The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
Bonnen has been eager to dismiss speculation that he did anything illegal during a June 12 meeting with conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan. But a probe into the event is ongoing. Full Story
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Five towns have passed ordinances aiming to outlaw abortion. Critics say a legal challenge is likely. Full Story
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A white Fort Worth police officer shot and killed a black woman in a home while responding to a request for a wellness check. Full Story
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A local official had asked Paxton for legal guidance on special prosecutor pay — a major question in the criminal case against Paxton himself. Full Story
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In a multi-state investigation that is focused on online advertising, Paxton vows to get to the bottom of Google’s business practices. Full Story
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Randall Mays was scheduled to be executed Oct. 16, but the judge removed the death warrant amid questions that Mays may not be mentally competent to be put to death. Full Story
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The incident highlights differences in GPS monitoring for defendants released from jail on money bonds and no-cash bonds. One department has arrestees pay vendors directly, the other has costs go through them. Full Story
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Hours after the former Dallas police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing Botham Jean, the city's top cop vowed to launch an internal investigation into police behavior exposed at trial. Full Story
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Guyger could have received as few as five years or a sentence of up to life in prison. Full Story
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The state's highest criminal court rejected the judge's finding that Storey should be resentenced to life in prison after prosecutors falsely said at trial that the murder victim's family wanted the death penalty. Full Story
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The Castle Doctrine justifies deadly force when a person intrudes on your property. Guyger's case is murky since she thought she was in her apartment but was actually in the apartment of unarmed Botham Jean. Full Story
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A Dallas County jury will decide if Amber Guyger committed murder, manslaughter or no crime at all when she shot and killed Botham Jean in 2018. And a judge said jurors can consider the state's Castle Doctrine while deliberating. Full Story
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Sparks was convicted in the 2007 stabbing deaths of his family members in his Dallas home. His lawyers sought to stop his execution with arguments of intellectual disability and a jury tainted by a bailiff wearing a syringe tie. Full Story
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The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay in Barbee's case. He was scheduled to be executed Oct. 2. Full Story
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A new law increased the punishment for failing to stop and render aid to match the sentence for DWI manslaughter. The goal is to deter drunken drivers from leaving the scene of an accident. Full Story
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The well-known attorney’s hardball methods were labeled “Rambo tactics” long ago by other Dallas lawyers. Now the Democratic donor has emerged as a major figure in the fracturing of the powerful gun lobby. Full Story
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Her lawyers say if her sentence stands, it could discourage low-information voters from going to the polls at all. Full Story
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The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and property owners in Guadalupe and Gonzales Counties agreed to not drain four lakes held up by 90-year-old dams, on the condition that recreational use of the lakes is banned. Full Story
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Galveston County, like Harris and Dallas, was sued for bail practices that lawyers and judges have said discriminate against poor criminal defendants. Full Story
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Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Bryan Collier was questioned in court for about two hours for not complying with a court order to keep some Texas prisoners in air conditioned housing. Full Story
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