Also known as “Your Tax Dollars at Work”,
Since January, arrests in sting operations featuring female officers posing as prostitutes are up 300 percent citywide. In the first nine months of 2005, there were about 141 arrests from sting operations; in the same period this year, there were 565.
I don’t practice criminal defense in
But perhaps it’s one of those things like our so called War on Drugs: regulation would probably work better than criminalization.
§ 481.121. OFFENSE: POSSESSION OF MARIHUANA. (MARIJUANA)
(a) Except as authorized by this chapter, a person commits an offense if the person knowingly or intentionally possesses a usable quantity of marihuana.
(b) An offense under Subsection (a) is:
(1) a Class B misdemeanor if the amount of marihuana possessed is two ounces or less;
(2) a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of marihuana possessed is four ounces or less but more than two ounces;
(3) a state jail felony if the amount of marihuana possessed is five pounds or less but more than four ounces;
(4) a felony of the third degree if the amount of marihuana possessed is 50 pounds or less but more than 5 pounds;
(5) a felony of the second degree if the amount of marihuana possessed is 2,000 pounds or less but more than 50 pounds; and
(6) punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life or for a term of not more than 99 years or less than 5 years, and a fine not to exceed $50,000, if the amount of marihuana possessed is more than 2,000 pounds.
§ 12.21. CLASS A MISDEMEANOR.
An individual adjudged guilty of a Class A misdemeanor shall be punished by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $4,000;
(2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one year; or
(3) both such fine and confinement.
§ 521.457. Driving While license Invalid (Suspended)
(a) A person commits an offense if the person operates a motor vehicle on a highway:
(1) after the person's driver's license has been canceled under this chapter if the person does not have a license that was subsequently issued under this chapter;
(2) during a period that the person's driver's license or privilege is suspended or revoked under any law of this state;
(3) while the person's driver's license is expired if the license expired during a period of suspension; or
(4) after renewal of the person's driver's license has been denied under any law of this state, if the person does not have a driver's license subsequently issued under this chapter.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person is the subject of an order issued under any law of this state that prohibits the person from obtaining a driver's license and the person operates a motor vehicle on a highway.
(c) It is not a defense to prosecution under this section that the person did not receive actual notice of a suspension imposed as a result of a conviction for an offense under Section 521.341.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (c), it is an affirmative defense to prosecution of an offense, other than an offense under Section 521.341, that the person did not receive actual notice of a cancellation, suspension, revocation, or prohibition order relating to the person's license. For purposes of this section, actual notice is presumed if the notice was mailed in accordance with law.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), an offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by:
(1) a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500; and
(2) confinement in county jail for a term of not less than 72 hours or more than six months.
(f) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this section that the person has previously been convicted of an offense under this section or an offense under Section 601.371(a), as that law existed before September 1, 2003, the offense is a Class A misdemeanor.
(g) For purposes of this section, a conviction for an offense that involves operation of a motor vehicle after August 31, 1987, is a final conviction, regardless of whether the sentence for the conviction is probated.
§ 22.05. DEADLY CONDUCT.
(a) A person commits an offense if he recklessly engages in conduct that places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury.
(b) A person commits an offense if he knowingly discharges a firearm at or in the direction of:
(1) one or more individuals; or
(2) a habitation, building, or vehicle and is reckless as to whether the habitation, building, or vehicle is occupied.
(c) Recklessness and danger are presumed if the actor knowingly pointed a firearm at or in the direction of another whether or not the actor believed the firearm to be loaded.
(d) For purposes of this section, "building," "habitation," and "vehicle" have the meanings assigned those terms by Section 30.01.
(e) An offense under Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor. An offense under Subsection (b) is a felony of the third degree.
§ 33.02. Breach of Computer Security
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly accesses a computer, computer network, or computer system without the effective consent of the owner.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor unless in committing the offense the actor knowingly obtains a benefit, defrauds or harms another, or alters, damages, or deletes property, in which event the offense is:
(1) a Class A misdemeanor if the aggregate amount involved is less than $1,500;
(2) a state jail felony if:
(A) the aggregate amount involved is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000; or
(B) the aggregate amount involved is less than $1,500 and the defendant has been previously convicted two or more times of an offense under this chapter;
(3) a felony of the third degree if the aggregate amount involved is $20,000 or more but less than $100,000;
(4) a felony of the second degree if the aggregate amount involved is $100,000 or more but less than $200,000; or
(5) a felony of the first degree if the aggregate amount involved is $200,000 or more.
(c) When benefits are obtained, a victim is defrauded or harmed, or property is altered, damaged, or deleted in violation of this section, whether or not in a single incident, the conduct may be considered as one offense and the value of the benefits obtained and of the losses incurred because of the fraud, harm, or alteration, damage, or deletion of property may be aggregated in determining the grade of the offense.
(d) A person who his subject to prosecution under this section and any other section of this code may be prosecuted under either or both sections.
§ 21.07 PUBLIC LEWDNESS. (a) A person commits an offense if he knowingly engages in any of the following acts in a public place or, if not in a public place, he is reckless about whether another is present who will be offended or alarmed by his:
(1) act of sexual intercourse;
(2) act of deviate sexual intercourse;
(3) act of sexual contact; or
(4) act involving contact between the person's mouth or genitals and the anus or genitals of an animal or fowl.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
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