Texas Criminal Lawyer Blog

Title 18, Section 371 of the United States Code sets forth a separate crime for Conspiracy to commit any offense listed in the U.S. Penal Code. Conspiracy has a maximum punishment of Five years.

So if someone is charged with the Bank Fraud, for instance, that person can also be charged with Conspiracy to commit Bank Fraud.

Conspiracy requires that two or more people conspire to commit a Federal crime, and that one or more of these individuals do any act (sometimes referred to as an overt act) to effect the object of the conspiracy.

To be charged with Conspiracy, therefore, two or more individuals must not only discuss,scheme, or otherwise plan to commit a Federal Crime, but one or more of them must do something to accomplish the goal or object of the conspiracy.

Federal Conspiracy Laws are a powerful tool in "White Collar" cases involving multiple parties and complex financial transactions.

Posted by Michael J. Brown | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Texas Criminal Law Glossary

Bookmark:

The term "White Collar crime" is a generic one; that is, it refers generally to crimes committed by the use of the pen rather than the sword. There is no legal definition of the word, whose origin is probably journalistic in nature.

Most people think of street crimes such as murder, robbery, theft, burglary, assault, sexual assault and the like when the term "Crime" is used. "White Collar" crimes usually refer to embezzlement, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, mortgage fraud, bank fraud, and many Federal conspiracy crimes.

Posted by Michael J. Brown | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Texas Criminal Law Glossary

Bookmark:

Article 21.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure states that an indictment "is the written statement of a grand jury accusing a person therein named of some act or omission which, by law, is declared to be an offense."

Black's Law Dictionary further defines an indictment as "an accusation in writing found and presented by a grand jury, legally convoked and sworn, to the court in which it is impaneled, charging that a person therein named has done some act, or been guilty of some omission, which by law, is a public offense, punishable on indictment."

Old Constitutional law distinguished an indictment as being " preferred at the suit of the government, and is usually framed in the first instance by the prosecuting officer of the government, and by him laid before the grand jury, to be found or ignored."

In Texas, the District Attorney prepares the accusation and presents it to the Grand Jury through a state's witness, usually a law enforcement officer. The Grand Jury only has to find that a crime was probably committed, and that the person accused (in the written accusation prepared by the prosecutor) probably did it.

The Indictment is the first step into the system for a person accused of a crime. The process has begun whereby the case goes to a District Court, attorneys are retained or appointed by the court, and the person becomes a "Defendant" to be tried by a jury or a judge.

Posted by Michael J. Brown | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Texas Criminal Law Glossary

Bookmark:

Subpoena comes from the Latin "Sub" (under) and "poena" (penalty). Black's Law Dictionary defines the word as " A process to cause a witness to appear and give testimony, commanding him to lay aside all pretenses and excuses, and appear before a court or magistrate therein named at a time therein mentioned to testify for the party named under a penalty therein mentioned."

A subpoena is issued by the clerk of the court where the appearance of the witness is required, upon the application of the attorney for the party requesting the subpoena.

Posted by Michael J. Brown | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Texas Criminal Law Glossary

Bookmark:

Hearsay is what somebody else told the witness. "She told me that...." I heard that...." Simply put, hearsay is something somebody else said, rather than what the witness saw or did. It can be quite complicated, and many volumes have been written about it. I always tell a witness not to testify what somebody else said, but just tell the jury what he/she witnessed, not what somebody else told them about what happened.

Posted by Michael J. Brown | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Texas Criminal Law Glossary

Bookmark: