Houston Texas Criminal Defense Blog

If someone accuses you of fraud, that accusation alone may not be enough. Fraud has to be proven to a legal standard, and there are six basic elements that generally need to be present for the charges to stand.

The key to your defense, then, may simply lie in understanding what these elements are and how they pertain to your case. If they're not all present, you can argue that you never committed fraud in the first place, regardless of how the other party felt about whatever happened between the two of you. The six elements are:

1. You made a claim to someone else.
2. That claim was not true.
3. You knew at the time that the claim was false, or you made the claim in a reckless manner -- in other words, you had no idea if it was true or not and didn't try to find out before claiming that it was.
4. You made that claim because you wanted the other party to rely on it in some fashion.
5. They did rely on your claim, not knowing it was false.
6. As a result, they suffered some sort of direct harm. It is typically financial.

Everyone likes to have a good time. Maybe you meet up with friends or coworkers for happy hour before you pick your kids up from school or soccer practice. While there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun, it’s important to remember that you have a responsibility to yourself, other motorists, and the child you will pick up later to ensure you will be safe to drive when the time comes.

Parents drive drunk maybe more than you think. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that motorists make up to 102 million drunk-driving trips with passengers under age 15. That is a staggering number as children of this age may be most vulnerable in the event of an alcohol-related crash.

We all make mistakes. But what if those mistakes lead to criminal charges? What if you accidentally do something that results in a call to the police?

For example, say you go to the store just to do some browsing. You find a shirt that you like, but you want to keep looking around. You tuck it under your arm so that no one else buys it, and then you keep walking around the store.

Texas Penal Code, Title 5, Chapter 22, Section 22.01 defines domestic violence as any instance in which an individual threatens or inflicts bodily harm on another individual. State law allows anyone residing in the same home with their alleged victim to be charged with domestic violence. It doesn't matter whether they're in a romantic relationship with their victim. They don't necessarily have to be related by blood either.

Domestic violence is considered as a type of assault in Texas. It can be prosecuted as anything from a Class C misdemeanor up to a first-degree felony here in this state. Prosecutors will generally base their decision as to what degree of crime to charge a defendant with on a variety of factors.