The Broad Category of Fraud

Have you experienced or been accused of fraud?  Many attorneys understand the concept of fraud, but which Conroe lawyer will work with you for success against fighting fraud?

Fraud is a large category of crimes and carries severe penalties in Montgomery County.  Not only does a fraud conviction garner steep legal penalties, but it also carries significant negative social stigmas.  Fraud can affect something as small as a friendship or as big as a group of businesses.  Furthermore, the consequences that follow fraud can last a lifetime.

What is Fraud?

According to U.S. Legal’s online dictionary:

Fraud is…an intentional misrepresentation of material existing fact made by one person to another with knowledge of its falsity and for the purpose of inducing the other person to act, and upon which the other person relies with resulting injury or damage.  Fraud [also can occur in the context of] an omission or purposeful failure to state material facts, which nondisclosure makes other statements misleading.

In short, fraud happens when one person misleads or withholding information from another.  That misleading or withholding results in personal or financial enrichment of the one at the expense of the other.

Ultimately, the root of all fraud is some form of deception.

Some Common Types of Fraud In Texas

• Adoption Fraud: Providing false or misleading information in an adoption processes.
• Consumer Fraud: Deception that results in financial enrichment at the expense of consumers.
• Money Laundering: hiding the origin of illegally-obtained money.   Transferring that money through legally-established businesses is one way of hiding the true source of that money.
• Identity Theft: Using the identifying information of another to obtain the financial benefit for yourself.
• Insurance Fraud:  Presenting false circumstances to an insurance company in order to obtain coverage they would not otherwise provide.
• Tax Fraud: Falsifying records to tax authorities in order to avoid paying the full amount owed.

While the above list shows common types in Texas, these are not the limits of fraud.  Fraud can also affect marriages, child support, child custody, and business negotiations.

If you are a victim of fraud, you should seek an experienced Conroe lawyer to help you through the process.  Contact the Conroe Law Office for your free initial consultation.

Marijuana Activism in Texas

Texas activist march on the State capital espousing “It’s mans right to consume the plants that come from the earth,” known as “natural rights” movement.  The Endocannabinoid system, exist in the human body for a reason,  but what happens when, that natural plant is concentrated with chemical process to make it concentrated in ways nature never intended? is it still a natural right?

How concentrated is it?

The concentration of THC (the active ingredient  in a normal marijuana cigarette) is between 13 and 20% normally and normally a person only feels the need to smoke less than 10-30mg to feel a strong high and the desire to consume more THC is sated. The contracted butane resins (at a purity of 70-90%) bypass the desire to stop but supersaturating the body with the compound before the user realizes how much they have consumed, having consumed as much as 600 mg.

The real controversy is the penalty group this class of drug falls into. Normally marijuana, which as you may know takes four ounces to become a felony, instantly becomes a fellony when in the form of concentrated oil become a felony regardless of weight, as is treated in the same penalty group as  meth.

Other reasons you can be searched without a warrant exist too.

If the time it takes to obtain the warrant, would result in the evidence being destroyed or altered in some way, police are allowed to make a warrantless search.

For example, the police are called about the smell of cat urine coming from a house in the country (the strong smell of urine in the air often times linked to meth labs) and the police see a man entering the house with a bottle of bleach (bleach makes meth oxidize into an unstable form of salt that is no longer chemically meth and cannot be tested or the accused tried as such, the police are within their rights to engage an exception known as “exigent circumstances exception.”

The border officers seem to be gaining power, as more creative criminal activities require more and more right given to law enforcement.

Is this a violation of my 4th amendment? Are we living in a police state?

The reason exceptions are normally written into law is that higher laws exist, for example, the government has the mandate to control the border, in cases that the border could be in danger in some way, the government argues that the higher law succeeds the lower and it’s really that easy sometimes.

In a general sense, the police must demonstrate probable cause. However, this isn’t the case for checkpoints, the U.S. supreme court rules several situations that can result in the setting up of such checkpoints. All the stops the police want-no 4th amendment violation.

What they can’t do

Montgomery county sexual assault lawyer

The issue of consent is tricky, very tricky, sometimes the only difference is sexual assault and consensual sex might be the rise of an eyebrow expressing interest, the tone of voice expressing inclination of interest, expressing those events to a jury is a job best performed by a serious, experienced and well-trained lawyer.

We can all agree that a line exists that actions match the definition of sexual assault, but as with all human relationships, gray areas exist. For example, consent can, in theory, be taken away? It’s commonly understood from case law that the act of having sex after a fight equals reconciliation? What if the woman is saying that the what the man understood as reconciliation sex was perceived as an assault on her?

Legal Defenses

Each specific situation has legal defenses tailored to the situation, and the good news is that many times tailored legal defenses have the most positive outcomes. The #metoomovement has created a situation in which it becomes a tad trendy to be included in the victim-hood of having been a helpless woman. We don’t want to deter from the illegitimacy of real rape and sexual assault, the pain and consequences it causes is unimaginable, but we are saying that a lot of gray area situations are being sold to the public as legitimate rape, when in actuality a strong argument could be made that the women in such cases were, in fact, profiting from the situations more than they were taken from.

Forcible, violent and non-nonsexual sex are crimes

We are not proponents of lawlessness in any form, we take on our clients problems and demonstrate the surrounding evidence that contributed to the situations, many many times troubled women have been known to create and imagine situations in which they need a villain, and sometimes, healthy strong normal boys are (excuse the Don Quixote reference) but the imaginary dragon, the scourge of society and at this office we feel we have more realistic understandings of the working dynamics of such relationships.

Victims of sexual assault in Montgomery County can also contact  The Montgomery County women’s center for assistance at-http://mcwctx.org/.

Priorities for Montgomery County divorcing parents of children with disabilities

Special considerations for Conroe divorce cases.

Divorce is always a difficult time for kids, children with disabilities might need different considerations to process the situation, we have a few tips that we wanted to share

 The clarity of your final decree of divorce is key

For example, a statement like visitation will be bi-monthly might mean every other month or every other week. The order involving medical care and community events also needs to be clearly laid out. “It’s a saying that he who signs an order in haste signs twice.”  It’s not that we want to drag anything out, in fact not at all, our experience shows that as fast as prudent is the most responsible, but the details all need to be attended to.

Inventory your child’s needs

We use a systematic approach to thoroughly divide the needs into two categories, short-term, and long-term. The short-term normally are normally repeating daily, monthly and yearly. long-term needs are normally one-time expenses, but can also involve short-term goals such as savings plans for higher education.

It’s highly likely that choices about schools, the reoccurring medical cost will not be contested, but the agreement still needs a language that gives a framework these  eventualities

It is important for divorcing parents to decide where their child will attend school and what accommodations they will need, how medical costs will be covered and where the child will receive any necessary medical care. Depending on your child’s needs and the specifics of your divorce, these decisions may be easy to make. If one divorcing parent is moving away or if your child needs extra care, both divorcing parents will need to decide what changes should be made.

Long-term visitation is on the table for the noncustodial parent, if planned correctly

Most of the time, one parent steps up to be the caregiver, while one parent is normally tasked with being more productive in business, one thing to consider is that if you plan your personal life to live near your child as a non-custodial parent you can arrange for  longterm visitation

Make Communication a Priority

The best way for divorcing parents and their children to handle a divorce is through clear communication. When divorcing parents communicate effectively with one another, their child’s needs are more likely to be met. Additionally, honest communication between divorcing parents will make it more likely that each party gets what they want from the divorce.

What to do about disagreement

It’s the opinion every relationship is different and every situation needs to find a mutually enriching agreement in which all parties give and take to achieve harmony, some pieces of music will be simple and others complex, but ultimately mutual satisfaction needs to be the goal. I’m willing to fight your spouse and their counsel to make sure you get fair representation in your divorce.

Montgomery County Civil Lawyer

A strange car pulls in the driveway, a man with a clipboard gets out of the car,  nocks on the door and you answer. In the most ominous voice, he says “Good afternoon, are you, Mr. Jones? I have some papers for you please report to the 359th courtroom in three weeks, you been served.” Process servers seem to run on melodrama. `

The psychology of being sued starts with a little pea shaped portion of your brain called the amygdala, You might know about its fight or flight response, It’s my job as your lawyer to engage the fight portion of that response of mind. You can’t back down in these situations, to quote Plato “we marshal our forces with all the strategy of war.”

The Process of being sued

Normally the process follows a fairly ordinary routine, notwithstanding exceptions.

• Calculate your deadline to respond
• Evaluate your options
• Prepare a response
• File your response with the court
• Give plaintiff a copy of your response
• Know what to expect next

A Civil lawsuit happy generation

Just because you are being involved in a suit is no indicator you have done anything wrong in fact many clients from many firms are found to have no wrongdoing and modern judges are good at figuring out what’s actually going on and getting to the bottom of it, but you can still be looking at settlements or default judgments if you do nothing or don’t prepare well.

Be at least few moves ahead in Civil Law

I’ve been surprised in court a few times, but normally I know the range of what to expect is fairly ordinary,  Perry Mason, Matlock, and surprises witnesses are the things of television. in the real world, prep work and a systematic approach always seem to win the day.

The Work of a Conroe Civil Lawyer

I love my work, my job lets me fight for justice on behalf of people of Montgomery county. I think those are my favorite days in court, “to be tired from a good fight,  fighting on my personal field of battle on behalf of of my clients.

Montgomery County DWI no refusal weekend.

It’s Labor Day, and while that means a day off work for most of us, the boys in blue are going to be pulling double shifts in the name of roadway safety.

Starting Thursday, May 24, 2018, and continuing through September 3, 2018, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office, in concert with both state and local law enforcement agencies, will increase No Refusal Operations on the roads of Montgomery County. The goal of this initiative is to prevent boating and traffic-related crashes and deaths caused by impaired drivers during the upcoming summer season – the roughly 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day when alcohol and drug-related crashes and fatalities are on the rise

During this time period, the District Attorney’s office will provide access to prosecutors, nurses, and investigators at various locations throughout the county and on the Lake to assist law enforcement in obtaining blood evidence in cases were a DWI/BWI suspect refuses to provide a sample for testing. The process is simple but effective:

1. An officer makes a DWI/BWI arrest and asks the suspect for a breath or blood sample.

2. If the suspect refuses, the officer then meets with a prosecutor who will draft a search warrant for the suspect’s blood.

3. The warrant is sent to an on-call judge who will review the warrant for probable cause

4. If probable cause is found, a nurse will then take a sample of the DWI/BWI suspect’s blood.

Montgomery County & Texas DWI & Fatal Crash Fact Sheet:

In 2016, 3,773 people died on Texas roadways; 987 of those were in crashes where a driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and 455 deaths were the result of distracted driving.
In 2016, 265,076 people were injured in Texas motor vehicle crashes.
Montgomery County, Texas, has the highest fatality rate in the state for counties with over 500,000 residents.
Each year in Montgomery County, there is on average 60 fatal crashes. Of those fatal crashes, more than half occur because a driver is intoxicated on drugs or alcohol. And of the alcohol/drug related fatalities, more than 50% of the time, the intoxicated driver kills themselves in a single car crash.
In 2016, the average Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) for those DWI suspects arrested in Montgomery County where a blood search warrant was obtained was 0.18, over double the legal limit.
In 2016, 751 blood search warrants were obtained in DWI cases in Montgomery County.
After being arrested for DWI, a person can spend on average $12,000.00 in attorney’s fees, driver’s license suspensions, and fines and court costs.
Source: Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Vehicular Crimes Division – “100 Deadliest Days of Summer”

Are you required to testify in a divorce or custody battle for a friend or loved one?

We have seen well-intended friends and family work their hardest to unintentionally wreck a benign situation by losing all creditability by acting improperly on the stand, you see, sometimes the way someone reacts in avoiding the truth is registered in the mind of jurors as much worse than the truth. 

Every time on the stand-just telling the truth, regardless of how painful or seemingly damning it seems is the best course of action. People on the stand feel like the world is caving in on them, their amygdala  (which is the structure of the brain which motivates the fight or flight response) is raging, and that isn’t a good thing for a witness to be wrestling with while trying to account details regarding while recalling facts.

Lawyers see this in court every day. The prosecutor examines the witness and it seems like an open and shut case, people minds are made up about the facts… Until… The defense’s cross-examination begins and all of a sudden everything seems to be more understandable as situations are explained and intentions seem noble. This is whats referred to as the “cadence of the case.” Humans have a hard time letting opinion swing so hard in a way that isn’t accurate to intent or the situation and being the complex mental process of trying to swing the fact under their own power as a witness, which is end result is counterproductive.

We can explain many negative facts away, what we can not get back is credibility.

Here are some tips on how to be a good witness:

1. Tell the whole truth, Not part of the truth. Don’t exaggerate the truth.
2. Only answer the questions asked. Don’t get off topic, or you may find your self on the Judge’s bad side.
3. Look the Judge square in the eyes. The judge is normally the person you’re talking to if you’re speaking to a jury, pick three or so members and rotate eye contact between the members.
4. Don’t lose control of your emotions. While tempered emotions can be used to drive home your point,  out of control emotions will cause damage to your credibility.
5. Think positive. Don’t use this as a chance to take cheap shots, remember you have the floor and were looking for fact-based arguments to build a case from, opinions, aren’t worth much in a court of law.
6. Everything is being observed. Unless you have been trained as a spy, court officials are better than average at figuring out when someone not telling the truth.
7. It’s normal to confront the hard questions head-on. Nothing feels worse in court than leaving an exposed “gotcha” moment, especially one in which could have been avoided simply by mentioning it first.
8. Listen to the question carefully and fully before giving an answer. Watch for the opposing attorney to reframe the question into something that mischaracterizes the witness’ statements.
9. The calmest mind wins. We as humans act as amplifiers of sorts between us during normal interaction; in-that anxiety or panic tends to spread as well as being calm and level-headed, the most mature among us are typically look-to as anchors for the less experienced ones.
10. Always pause before answering to give your lawyer time to object. The judge will decide if it’s pertinent enough to demand further explanation.

Being a good witness is in part training. Contact us if you have any questions at 936-441-2999

A Montgomery County Lawyer Talks About Kratom.

It’s our opinion  that in the early 2000’s, The pain management Doctors of America started overprescribing many drugs, leading to whats known as “The opioid crisis.” Pharmaceutical companies also played a big part in creating the epidemic by marketing the drugs as safer than they actually are.

In 2017 64’000 people died from known opioid overdoses.

What we like about kradium is that it does not depress breathing, opioid drugs all depress the breathing.

If you see anyone overdosing on opioids breathing shallows until breathing stops. Call 911 regardless of the situation, (many co-users have watched a partner die because they were scared of the consequences) The truth is a co-user could be held responsible for manslaughter in letting a peer die as a result of non-action.

Call 911 make sure you tell the operator the responder will need Narcan and begin rescue breaths.

Kratom is an over the counter natural product that many opioid drug users say helps them come off the harder drugs. The DEA disagrees about its potential for abuse.

We have mixed feelings about substituting one drug for another, but some people feel it helps.  The problem is that in our opinion, lawmakers and the pharmaceutical industry helped create the problem in addicting thousands to dangerous drugs, now we have a population wanting help from whatever source they can find it, but the law of unintended consequences would make it available to all people including those who are not looking for relief, but looking to get a buzz.

Kratom comes from Thailand, and its also illegal there to buy, sell, trade or possess.  however, no overdoses have been reported in Thailand, however, some have been reported in the U.S. the data becomes complex in that every case of overdose, other drugs have also been present.

As of January 2018, Kratom is legal without restriction everywhere in the state of Texas.

No pertinent legislation pertaining to kratom is pending or in the planned to be put to the vote. This means you can currently buy, sell, and possess as much kratom as you like in Conroe without concern over legal ramifications. Kratom’s legal status in Texas is perhaps a reflection of the state’s adoration of personal freedom.  Texas legislation tends to lean more towards granting more rights than restricting people.

We are not advocating drug use, the jury is still out on if kratom will, in fact, be safe for long-term use. However if someone is dealing with opioid addiction, I would prefer someone to take legal methods of avoiding relapse, however, we suspect the window of legality might be coming to a close in the near future, and for that reason, we suggest people take this golden window of opportunity to learn how to live sober.