Grand Prairie Criminal Law Blog Posts

Man receives life sentence for cutting the neck of a woman

Fifty-six-year-old Sylvester Bryant was sentenced to life imprisonment last Thursday, September 1 for slashing the neck of Waco resident Clara Wells, a woman who allegedly refused his sexual advances. Bryant’s mother, Shirley Mims, told the court that her son came home on August 26, 2014 and said he tried to kill Wells. Wells told the court […]

Texas inmate receives stay of execution in death penalty case

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday, August 19 granted a stay of execution for 43-year-old Jeffrey Wood, who was involved in a robbery killing 20 years ago. In 1996, 22-year-old Wood sat in a pickup truck outside a gas station as he waited for his friend, Daniel Reneau, to carry out a plan to rob the […]

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 […]

Dallas criminal attorney gives insight into Freddie Gray prosecution

Edward Nero, a member of the Baltimore Police Department, was recently found not guilty of assault in connection to the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Gray died as a result of his mortal injuries while in police custody during a ride in Baltimore inside a police van. Dallas, Texas criminal lawyer John Helms said the prosecution […]

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 […]

Judge denies plea deals for those charged with assaults to police officers

Galveston County Judge Kerry Neves made a public declaration and order on Monday, July 18 that he plans to reject plea deals in cases that involve assaults and threats to police officers. He will only waver, he says, if there is compelling evidence to grant one. By compelling evidence, he means the officers involved in the case must be okay […]

Wal-Mart employee arrested for assault

Police Chief James Waters of the Princeton Police Department reported that 20-year-old Wal-Mart employee Nicolas Martinez was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. The charges come after a serious stabbing incident, which occurred around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13. Waters identified one of the victims as George Wesley […]

Texas beauty queen gets stripped of crown due to aggravated assault, DUI charges

The first-ever Miss Corpus Christina Latina, Caitlin Cifuentes, lost her title this second week of July after pageant participants she was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated. Six contestants sued Kayla Alvarez, the pageant’s local director, claiming Alvarez knew of Cifuentes’ record but still allowed her to participate in […]

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 […]

$93M in Texas taxpayer money has gone to wrongful convictions

The state of Texas has given restitution to 101 men and women who were wrongfully convicted of and wrongfully incarcerated for committing crimes. The total compensation has amounted to $93.6 million over the last 25 years, data from the state comptroller’s office showed. This amount is bound to rise as the wrongfully imprisoned individuals get older and more […]
Top Rated Lawyer - Rating 10.0
Top 10 Dallas (BEST D)
Dallas Bar Association
Texas Criminal Lawyers Association
Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
Super-Lawyers Logo
American Association for Justice
The National Trial Lawyers - Top 100 Trial Lawyers
Free Case Evaluation