Newsletters
AGGRAVATED ROBBERY
A person commits the offense of aggravated robbery when he or she during the course of a theft, which theft is committed with the intent to obtain or maintain control of property, intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes serious bodily injury to another person, uses or exhibits a deadly weapon, or causes bodily injury or threatens to cause injury to an elderly or a disabled person.
DEADLY CONDUCT & TERRORISTIC THREATS
person commits the offense of deadly conduct when he or she recklessly engages in conduct that places another person in imminent danger of serious bodily injury. This offense is a firearm offense. Examples of this offense are discharging a firearm at or in the direction of another person, into an occupied vehicle, or in a residential area. The person does not need to believe that the firearm was loaded in order to be guilty of this offense.
WAIVER OF APPEAL
A defendant is entitled to waive his or her right to appeal his or her conviction by a trial court. However, the waiver must be knowingly and intelligently made by the defendant. The waiver may only be made after the defendant's right to appeal has accrued.
NECESSITY AS A DEFENSE
A necessity may be claimed as a defense when a defendant reasonably believed that his or her criminal act was immediately necessary to avoid imminent harm. The reasonableness of the defendant's act and the harm that was sought to be avoided by the defendant are the essential elements of the defense. The defendant must show that the harm that he or she sought to avoid was greater than the harm that was committed by his or her criminal act. In other words, the defendant must show that he or she was attempting to achieve a "greater good."
Motion to Disclose the Identity of a Confidential Informant
A defendant may file a motion requesting that the prosecution disclose the identity of their confidential informant. Typically information received from the confidential informant may be the basis of probable cause to support the issuance of an arrest warrant for the defendant.







