The Wright Firm's Weblog

Bieber is Back!

Caroline Gonzales, the 11-year-old “Mayor-for-the-Day” of Forney, Texas, received the good news that the street sign for Justin Bieber Way has been returned.  Naming a portion of the town’s Main Street after the teen pop sensation was one of the first ministerial acts performed by the mini-Mayor.  Gonzales won the honor of being Forney’s temporary mayor through a Facebook contest.

The town had intended to only leave the Bieber street sign up temporarily. Gonzales would then be allowed to keep the sign.  However, sometime Wednesday evening the street sign was stolen.  It has since come to light that two local teens were playing around and caused the street sign to break.  In what is being called an “uh-oh” moment, the teens bolted with the sign.  One of the perpetrators parents turned them in.

All the drama surrounding Justin Bieber Way has generated some unanticipated media attention for small-town Forney.  Local officials are now contemplating leaving the replacement street sign (now guarded by surveillance cameras) in place until a certain Teen Idol comes to town to autograph it!

Original stories can be found here: http://www.the33tv.com/about/station/newsteam/kdaf-main-street-in-forney-renamed-justin-bieber-way-20110816,0,4290128.story

Here: http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-dallas/forney-s-justin-bieber-way-street-sign-stolen

And here: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/ellis-kaufman/headlines/20110819-teens-return-sign-renaming-forneys-main-street-after-pop-star-justin-bieber.ece

 

For information on Texas law contact The Wright Firm, L.L.P. at 972-353-4600 or visit us onthe web at www.thewrightlawyers.com 

 

Gettin’ the Loot!

After London was rocked by four days of rioting, looting and fires, police have now charged the 1000^th person for participation in the mayhem.  The acting police chief is urging citizens to turn in anyone they believe to be associated with the rioting and not to, “…let them get away with it.”  Can it ever be legal to loot?

 

Well, the short answer is surprisingly “Yes” but only under very limited circumstances.  Most jurisdictions recognize the defense of “necessity” to a criminal charge; in this instance, looting is criminally considered theft.  The basic premise of a necessity defense is that the accused had no choice but to break the law in order to protect himself and others from death or serious bodily harm.

 

So, if a looter took a baseball bat to save his life from being ending by a gang of rioters, necessity may be a plausible defense.  On the other hand, if a looter takes a 50-inch plasma TV because he thinks he’ll die if he misses an episode of The Real Housewives… not so much.

 

The Texas Penal Code does recognize the defense of necessity if three conditions are met (see TPC §9.22):

1) you reasonably believe your conduct is immediately necessary to avoid imminent harm;

2) the urgency of avoiding the harm clearly outweighs the damage caused by breaking the law; and

3) the actual law you broke doesn’t specifically exclude using the necessity defense.

 

Bottom line, unless you are stealing a shotgun to protect your family from the Zombie Apocalypse (link 1) (link 2), better not go looting.

 

For more on this, see original article on Necessity here: http://criminallawnewsnow.com/2011/08/is-it-ever-legal-to-loot/

 

Article on arrests in the London riots here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44172456

 

For more information on Texas law contact The Wright Firm, L.L.P. at 972-353-4600 or visit our website at www.thewrightlawyers.com . 

 

What Every Mavs Parade Goer Should Know!

The City of Dallas will host a championship parade in downtown Dallas on June 16, 2011 in honor of the Dallas Mavericks NBA Championship. Most of us remember the disaster of the 1993 victory parade honoring the Dallas Cowboys after they won the Super Bowl. Violence erupted on every street corner. However, there will be a significant difference between the 1993 parade and the 2011 parade in that the security will be enhanced. Dallas Police Chief David Brown says uniformed and undercover officers will be out in large numbers, including police from nearby cities, and sheriffs from Dallas. Chief Brown warns if people head downtown seeking trouble, they will be dealt with and removed. 

If you happen to have a legal mishap(s) at the parade please seek the advice of an experienced attorney to help you through your legal woes. For more information contact The Wright Firm, L.L.P. at 972-353-4600 (phones answered 24 hours a day) or visit our website at www.thewrightlawyers.com.

 

NO MORE CRIMINAL CITATIONS FOR TEXAS STUDENTS?

On Tuesday, April 26, 2011 the Texas Senate approved a bill against ticketing students younger than 12 years old for things such as fighting or being disruptive during class. Ticketing students became a huge issue after a report by Texas Appleseed showed that African American students composed only 30% of the students in DISD but received 62% of the citations. Last year, two hundred and eighty-eight tickets were issued to 10 to 11 year-old students in Dallas schools. Additionally, the Senate approved a bill which essentially reworks truancy enforcement. The bill would require schools to deal with truancy by implementing anti-truancy measures before issuing a ticket. Specifically, schools would have to report how they used anti-truancy measures to intervene before the student is ticketed. Opponents of the legislation said that the bills remove a valuable tool in student discipline, because students are less likely to misbehave if they know they can be ticketed for it. Bill supporters, however, state that tickets do not prevent misbehavior, will scar the student’s record and bring a child into the criminal justice system too early—all for infractions that used to be dealt with by the school principal. Both bills are now headed to the House for approval. 

For information on Texas criminal law contact The Wright Firm, L.L.P. at 972-353-4600 or visit us on the web at www.thewrightlawyers.com. 

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