Criminal Trials

SMU Student Donald Cuba Found Not Guilty of Rape

A Dallas County jury has found Donald Cuba not guilty of rape, The Dallas Morning News' Melissa Repko is reporting. Cuba, a 20-year-old junior, was accused of raping a fellow student in a dorm room early on the morning of February 10, 2012. As we wrote this morning, the trial has offered a few glim ... 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 >>

Two State Troopers Were Indicted Friday over Painful Roadside Cavity Search of Irving Women

Kelly Helleson will no doubt think twice before performing any roadside cavity searches on evidently law-abiding citizens. In January, the Texas Department of Public Safety fired the state trooper for her unusually thorough probe of two Irving women, a decision that severely limited her opportunitie ... More >>

Former Ellis County Observer Publisher Joey Dauben Gets Three Ten-Year Sentences For Sexual Assault and Indecency With a Child

Two years ago, Joey Dauben was full-time small-town muckraker, publishing the Ellis County Observer and a string of other small papers, blending investigative stories with vicious gossip and baseless speculation at a rate of speed that thrilled and enraged his target audience. He focused intensely o ... More >>

Steven Lawayne Nelson Sentenced to Death for the Murder of an Arlington Preacher

Update: Steven Lawayne Nelson, who was just handed a death sentence in the suffocation of an Arlington preacher, has flooded his holding cell and the courtroom, according to Star-Telegram reporter Dianna Hunt's Twitter feed. She said he could be heard screaming as water began seeping into the courtr ... More >>

Three More Dallas Cops Were Fired Yesterday

Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown, who's made a habit of announcing department firings on the DPD Facebook page, announced three more firings late yesterday, including one officer accused of molesting a relative in Rains County. Here's the rundown: Officer Zenae Humphries of the South Cen ... More >>

What You Don't Know About Prosecutorial Oversight: Our Chat with Attorney Betty Blackwell

Michael Morton, free after 25 years of wrongful imprisonment for his wife's murder, spoke about his experience yesterday during a panel discussion on prosecutorial oversight at the University of Texas. Morton's case has become a focal point of any story or discussion about prosecutorial misconduct, ... More >>

Ben Spencer Was Arrested 25 Years Ago; His Supporters Visit Watkins' Office

Supporters of Ben Spencer gathered yesterday on the steps of the Frank Crowley Criminal Court Building, where he was convicted for a crime they believe he did not commit. Monday marked 25 years since his arrest for the murder of retail executive Jeffrey Young at a remote industrial complex. Spencer ... More >>

Beyond DNA, Difficult Tests for the Justice System

Freeing the wrongfully convicted through science was the easy part. Now what?

A Tourists Guide to a Dozen Dirty Deeds by Dallas Cowboys

Hacker Known as "GhostExodus," Who Broke Into Carrell Clinic Computers, Pleads Guilty

From Jesse McGraw's video titled "Post July 4th Infiltration," posted before his intended attack on the hospital's computer system​It was almost one year ago the feds introduced us to 25-year-old Jesse William McGraw -- otherwise known as "GhostExodus," founder and the, uh, leader of the Electroni ... More >>

On the Bob's Steak & Chop House Hotline, Bankruptcy and Criminal Cases Collide

​A couple of weeks back, we mentioned that the U.S. Trustee handling Bob's Steak & Chop House's Chapter 11 reorganization wanted Judge Harlin D. Hale to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee to replace owner Bob Sambol. Because, see, as far as Willliam Neary's concerned, Sambol -- operating here as Sil ... More >>

Hacked! Dallas Federal Grand Jury Indicts Electronik Tribulation Army's GhostExodus

 Back at the end of June, the U.S. Attorney's Office sent word that it has arrested 25-year-old Jesse William McGraw -- otherwise known as "GhostExodus," founder and ostensibly the leader of the Electronik Tribulation Army -- for threatening to cause serious damage to the computer systems at th ... More >>

Cornerback Dwayne Goodrich: "The Cowboy Who Killed Those Kids"

Former cornerback Dwayne Goodrich comes to grips with his hit-and-run of three Good Samaritans as he plans for life after prison

Bill Hill Goes Both Ways. Again.

For Love, Aryan Brotherhood Killer Confesses

The prison gang member and killer stands ready to clear his wife for his crimes

DA Watkins: "Justice at Its Best"

Almost Home-Free

Emily Dowdy gets off the Oklahoma railroad

Bully on the Bench

When big-city lawyers appear in the courtroom of Judge Gene Knize, they better be prepared to duck and cover

Membership Has Privileges

Lost in Transition

Re: A Teacher Sues DISD...

Does the DA's Office Have an Open-Door Policy? Pardon, Open-File Policy.

The Moore the Merrier in DA's Office

Follywood

A B-actress, computer mayhem and families feudin'! Making a movie with your rich friends is just courting disaster.

The Icebox Revisited

Houston had one of its most shocking race murders 45 years ago. But exactly whose tragedy was it?

Make 'em Pay

Spurred by a horrifying wave of teen violence in the '90s, Texas today spends more money than ever to lock up young criminals. Are we getting our money's worth?

Killing machine

It is 6:07 p.m. John Albert Burks salutes the Oakland Raiders and says goodbye to his friends. Minutes later, he is a dead man. This year's 21st execution.

Presumed guilty

Odell Barnes awaits execution on March 1 -- despite new evidence that he didn't commit the crime

The Cult of Darlie

A cast of Fellini-esque characters claiming they possess new evidence keep the Routier murder case in the national spotlight

Buzz

The Race Not Run

Republican Bill Hill is running against Democrat Rick Reed for district attorney. Don't think you have a choice.

The Lie Detector

From the mayor of Atlanta, who was unjustly accused of graft, to a California man wrongly sentenced to life in a Texas prison, polygraph examiner Eric Holden found the truth that helped set them free

Deathtrap

While Erica Sheppard sits on death row, penniless and convicted of a gruesome murder, her cadre of elite Dallas lawyers tries to prove that the justice system has gone fatally awry

Plugging the hole

A bungling bureaucracy allowed murder suspect Maricela Martinez to escape to Mexico

Choosing sides

The race for judge in Dallas' domestic-violence court raises questions of bias

Crime and no punishment

A legal loophole lets illegal immigrants get out of jail nearly free

Who ya gonna call?

Lawyer Kenneth Mayfield racks up a winning record in the courts he helps oversee as a county commissioner

Publicity Paul

U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins loves feeding his name to the papers. But what's he done that's news?

The lies that BIND

A Dallas jury is forced to sift through the wreckage of a family destroyed by the infamous Norplant rape case

'It's all a matter of power.'

When Sandy Kress was school board president, he and Dan Peavy held private discussions on how to limit the influence of black school board members. Their conversations were captured on the Peavy Tapes, which Kress has fought hard to keep secret. Now, U.S.

The haunting

To the grief of his children and his wife's family, Walker Railey is resurrecting his story

The Dope Bowl

Lawyers, goons, money--and some very curious sex toys. Laura Miller does the post-game analysis of the Michael Irvin trial.

Playing Hardball

The Feds pitch a shutout in the area's first 'three strikes' case

Dead man waiting

After a decade on death row, Andre Lewis grasps at straws Andre Lewis is a dead man waiting.

The Chief, the Scotsman, the Swindler, and the Killer

David Pasztor unravels a tangeled tale of death and international intrigue

Who's afraid of Robert rose?

At the Dallas County Courthouse, everybody. David Pasztor explains why

Undue process

In JP Jones' court, you can be found guilty without even being charged

Crime Pays

How the Feds let S&L swindler Clifford Sinclair get away with millions

'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part II)

Sam Krasniqi was acquitted of sexual abuse. So why won't the state let two children have their parents - or their religion?