Month: December 2010

Illegal Arrests and Confessions

There are two decisions from the United States Supreme Court which suggest that a confession may be inadmissible if it is tainted by the illegal investigation arising from an illegal arrest. Many more have evolved since the United States Wong Sun case back in 1963....

Involuntary Confessions

For a long time now courts have realized that a confession is certainly not voluntary simply because it is true. There are a long line of Supreme Court cases which have shown that the voluntariness of a confession is based on the "totality of the circumstances"...

Newspapers and Criminal Prosecutions

Freedom of Speech of the Press is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and is applicable to the States, according to the Supreme Court in a case in 1930. As such, the trial court should not attempt to wholly prevent a newspaper from...

IRS Debt in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

In a case out of the Eastern District in 2008, the joint Chapter 13 debtors owed the IRS a debt of nearly $90,000.00, partially secured. The debtors proposed to pay the IRS directly but were less than clear on the terms of such repayment. The IRS objected asserting...

Chapter 13 Plan Confirmation

In re Louviere, was a case out of the Eastern District of Texas where the Chapter 13 Trustee objected to confirmation on the basis that the debtor was not paying disposable income per the current monthly income calculation of the Means Test and because of the debtor's...

Role of the Expert in Child Custody Battles

In a divorce proceeding that is a suit affecting the parent-child relationship (SAPCR), it is necessary to attempt to ascertain the meaning of "psychological best interest of the child".  There have been many statements that is the desired standard in custodial...

Divorce Disputes

When parties get a divorce, often times there are many disputed issues.  Sometimes the issues of contention are over who would be appointed joint managing conservator of the children or how much child support should be owed.  Another point of contention can be where...

Mediation and Divorce

The subjects of divorce mediation include, but are not limited to, those that would be resolved by a judge in court, but for the mediated settlement.  The mediation process then can be seen as an alternative to the court process. Divorce mediation is defined as a...

State Property Law

A case out of the Southern District dealt with the intersection of state property law under the Texas Property Code and Section 1322(b)(2) of the Code, which prohibits lien stripping of the claim that is secured only by a security interest in real estate that is the...

Archives