Texas Criminal Defense Archives

Consent Laws in Sexual Assault Cases in Texas

When it comes to sexual assault cases, the law dictates what is and isn’t considered legally consensual in the state of Texas. Consent laws in Texas clearly define what is considered consensual sexual activity and what constitutes sexual assault. These laws are necessary to protect victims of sexual assault as well as those accused of […] Read more

How to Be Removed From a Sex Offender Registry

If you’ve been convicted of a sex crime, you likely had to serve jail time for your crimes and may have had to pay fines, as well. Another penalty often associated with sex crimes is the requirement for offenders to register in the sex offender registry. Though being listed on the sex offender registry can […] Read more

Harrison County District Attorney Mishandled Child Pornography Evidence in Case, Claims Defense Attorney Mark Lassiter

Dallas criminal defense attorney, Mark T. Lassiter, is representing former Hallsville ISD track coach, Dean McDaniel, in a case involving improper teacher-student relationship accusations. McDaniel was accused of engaging in sexual contact with a 15-year-old student. In planning for the case, Lassiter requested to see all evidence in possession of the prosecution. District Attorney Coke […] Read more

19-year-old woman claims KFC manager raped her when she was 16

A 19-year-old woman, identified only as A.M., filed a complaint in Harris County Court in Texas against fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC manager Sean McIntosh, and other KFC managers, on Monday, November 28, and an amended version filed Friday, December 2, said that McIntosh raped her “at hotels, at the KFC store, […] Read more

School employee accused of online solicitation of a minor

Fifty-two-year-old Jeffrey Scott Miller, who was a teacher’s aide at Trinity Meadows Intermediate School in Keller, lost his job on Friday, October 21 after he was arrested for charges of online solicitation of a minor. Miller was one of eight people who were arrested on suspicion of being a child predator by agents with the […] Read more

Ex-drama teacher in Fort Worth makes guilty plea to child porn charge

24-year-old Watauga, Texas resident Matthew Anthony Keller is facing a statutory rape penalty of not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years of federal imprisonment, a $50,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release. These penalties come after he made a guilty plea to one count of production of child pornography on […] Read more

Judge in Brock Turner case recuses himself from another sex crime case

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky, who faced wide criticism for giving a light sentence to 20-year-old Stanford University swimmer and rapist Brock Turner, recused himself from making a major decision in another sex crime case. In a statement submitted to the court on Monday, August 22, Persky said: “While on vacation earlier this month, my family […] Read more

Fort Worth sex offender recaptured after escaping from his trial

Thirty-four-year-old in Fort Worth in Tarrant County, Texas resident and registered sex offender Jayson Neil Sparks has been recaptured and put in jail after taking off from his trial during a break on Friday, August 5. A report from the Fort Worth Star Telegram showed that Sparks was sentenced in absentia on Thursday, August 4 […] Read more

Former Dallas Cowboys football special teams player C. J. Spillman found guilty of sexual assault

Thirty-year-old former Dallas Cowboys football special teams player Claude Norman “C. J.” Spillman, Jr. was found guilty of sexual assault by a jury in Tarrant County, Texas in less than two hours on Thursday, June 30. He was sentenced to five years in prison the Friday after the trial. According to Jordan, Spillman invited a woman he […] Read more

Ex-Fort Worth police officer convicted of rape freed after 21 years

Fifty-six-year-old former Fort Worth, Texas police officer Brian Franklin, who was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl in March 1994, has been freed after serving 21 years of a life sentence.  The development comes after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in April that his conviction should be thrown out because Franklin’s accuser admitted in 2014 […] Read more