By Douglas E. Huff | Partner, Deandra Grant Law | Dallas, Texas On April 7, 2026, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio announced the first federal conviction under the Take It Down Act, the bipartisan federal statute signed by President Trump in May 2025 that criminalizes the non-consensual publication of intimate […]
In August 2026, if the rollout stays on schedule, the way crime-laboratory records reach Texas criminal defendants will change. Not because the underlying law of discovery is changing (the Michael Morton Act and the rest of Article 39.14 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure remain what they were) but because the Texas Department of […]
How Bexar County district judge Stephanie Boyd earned a Public Warning from the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct THE QUICK ANSWER In June 2026, the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a Public Warning to Bexar County district judge Stephanie Boyd. The Commission found that she livestreamed her court on a YouTube channel […]
How Bexar County senior district judge Mark Luitjen earned two Public Admonitions from the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct THE QUICK ANSWER On a single day in December 2020, the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct publicly admonished Bexar County senior district judge Mark Luitjen twice: once for an improper ex parte call to […]
In late April 2026, The Appeal reported on the appeal of Maria Montalvo, a New Jersey woman convicted in 1996 of murdering her two young children in a car fire and sentenced to 100 years in prison. Her attorneys at the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender argue that every forensic indicator the State’s […]
By Deandra Grant & Griffin Grant Welcome to The Defense File, where we examine the criminal cases of public figures through the lens of Texas criminal law. Each entry looks at what happened in court, what the defense argued, and what a defendant would have faced (and how they might have been defended) if the […]
By Deandra Grant & Griffin Grant Welcome to The Defense File, where we examine the criminal cases of public figures through the lens of Texas criminal law. Each entry looks at what happened in court, what the defense argued, and what a defendant would have faced (and how they might have been defended) if the […]
Prepared June 2026 By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist The question: Can I get a DWI in Texas if I’m only taking prescription medication? The short answer: Yes. Texas DWI law does not require alcohol. Under Penal Code §49.01, a person is intoxicated if they have lost the normal use of […]
texasdwisite.com/blog/ — Prepared June 2026 By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist The question: Can I get a DWI for marijuana or edibles in Texas? The short answer: Yes. Texas has not legalized recreational marijuana, but legality is not the question for DWI purposes. Even where cannabis is legal under another state’s […]
By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist The question: What’s the difference between a DWI and a DUI in Texas? The short answer: In Texas, DWI and DUI are not interchangeable. DWI (Driving While Intoxicated under Penal Code §49.04) applies to adult drivers and requires either a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 […]