsuit that argued that statewide elections of judges was discriminatory against Latinos? The case is being heard in court this week. El Paso lawyer Carmen Rodriguez and Juanita Valdez-Cox, a community organizer in the Rio Grande Valley, … Continue reading →

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No Paxton trial till prosecutor pay case resolved

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not on the court calendar at this time. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s fraud trials have been put on hold as the lawyers pursuing the criminal charges against him fight for years of back pay. Judge Robert Johnson has taken … Continue reading →

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CCA to review Paxton prosecutors pay case

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The state’s highest criminal court agreed Wednesday to take a closer look at prosecutors’ long-running fight to get paid for their handling of the securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The move by the state’s Court … Continue reading →

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Five out of six ain’t bad

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Five Democratic candidates for six statewide judicial positions, all from Harris County. Four state district and county-level judges from Harris County and a Houston civil-litigation lawyer filed for seats on the Texas Supreme Court and the state Court of Criminal … Continue reading →

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TCDLA pulls Paxton prosecutors brief

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Get your act together, y’all. A leading organization of criminal defense lawyers on Tuesday withdrew its legal brief in support of prosecutors who are fighting to get paid for work on the criminal case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. … Continue reading →

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In support of the Paxton prosecutors

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good to see. In an unusual step, six prosecutors and Texas’ criminal defense attorneys association have joined a continuing legal storm over how much the special prosecutors overseeing the criminal case against Attorney General Ken Paxton should get paid. Preventing … Continue reading →

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Paxton trial delayed again

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This will happen some day. I hope. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s trial has been put off for a third time. The judge in the securities fraud case against Paxton sided Wednesday with prosecutors who had been pushing for another trial … Continue reading →

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CCA stays Paxton prosecutor pay ruling

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of sanity at last, though we’re not out of the woods yet. Texas’ highest criminal court has stepped into the long-running dispute over the prosecutors’ pay in the securities fraud case against Attorney General Ken Paxton, putting on … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutors officially petition the CCA over their pay

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Last chance. The special prosecutors in the securities fraud case against Attorney General Ken Paxton are asking the state’s highest criminal court to help them get paid. On Tuesday, the prosecutors asked the Court of Criminal Appeals to reverse a … Continue reading →

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Collin County wants its pay back

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Of course they do. Collin County is about to start another fight over the prosecution of indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Since 2015, the county has been billed more than half a million dollars to prosecute Paxton, who faces … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutors to petition CCA

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Last chance to get paid. The state’s highest criminal court will get a chance to decide whether the special prosecutors appointed in the criminal cases against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton can be paid the $300-an-hour rate they were promised. … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: SBOE districts

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

There are 15 members on the State Board of Education, five Democrats and ten Republicans. Of those ten Republican-held seats, four of them were in districts that were interesting in 2016: Dist Incumbent Clinton Trump Obama Romney ================================================= SBOE5 Mercer … Continue reading →

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We have the Paxton case

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

By “we”, I mean Harris County. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s criminal case is officially moving to Harris County. In an order signed Friday morning, Judge George Gallagher vacated several previous orders scheduling hearings in the case and directed the Collin … Continue reading →

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CCA declines to get involved in Paxton judge dispute

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

That’s that, then. Texas’ highest criminal court has declined to intervene in the dispute over the judge in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s securities fraud case. On Friday, prosecutors asked the state Court of Criminal Appeals to reverse a lower appeals … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutors appeal decision to boot judge

Posted on June 4, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

And on we go. Prosecutors in the securities fraud case against Attorney General Ken Paxton are asking the state’s highest criminal court to overturn a ruling backing his push for a new judge. Paxton’s lawyers scored a win Tuesday when … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Congressional districts

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Legislative Council now has full data from the 2016 elections on its site, so this seemed like as good a time as any to take a look at the data from Congressional districts. I’m much more limited in … Continue reading →

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Some Texas voting rights lawsuit updates

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This has been a busy week for litigation related to voting rights issues in Texas. Here are updates to some cases, all of which happened this past week. From Texas Redistricting: The three-judge panel in the Texas redistricting case has … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The targets for 2018

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Ross Ramsey recently surveyed the 2018 electoral landscape. Election numbers recently released by the Texas Legislative Council point to some soft spots in this red state’s political underbelly — places where Republicans hold office now but where Democrats at the … Continue reading →

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Our first look at Senate district data

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib looks at the data we now have. In the state Senate, one Republican — Don Huffines of Dallas — is now representing a district that Clinton easily won, while two more — Konni Burton of Colleyville and Joan … Continue reading →

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