DALLAS CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAW OFFICE

Recently, a Baltimore police officer named Edward Nero was found not guilty of assault in connection with the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Mr. Gray died of injuries while in police custody during a ride in a Baltimore police van, points out Dallas criminal lawyer John Helms.   The prosecution's legal theory was very unusual. They claimed that the police did not have probable cause to...

Until a few weeks ago, Texas drivers could refuse to consent to a blood or breath test in connection with a DWI arrest, says Dallas DWI lawyer John Helms, except that refusal would usually result in loss of driving privileges under Texas' implied consent law. If you refused to consent, the police would have to get a search warrant to take your blood. A new decision by the United States Su...

On June 20, 2016, the Supreme Court decided a case called Utah v. Strieff. Some commentators have suggested that this decision means that police can stop drivers for no reason just to see if the driver has an outstanding arrest warrant. I disagree with that, says Dallas criminal lawyer John Helms. As an initial matter, the case has to do with whether the government can use evidence agains...

In a prior blog post the four primary ways of getting a sentence reduction in federal drug cases were covered by Dallas drug lawyer John Helms:  1.  Cooperate with the government.    2.  Negotiate a plea to a charge with a lower mandatory minimum sentence. 3.  Negotiate a plea agreement with a maximum sentence cap. 4.  Invoke the "safety valve" provision of 18 USC Section 3553(f). ...

In an earlier post, called “Dallas Drug Possession Lawyer- Getting a Sentence Reduced in Federal Drug Cases,” Federal drug defense attorney John Helms outlined four strategies that a person accused of federal drug distribution can potentially use to get a reduction of their sentence.  These are: 1.  Cooperate with the government. 2.  Negotiate a plea to a charge with a lower mandatory...

In an earlier post, called “Dallas Drug Possession Lawyer- Getting a Sentence Reduced in Federal Drug Cases,” Federal drug defense attorney John Helms described four ways that a person accused of drug distribution in a federal case can potentially get a reduction of their sentence.  This post goes into more detail about how cooperating with the government can potentially do this. In feder...

There are four primary ways of getting a sentence reduction in federal drug cases, says Dallas drug possession lawyer John Helms: 1.  Cooperate with the government. 2.  Negotiate a plea to a charge with a lower mandatory minimum sentence. 3.  Negotiate a plea agreement with a maximum sentence cap. 4.  Invoke the "safety valve" provision of 18 USC Section 3553(f). I will do a separ...

If you are looking for a Dallas criminal defense lawyer, you are in luck. Helms never lost a trial or appeal when he was a federal prosecutor. A former federal prosecutor John Helms is now offering his legal services in Dallas and surrounding areas with more than 20 years experience. His new website address is http://johnhelms.attorney.       Attorney John Helms has been helping clients...