Texas DWI & Criminal Defense Blog

The decision to accept or reject a plea offer is the most consequential choice a defendant makes in a criminal case. And increasingly, that decision hinges on digital evidence — data from phones, computers, GPS records, social media, surveillance video, and online activity that the prosecution presents as proof of guilt. Too many defendants accept […]

Audio recordings which may come from police interrogations, undercover operations, phone calls, voicemails, and private conversations are powerful evidence in criminal cases. A jury hearing a defendant’s own voice making what sounds like an incriminating statement is profoundly persuasive. But audio evidence is subject to technical limitations, authentication requirements, and legal restrictions that can make […]

Video evidence has transformed criminal prosecution. Body-worn cameras on police officers, surveillance cameras on businesses and homes, dash cameras in patrol cars, Ring doorbells, and security DVR systems capture millions of hours of footage. When prosecutors present video evidence, jurors tend to accept it as objective proof. “The camera doesn’t lie.” Except that it can. […]

Prosecutors have discovered that social media accounts are gold mines of potential evidence. Your Facebook posts, Instagram stories, Snapchat messages, tweets, TikTok videos, and even your Venmo transactions can be used to establish motive, intent, location, relationships, state of mind, and even admissions. In sex crime cases, social media evidence is often used to establish […]

When law enforcement finds illegal material on a computer or traces illegal online activity to an IP address, they typically charge the person who owns the device or pays for the internet subscription. The assumption is straightforward: it’s your computer, so it must be your activity. But that assumption is often wrong. Computers, phones, tablets, […]

Surveillance video that appears too dark, too blurry, or too small to be useful may actually contain valuable evidence for the defense. Conversely, video that the prosecution presents as clear and compelling may have been manipulated, taken out of context, or processed in ways that altered its meaning. In both situations, forensic video analysis can […]

Text messages have become one of the most common forms of evidence in criminal cases. Prosecutors use them to establish motive, demonstrate intent, contradict alibis, and, in cases like online solicitation, to serve as the very foundation of the criminal charge. When text messages appear on a courtroom screen, jurors tend to treat them as […]