Crime and Law

Dallas County Leads Texas in Women Killed in Domestic Violence Cases

Life just got a little bit worse for women in Texas -- and particularly for women in Dallas County. The Texas Council on Family Violence released a study on Tuesday that shows Dallas County has the highest number of female domestic violence deaths in the state. More telling, Dallas has the highest p ... More >>

Local Pastors Turn Day-of-the-Week Crime Data into Anti-Domestic Violence Campaign

It's Monday, which means, according to federal data, that you're more likely to be forcibly sodomized today than any other day of the week. Sorry if we just made your Monday blues 10 thousand times worse. Information gathered by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention fro ... More >>

Sierra Club Ordered to Pay Luminant's Attorneys' Fees in Big Brown Suit

For years, Luminant's Big Brown coal-fired plant has been described as one of the worst air polluters in the state, sitting at or near the top of the EPA's list of plants spewing nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory illnesses. So, it would seem a ripe target for a Clean Air Act lawsuit filed ... More >>

Dallas County Will Help Pay for a Gun Surrender Program for Domestic Violence Offenders

Earlier this year, Judge Roberto Cañas initiated a countywide program to increase gun surrenders from domestic abusers. It's a law whose lack of enforcement has a

Dallas' Cops Should All Wear Body Cameras, Pretty Much Everyone Agrees

In the midst of a string of recent police shootings, the Dallas Police Association, the city's largest police union, has called for all officers to be outfitted with body cameras that record the officers' every move. And the union's receiving support from a group not generally considered an ally: th ... More >>

"Pill Mill" Pharmacist Sentenced, Doctor Who Wrote Fake Prescriptions for Homeless Is Next

Dr. Nicolas Padron was a Dallas physician with a moderately successful practice, Padron Wellness Clinic. Located near the edge of White Rock Lake, the clinic must have been an idyllic setting to operate a drug distribution ring, at least until the feds showed up. Authorities say Padron was part of ... More >>

The Private Texas Prisons Housing Undocumented Immigrants Are a Disaster

Until 2011, Luis lived in Mexico, where he made a living building houses. Luis' wife and children, who are American citizens, lived in Los Angeles. Luis visited his wife and children as much as he could, until he was arrested for illegal reentry. For this crime, he served a three-year sentence at Bi ... More >>

Texas May Be About to Execute a Mentally Retarded Prisoner

At 6 p.m. this evening Robert James Campbell will, odds are, become the first U.S. prisoner executed since Oklahoma spectacularly botched the lethal injection of Clayton Lockett two weeks ago. His lawyers have filed a last-ditch appeal, citing Lockett's death and the mysterious source of Texas' supp ... More >>

New Judge Requires Convicted Booker T. Rapist to Register as a Sex Offender, Not Watch Porn

State District Judge Jeanine Howard quickly backtracked on her sentencing of a convicted rapist to volunteer at a rape crisis center after we called her office last week to ask what would happen if no rape crisis center wanted to accept him. "She's going go back and modify those conditions and give ... More >>

Asylum Insanity

Welcome to the land of the free. While we decide whether we feel like deporting you, we've got a cold dank cell that'll suit you just fine.

Fort Worth Pedophile Lloyd Gibson, Sentenced to 70 Years in Jail, Is Why Kids Don't Talk to Strangers

With sex crimes, particularly those relating to children, the fair administration of justice sometimes takes a backseat to the urge to punish. Just glancing at the headline of the Tarrant County district attorney's announcement of a 70-year prison sentence for failing to register as a sex offender m ... More >>

Texas Won't Have to Identify Its Execution-Drug Supplier After All

The last time the Texas Department of Criminal Justice secured a cache of pentobarbital, the drug it uses to execute prisoners, the Houston-area compounding pharmacy that supplied it had second thoughts. "[I]t was my belief that this information would be kept on the 'down low,' and that it was unli ... More >>

Decriminalizing Weed Might Actually Reduce Violent Crime, UT Dallas Researchers Find

No one seriously believes anymore in the Reefer Madness depiction of marijuana use, in which this new-fangled devil weed transforms otherwise upstanding teenagers into murderous sociopaths. Even some otherwise staunch social conservatives (e.g. Rick Perry) are beginning to embrace some degree of dec ... More >>

Rape Is Way Up in Dallas, Only Partly Because the FBI Made Police Keep Better Count

The first three months of 2014 have been exceptionally peaceful ones in Dallas. Robberies have dropped by 15 percent compared with the same period last year. Aggravated assaults are down 12 percent, murders a whopping 30 percent. There are still nine months to go, but the city is on pace for the sec ... More >>

Texas Can't Give 17-Year-Old Murderers Mandatory Life Without Parole, Appeals Court Rules

It took more than a year and two special sessions to do it, but last July, the Texas legislature finally provided a constitutional option for punishing teen murderers. In Texas, 17-year-olds are treated as adults for purposes of criminal law, which previously meant that those convicted of capital m ... More >>

Judge Etta Mullin Has Been Thrifty with County's Money, But Attorneys Say It Comes at a Price

When a few Dallas cops arrested a woman hanging out in the 4300 block of Colonial Avenue last year, it seemed obvious they weren't catching a criminal who had a ton of money. Officers Charles Moreland and Clayton Edwards were working undercover on March 28 when they came across Amber Buford. Morel ... More >>

In Texas, Death-Row Gold Diggers Reportedly Marry Texas Inmates for Life Insurance

It's a curious phenomenon, the "death row groupies" who become enamored with men who committed some of the most vile crimes you can imagine. When Scott Peterson arrived at California's San Quentin State Prison fresh off a conviction of murdering his wife and unborn child, he received a marriage prop ... More >>

The Secret Service Says It Caught a Grand Prairie Man Counterfeiting $100 Bills -- Again

When he gets out of federal lockup, Michael Allen Watson may want to consider finding a new line of work. His current vocation -- counterfeiting money using computer printers -- isn't working out so well. Six years ago, the U.S. Secret Service raided Watson's Dallas home after a pit bull breeder he ... More >>

Doin’ It For Themselves

Uptown Man Reports Burglary, Shoots At Responding Police, Dies

In at least a couple of recent cases, Dallas cops appear to have been a bit too quick to pull the trigger. In one instance, an officer opened fire on a mentally ill man standing in a Rylie cul-de-sac. In another, an officer shot a carjacking suspect as he sat with his hands up in the passenger seat ... More >>

A Dallas Inventor Is Suing Nintendo for Stealing His Idea for Wii U's Motion Sensors

Airport Freeway in Bedford is not a likely source of breakthroughs in consumer electronics and medical technology. But there, in a nondescript office building overlooking a Twin Peaks and Super 8 motel, is the world headquarters of iLife Technologies and Solutions. So far, the company has solved sle ... More >>

Dallas County is Now the Death Penalty Capital of Texas

Even after a wave of exonerations have confirmed the fallibility of the criminal justice system, even after the state's supply of lethal-injection drugs has been all but cut off by squeamish pharmaceutical companies, even as national support for capital punishment steadily declines, Texas remains en ... More >>

Clint Peterson Was Killed by Police While Running Away

Why did a Duncanville police officer shoot Clint Peterson? Don't bother asking the cops.

An Arlington Head Shop Clerk Gunned Down a Shoplifter on Monday, Police Say

An Arlington head shop clerk is facing murder charges after allegedly gunning down a suspected shoplifter on Tuesday. Police arrived at Smoking Dragon Gifts in the 5900 block of South Cooper Street just before 11 a.m. Tuesday to find Jonathan Brian Lambert, 28, and another employee holding two othe ... More >>

Dallas' Most Tabloid-Worthy Hedge Fund Wants it Known: Its President Owned His Wife in Court

Surely you recall James Dondero, the high-powered Dallas hedge fund manager who spends his leisure time dining on giraffe, jamming to Steve Winwood, and becoming embroiled in ridiculously messy legal feuds. Last we checked some 17 months ago, Dondero was legal-feuding with two people. One was his w ... More >>

The Art of the Drive-Thru Fast-Food Robbery

With the pace of modern life being what it is, it's become all but impossible to find time for a leisurely sit-down meal or an old-fashioned holdup-style heist. Thank goodness then for the fast-food drive-thru, which offers fast, convenient service to on-the-go burger lovers and time-pressed armed r ... More >>

Texas' Cobbled Together Supply of Execution Drugs Works Just Fine

Turns out, Michael John Yowell had nothing to worry about. A week after filing a federal lawsuit to delay his execution on the grounds that the state's custom-made supply of pentobarbital, ordered hastily from a Houston-area compounding pharmacy last month, might cause an unconstitutional amount of ... More >>

"Flyer Than Most" Bandit Robs Four 7-Elevens in Two Hours

It's always a thankless task, manning the counter at a convenience store, but it was particularly unpleasant for those who happened to be working the graveyard shift at southern Dallas 7-Elevens last night. In the span of just over an hour and a half, four of the stores were robbed at gunpoint. Pol ... More >>

Pharmacy Owner Having Second Thoughts About Being Texas' Only Supplier of Execution Drug

Death row inmate Michael Yowell's last-minute, Hail Mary lawsuit, based on the claim that the state was going to experiment on him with untested execution drugs, failed to sway U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes. In an order handed down Saturday, she dismissed that as "a guess piled on an assumption" a ... More >>

Middle-Aged Dallas Man Mistaken for Young Armed Robber is Suing the Cop Who Shot Him

In one very limited sense, the Dallas PD response to a pair of armed robberies in South Dallas on the night of February 2, 2012, was a success. After a brief chase, they arrested 29-year-old Donnell Charles Collins after finding him wedged between a toilet and a wall in an abandoned apartment comple ... More >>

At Centerpoint Apartments, Moving Out Often Means a Trip to Court (and a Fat Bill)

Texas, Fresh Out of Pentobarbital, Begins Experimenting With Execution Drugs

UPDATE: After this item ran, we sent a question to Texas Department of Criminal Justice public information director Jason Clark, asking him -- not to put too fine a point on it -- why Texas doesn't just switch to an alternative method of execution altogether, like the electric chair. The short answe ... More >>

Dallas Police Detail Van Dralan Dixson's Alleged Rapes and the Manhunt That Followed

The first attack began as a robbery, turned into a carjacking, and ended in sexual assault and arson. Police say that Van Dralan Dixson approached a man as he stepped behind a South Dallas building to take a leak at about 4:45 on the morning of June 22. After the man handed over his money and ran a ... More >>

Court: Texas Can't Forcibly Medicate a Schizophrenic Just so He'll Be Sane Enough to Execute

Steven Kenneth Staley's guilt was never much in doubt. The facts of the case, attested to by multiple witnesses, were clear. One evening in 1989, Staley and two female accomplices showed up at a Tarrant County Steak & Ale with guns. When police showed up, Staley took the restaurant manager hostage, ... More >>

University Park's Erika Perdue Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Porn

Last January, an FBI agent based in Maryland was cruising through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network in search of child porn. There, he stumbled upon a user named "Classybitch," who offered him access to several hundred videos and images with file names like "Taboo Incest - Grampa Fucks Sleeping Gi ... More >>

Criminals: Please Stop Targeting Morning News Reporter Avi Selk. He Rescues Kittens. [Updated]

Not too long ago, The Dallas Morning News promoted Avi Selk from the crime beat to the Irving beat, where he's so far proved himself a more-than-capable chronicler of the bout of mild insanity currently gripping Irving's city council and school board. So, things are looking up for Selk professional ... More >>

As the Obama Administration Sues Texas Over Voter ID, Craig Watkins and Clay Jenkins Take to MSNBC

Update at 11:43 a.m.: Attorney General Eric Holder officially has Dallas County's back: Holder statement on new Texas voter ID lawsuit: pic.twitter.com/YhdZstRCLF— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 22, 2013 Original post: On Tuesday, Dallas County Commissioners voted 3-2 to join Congress ... More >>

As Execution Nears, Plano Road-Rage Killer Claims Inhumane Treatment, Neglects to Mention He Tried To Tear Phone From Wall

Barring a stay of execution, Douglas Feldman is scheduled to die in nine days. His petition for a state writ of habeas corpus based on ineffective assistance of counsel has gone nowhere. He claims his trial attorney failed to investigate the role his alleged bipolar disorder played in the murders. N ... More >>

The Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act Ruling Declares Racism Dead. Long Live Racism!

Ever heard the quotation, "Past is prologue"? The U.S. Supreme Court apparently hasn't, and its ruling Tuesday on the Voting Rights Act virtually assured that we're doomed to repeat history. In an incredible sweep, the majority chucked the nearly unanimous, bipartisan will of Congress and dismantled ... More >>

Legislators to Consider Measure for 17-Year-Old Capital Murderers as Jake Evans Trial Looms

The Parker County district attorney is keeping an eye on the Legislature's special session. Next month, Jake Evans' case is scheduled to go to trial. The 17-year-old kid from a gated community in Aledo is accused of methodically gunning down his mother and his little sister then calmly phoning 911. ... More >>

Lauryn Hill's Side of the Story

Lauryn Hill will be gone till October. A week after making headlines for signing a million dollar five-song deal with Sony, she showed up to court on Monday with a check for $970,000. But it wasn't enough to save her from jail time. The five-time Grammy winner and highly esteemed queen of neo-soul w ... More >>

SMU's Sexual Assault Task Force Recommends Keeping Controversial Student Conduct Panels

Prosecutors recently dropped charges in one of the high-profile cases that spurred SMU to take a long look at its often baffling handling of sexual assaults. Last night, a week-and-a-half before another student is set to go to trial on charges that he raped a classmate in a dorm room, the university ... More >>

Neiman Marcus is Fighting Back Against a Notorious Dallas-Based Patent Troll

In the decade since it was founded in Dallas, IP Nav has established itself as a global leader in the increasingly lucrative business of "patent assertion," offering clients the ability to "maximize the value of their IP assets." Put more bluntly, it's a patent troll, shaking down companies by threa ... More >>

The Girl Who Accused Highland Park Baseball Star Ryan Romo of Rape is Now Suing Him

The 16-year-old girl who accused a former Highland Park baseball star of rape is now countersuing him in civil court. In March, after a grand jury declined to indict Ryan Romo on rape charges, the Romo family sued his accuser and her family, claiming, among other things, defamation and negligent ... More >>

Katy Trail Robber's Tale of PCP Addiction, "Purse Snatching" Fails to Win Jury's Sympathy

Dominique Thornton did not testify in his trial for charges that he committed a string of armed robberies along the Katy Trail last May. It probably wouldn't have done any good. He was IDed by victims as the gunman in the heists, and police found Thornton's thumbprint on a stolen purse they later re ... More >>

The New Cane Rosso Was Robbed of its $2,500 Prosciutto Slicer Over the Weekend

Neighbors and pizza aficionados have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Jay Jerrier's second Cane Rosso, planned for Grand and Gaston just south of White Rock Lake, since word of its existence first leaked in November. It was slated to open in the middle of April -- just about now, in other words ... More >>

Craig Watkins' Contempt Battle a Silly Distraction in Scary Times

I'm scared. One, I'm scared because of what's going on in Kaufman County. Two, I'm even more scared because of what's going on here, which seems to be one big stupid-fest. You will remember, perhaps, that Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins brought criminal charges last year against Al H ... More >>

Three Gunman Tried to Rob a Retired Cop Near White Rock, Ran Away When He Drew First

As he walked along the sidewalk of his Far East Dallas apartment complex at 5:15 on Easter morning, a 24-year-old man heard someone call out from behind, asking him to hold up. He turned and saw three Hispanic men, clad in identical white T-shirts, hop out of a black Toyota Corolla. They simultaneo ... More >>

In the Wake of Kaufman Slayings, Dallas County Prosecutors Encouraged to Ammo Up

The murder this weekend of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, two months after assistant DA Mark Hasse was gunned down in broad daylight, has Texas prosecutors on high alert. The Associated Press reports today that district attorneys throughout the state are taking extra ... More >>

At the Mayor's Rally Against Domestic Violence, Big Promises and Some Mixed Messages

The couple started arguing on Saturday, around 3 in the morning, in a house near Fair Park. The man told the woman he hadn't forgotten their past arguments, all the times she had "disrespected" him. He shoved his palm hard against her face and forced her down against a desk. She fought him, pushing ... More >>