Is Brent G. Burpee the attorney to help you? Most criminal clients will agree on a plea that includes probation, a fine, and community service, but some clients have a strong case that results in a best case scenario. Some of these highlights are listed below:
What's that smell? If you answered “Marijuana”, you’re probably a police officer. The majority of Texas possession of marijuana charges stem from a search justified by an officer’s nose, and if you believe their police reports, the state of Texas is populated with officers who are one part bloodhound and one part Dick Tracy.
The State of Texas has traditionally protected the rights of a citizen in their home, whether those rights involve self-defense, protection from creditors, or illegal police searches. But what exactly defines an illegal police search? The Texas Criminal Appeals Court recently delved into the latter issue in Turrubiate v. State,396 S.W.3d 147 (Tex.Crim.App. 2013). In Turrubiate, the defendant was arrested after a warrantless search and arrest in his home when law enforcement detected the strong odor of marijuana and entered under the auspices of protecting a child in the home.
The vast majority of our clients are angry at the circumstances of their arrest, and an overwhelming number of these arrests came as the result of a routine traffic stop that they characterize as illegal, warrantless, unreasonable, or the result of racial or cultural profiling. The stop was bad, many argue, so the fact that I was in possession of a gun, marijuana, paraphernalia, and conflict diamonds should never have been discovered. We agree, when the stop is bad, and are more than happy to listen to these opinions and evaluate the cases honestly and expertly.
In recent years the Texas Department of Transportation have posted over 3,400 somewhat confusing "Left Lane for Passing Only" signs on the state's roads. For those of us (all of us) who have lied under the unwritten rule that the left lane is the "fast lane", it seems counterintuitive to limit one lane to such a limited purpose. What's more, our clients who have encountered these signs all think the same thing: The rule is nonsensical and any ticket associated with the rule should be dismissed. If only that were the truth.
Brent Burpee is licensed by the Texas Bar after having gained valuable experience in Missouri and California on a wide variety of legal matters. While Brent's practice focuses on criminal defense, wills and probate law, and family law, he has worked countless hours on real estate, insurance, and consumer protection cases, and has recently expanded into employment and immigration law, areas of concern to many of our clients.
The National Rifle Association popularized the slogan “You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands”, and this motto has been echoed many times in the Lone Star State, where the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 stands as a historic symbol of he importance Texans associate with carrying firearms. Unfortunately, the Texas legislature has crafted a great many other situations where they can legally take your firearms, and violating these laws may prevent a gun owner from legally carrying a firearm in the future.
If there is any segment of society viewed with more disdain than judges, lawyers, and their political offshoots, it would almost definitely be criminals. Floating at the bottom of the criminal pool are those who have committed lethal crimes against innocent victims and show little remorse for their actions. As a criminal defense attorney, sometimes the clients who come to you have committed dangerous acts that cannot be defended on a moral ground, even if we must defend those clients on an ethical basis.
