Mary Alice Robbins

May 29, 2006 | Law.com

A 2-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision has led to a reversal in a 15-year-old Austin murder case. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has thrown out the conviction of a man serving a life sentence for killing one of four teenage girls slain in a yogurt shop.

By Mary Alice Robbins

6 minute read

November 15, 2006 | National Law Journal

A woman challenging the constitutionality of a state statute in a case pending before Austin's 3rd Court of Appeals is seeking the recusal of a justice on that court because of statements he made in a campaign fund-raising letter.

By Mary Alice Robbins

6 minute read

May 03, 2006 | National Law Journal

On May 2, the Innocence Project asked the fledgling Texas Forensic Science Commission to review two arson cases. In one case, a man was exonerated, and in the other, a man was executed. The Innocence Project also has asked the Commission to order a review of all arson convictions in the state.

By Mary Alice Robbins

5 minute read

January 30, 2006 | Law.com

Reviewing the financial disclosure reports that Texas federal district judges must file each year involves, in some instances, examining lengthy lists of stocks and bonds or other income-producing assets the judges' own. But a few judges tucked interesting tidbits of information into their reports for 2004.

By Mary Alice Robbins

10 minute read

August 17, 2006 | National Law Journal

A federal jury in Houston awarded $136.8 million in damages in an overseas power plant deal gone bad. The winner, Canatxx Energy Ventures Inc., alleged that its financial adviser for the $1 billion power-generation development project conspired with an affiliate to oust Canatxx from the project.

By Mary Alice Robbins

7 minute read

August 24, 2001 | Law.com

The wheels of justice turn slowly at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: In some cases, it's taken more than two years for the court to render a decision after it's agreed to consider a petition for review. Fifty-four petitions have been pending for a year or more without the CCA deciding whether to grant or deny review, the court's records show.

By Mary Alice Robbins

5 minute read

October 30, 2006 | Law.com

A Texas Supreme Court decision has breathed new life into noncompete covenants previously thought to be unenforceable. In Alex Sheshunoff Management Services v. Johnson, a unanimous Supreme Court held on Oct. 20 that an at-will employee's agreement not to compete with an employer after he leaves job in exchange for training and confidential information that the employer provided to the employee is enforceable.

By Mary Alice Robbins

8 minute read

May 07, 2002 | Law.com

The Texas Supreme Court has waived the requirement that a pregnant minor's parents be told before she has an abortion because the trial court didn't issue written findings on her allegations that notification could cause her to be abused. The decision marks only the second time since the parental notification law took effect in 2000 that the high court has reversed a lower court's denial of a judicial bypass.

By Mary Alice Robbins

5 minute read

October 07, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

Under a rule pitched to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, defendants who knowingly and voluntarily plead guilty would be barred from collaterally attacking their pleas in habeas corpus applications based on actual-innocence claims. During arguments in Ex Parte Tuley, Dallas County Assistant DA Laura Anne Coats told the court, "The state's position is a bright line should be formed."

By Mary Alice Robbins

6 minute read

February 26, 2010 | Law.com

Three Texas solos who lost their offices in a Feb. 2, 2009, fire that swept through a row of historic buildings located behind the Smith County Courthouse have spent the past year rebuilding their practices. It wasn't easy, with two of the three uninsured. "All I have now that belongs to me is a computer, which my kids bought for me," Dan Hurst says. People are also having trouble finding them. Kyle Morrison says one person called recently from in front of his old building, asking, "How do I get through the fence?"

By Mary Alice Robbins

5 minute read