San Antonio Legal Blog

Everyone has made some choices in their lives that they don't want absolutely everyone to know about. For most people, when making questionable decisions or doing things that may not be legal, the last person they want to know about it is their mothers. But sometimes the mother is right there alongside, taking part in the action as well. That could be the case with a mother and daughter in Texas who are now facing drug charges for possession of heroin and cocaine.

One morning recently, a Texas State Police trooper pulled over a van for a routine traffic stop. At some point during the stop the trooper apparently began to suspect the two women in the van had something to hide, so he had a canine from the Department of Public Safety inspect the vehicle. The dog is said to have alerted to the presence of drugs, so the vehicle was searched, and almost 200 pounds of drugs were reportedly found.

The popularity of street racing has skyrocketed over recent years, and some television shows even glorify it and make it appear fun and lucrative. What is not stressed enough is just how dangerous a hobby like this can be. Far too many drivers have been killed in accidents involving street racing, and those deaths don't just involve the racers, as innocent bystanders are often caught in the crossfire. That was the case this week when a Texas man lost his life in a car accident involving street racing.

In the early hours of a recent Sunday morning, two individuals were driving toward a friend's house shortly after getting off work. As they turned at an intersection, their vehicle was suddenly struck by a speeding car. Initial investigations indicate the driver of the car had been racing with another vehicle prior to causing the crash.

There are certain occasions in a woman's life that she daydreams about from the time she is a little girl. Her prom, her marriage proposal, her wedding and her baby shower all have played out a thousand times in her mind before the day ever comes. When a woman envisions how her baby shower will be, she often thinks of a room dripping with pink or blue decorations, balloons, storks, gifts and a doting father. Nowhere in that vision are guns, threats and arrests. Unfortunately that's the way it turned out for a Texas woman recently whose baby shower ended with her boyfriend being arrested for violent offenses.

The woman's baby shower had lasted longer than planned, as many such occasions do. When the woman's boyfriend came home a half hour after it was supposed to have ended, expecting to find an empty house, only to discover the party was still going on, he reportedly was very angry. Although the woman quietly apologized to him for the delay, the party came to an abrupt end when he told all of the guests to leave. The man then proceeded to confront the pregnant woman, allegedly loading a gun and putting it to her head right between her eyes.

Physicians in Texas have been put on alert regarding the excess prescribing of opioid painkillers through lengthy prison sentences indicated for at least two doctors here in recent months. Both doctors were prosecuted on federal drug charges for overprescribing pain killers and for allegedly contributing to the deaths of several of their patients. The most recent guilty plea was entered in federal court by a North Texas doctor who was the principal physician at a pain and wellness center.

Federal prosecutors indicated that the doctor distributed a "shocking" amount of opioids and that he also participated in health care fraud by submitting bills to the government that contained false information. The sentence that he agreed to is reportedly 20 years in a federal prison, but the sentencing judge may exercise discretion in determining the length of the imprisonment. Another doctor was prosecuted on similar drug charges and sentenced in February to 10 years by a federal judge.