Category Archives: Crime and Punishment

Maria Rojas’ attorneys get a chance to speak

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And surprise surprise, they say the charges against their client are long on bluster and short on facts. When the Texas Attorney General’s office announced its first arrest under Texas’ abortion laws, the court filings and press statements painted a … Continue reading →

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Order issued to temporarily close Maria Rojas’ clinics

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This was expected. A Texas court has temporarily shut down a group of Houston-area clinics run by a midwife accused of performing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without a license. Waller County Judge Gary W. Chaney on Tuesday signed an … Continue reading →

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Eric Dick arrested on misdemeanor assault charge

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

In the news again. Well-known Houston lawyer and Harris County Department of Education Trustee Eric Dick faces a misdemeanor assault charge, adding to his legal and ethical troubles. The Houston Police Department arrested Dick on March 7 for hitting a … Continue reading →

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More on Paxton’s abortion arrests

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From Mother Jones. In what appears to be the first arrests of healthcare providers for allegedly violating a post-Roe v. Wade state abortion ban, Maria Margarita Rojas, a midwife working in the region around Houston, and her employee, medical assistant … Continue reading →

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Waller County midwife arrested on abortion charges

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Yikes. A Houston-area midwife has been arrested on allegations she performed illegal abortions, the first criminal charges brought under the state’s near-total abortion ban, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday. Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, was charged with the illegal … Continue reading →

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Roberson files another appeal

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I wish him luck. Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson filed a new appeal with the state’s highest criminal court on Wednesday in his first attempt to overturn his death sentence since an unprecedented intervention by a state legislative committee … Continue reading →

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More on the legal attacks against Dr. Carpenter of New York

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Slate legal expert Mary Ziegler weighs in on Louisiana’s attempt to prosecute New York doctor Margaret Carpenter for sending abortion pills to a woman in that state. Dr. Carpenter has also been sued by Ken Paxton for the same thing … Continue reading →

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Remaining former Hidalgo staffer gets pre-trial intervention plea

Posted on February 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is basically a deferred dismissal of the charges. The former chief of staff for County Judge Lina Hidalgo accepted a pre-trial intervention deal Thursday on one charge linked to a controversial COVID-19 contract, ending a years-long political saga that … Continue reading →

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Louisiana indicts NY doctor for providing mifepristone

Posted on February 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And the stakes get raised again. A New York doctor was criminally indicted Friday for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a girl in Louisiana in what appears to be the first time an abortion provider has been prosecuted since Roe … Continue reading →

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Charges dismissed against two of Hidalgo’s former aides

Posted on January 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Well, well, well. Criminal cases against at least two of County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s former employees have been dismissed by the Office of the Attorney General, nearly two weeks since District Attorney Sean Teare recused himself of the prosecutions. Prosecutors under Attorney … Continue reading →

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Of course the Paxton investigation is dead

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I strongly disagree with the use of the word “could” in this story. When President Donald Trump appeared in a New York courtroom last spring to face a slew of criminal charges, he was joined by a rotating cadre of … Continue reading →

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DA’s office recused from Hidalgo aides’ case

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Done and done. A judge signed off on Harris County prosecutors handing their case against three former employees for County Judge Lina Hidalgo to the Texas attorney general, effectively ridding District Attorney Sean Teare’s office of the politically fraught charges … Continue reading →

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Nate Paul takes a plea

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Another anticlimactic end to an ongoing saga. Nate Paul, a prominent Austin real estate developer and head of World Class Holdings, has pleaded guilty to a single count of making false statements to a lending institution. The plea, entered Wednesday, … Continue reading →

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Yolanda Saldivar seeks parole

Posted on January 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure how I feel about this, other than it’s another reminder of how old we all are. Yolanda Saldívar, the woman found guilty of killing the late Tejano icon Selena Quintanilla-Perez, has applied for parole for 2025. The New … Continue reading →

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Teare recuses his office from the Hidalgo aides’ cases

Posted on January 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

As he said he would. Recently-elected Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare filed a motion on Thursday to recuse the Harris County Attorney’s Office from three cases related to the prosecution of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s former staffers. In April 2024, former … Continue reading →

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The plea deals no one wants

Posted on December 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Things are going great in the waning days of Kim Ogg’s time as Harris County DA. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has ordered prosecutors to make a plea recommendation of life without the possibility of parole in every pending … Continue reading →

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Trying to improve on ShotSpotter

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Meet Wytec, a new type of AI-powered gunshot-detection system. Wytec International Inc., a builder of 5G wireless networks, is working on artificial intelligence software to deploy on networks of sensors to pinpoint the location of gunshots or other campus problems … Continue reading →

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Metro to help fund HPD traffic enforcement

Posted on December 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A modest revision to an originally large plan. Metro Police Department will spend almost $50 million of its budget to partially fund the city’s traffic enforcement and street light operations in 2025, but that extra funding won’t have much impact … Continue reading →

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Nate Paul serves his contempt sentence

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record, and for a couple of newsy bits at the end. Austin real estate investor Nate Paul reported to Travis County jail on Thursday night for a 10-day sentence for contempt of court, avoiding a possible media … Continue reading →

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SCOTx lets Robert Roberson get another execution date

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

But thank God that separation of powers was preserved. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled a House committee overstepped its authority when it effectively stalled Robert Roberson’s execution by issuing an eleventh-hour subpoena. The ruling clears the way for … Continue reading →

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HPD’s worsening response times

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Putting a pin in this for later. City leaders blamed an increased lag in police response times in 2024, in part, on the fallout from a scandal in which 264,000 cases were suspended citing a lack of personnel. Police leaders, … Continue reading →

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Teacher certification cheating ring busted

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Yikes. Three Houston ISD employees are among the five people charged in connection with a scheme to help hundreds of people cheat on state teacher certification tests, Harris County prosecutors said Monday. Prosecutors said longtime Booker T. Washington High School … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton also doesn’t care if we execute an innocent man

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Shocking, I know, from such a moral paragon. A week after death row inmate Robert Roberson was set to die, the extraordinary quest to save his life has morphed into a deepening political battle between Texas House lawmakers and the … Continue reading →

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Greg Abbott cares more about his own power than about human life

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

What else can one say about this? Gov. Greg Abbott’s office condemned the actions of a bipartisan group of Texas legislators Monday, effectively breaking his silence in the pending execution of Robert Roberson. In an amicus brief filed by James … Continue reading →

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The 911 drones of Montgomery County

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’m kind of fascinated by this. Drones could soon take on a new role in The Woodlands, responding to 911 calls ahead of first responders. Leaders of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office see the drone pilot program as a way … Continue reading →

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KP George indicted on charges of misrepresenting his identity

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a misdemeanor, but still. As a general rule, you don’t want “indicted” to be the verb in a sentence where your name is the subject. Fort Bend County Judge Kyle Prasad (KP) George was indicted Thursday on a misdemeanor … Continue reading →

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Taral Patel and KP George

Posted on September 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

What a mess. Investigators believe Fort Bend County judge KP George coordinated with his former chief of staff, Taral Patel, in posting from fake social media accounts in 2022 to influence the outcome of an election, a new search warrant … Continue reading →

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We could have already had charges against Ken Paxton by now

Posted on September 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is frustrating, but if we do get there in the end it’ll be all right. Federal prosecutors in Texas had drafted bribery and obstruction charges against state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) before the US Justice Department took over … Continue reading →

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DUI charge dismissed against Judge Kelli Johnson

Posted on September 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This took an unexpected turn. Judge Kelli Johnson’s misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge was dismissed Tuesday after a toxicology report failed to reveal any signs of alcohol or drugs in her system at the time of a June arrest — … Continue reading →

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More felony charges against Hotze

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Throw the damn book at him. Conservative activist Steven Hotze ha s been charged with two more felonies in connection to a bizarre 2020 confrontation that left an air conditioning repairman facing the barrel of a gun held by a … Continue reading →

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The Mayor’s committee’s report on the HPD suspended cases scandal

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Have at it. Several “critical issues” in the Houston Police Department, including mismanagement by agency leaders and understaffing in key divisions, contributed to a scandal involving suspended investigations into criminal cases, an independent committee wrote in a report released Wednesday. … Continue reading →

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CCA to take up Crystal Mason appeal

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I guess we’re doing this. Texas’ highest criminal court will hear the case of Crystal Mason, a Tarrant County woman whose voter fraud conviction was previously overturned. Mason, 49, has been a focal point in Texas’ tough-on-voter-fraud election laws. She … Continue reading →

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The great timesheet caper has been foiled

Posted on August 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We can all sleep better at night knowing this guy is off the street. The Texas Rangers concluded an investigation into Harris County’s highly scrutinized November 2022 election, finding no evidence that there was an attempt to sway the results, … Continue reading →

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Going younger at HPD

Posted on August 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure about this. Mayor John Whitmire wants to tap into a younger audience for police recruits, but doing so may require going to Austin and changing state law. During a news conference introducing new Police Chief Noe Diaz, the … Continue reading →

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