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1 month ago | 
fortworthreport.org | Toluwani Osibamowo |Emily Wolf
Deaths from police chases are at an all-time high. These pursuits and their sometimes fatal consequences have come into sharper focus in cities like Fort Worth. But the federal data is barely scratching the surface — it only accounts for chases that ended in a fatality. In Texas, no one knows how many chases police initiate every year. Not the Texas Department of Public Safety. Not the families whose loved ones are killed or injured in pursuits.
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2 months ago | 
dentonrc.com | Nina Banks |Toluwani Osibamowo
Three proposals aimed at narrowing who can receive bail and controlling charitable bail organizations were passed by the Texas Senate on Wednesday, less than two weeks after they were filed. Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, authored the bills, which are a part of a greater package of bail legislation that includes two proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. Tightening up who Texas allows out on bail is a top priority for Republican leaders in the state this legislative session. Gov.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
houstonpublicmedia.org | Toluwani Osibamowo
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Southwest Airlines pilots’ lawsuit against Boeing over the airline's use of the global aircraft manufacturer's defective 737 MAX, after rejecting the case in May.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
hppr.org | Toluwani Osibamowo
Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed current Texas Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Blacklock as chief justice, the court announced Monday. Abbott originally appointed Blacklock to the high court as the Place 2 justice in 2018, after which he was officially elected, then reelected last year. Blacklock previously worked for Abbott as his general counsel and also handled appeals and trials of constitutional cases in federal and state court under Abbott when he was the Texas Attorney General.
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Jan 2, 2025 | 
houstonpublicmedia.org | Toluwani Osibamowo
Two officers who crashed into drivers during two separate police chases in Austin and Houston were not acting recklessly or in bad faith, and the cities are protected by governmental immunity, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. In doing so, the high court stands behind laws that protect police from being sued for certain actions they take during police work like chases — but it also hinders bystanders' ability to get legal relief if they're endangered in the process.
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Dec 5, 2024 | 
houstonpublicmedia.org | Toluwani Osibamowo
Two years after police found Melchor Gutierrez dead in his truck with multiple gunshot wounds to the head in October 2020, the Harris County Sheriff's Office issued a capital murder warrant for a teen — referred to as “J.J.T." in court documents — who authorities suspected played a role in Gutierrez's death while robbing him during an alleged drug deal at 16 years old.
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Nov 23, 2024 | 
dentonrc.com | Toluwani Osibamowo
A lawsuit filed by a cohort of Texas abortion rights advocates over the state's fetal heartbeat law passed in 2021 could be thrown out after the Texas Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling that the lawsuit was valid. Planned Parenthood centers, attorneys and other abortion rights advocates filed more than a dozen lawsuits — including several against Texas Right to Life and president John Seago — challenging the constitutionality of Texas Senate Bill 8.
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Nov 21, 2024 | 
kwbu.org | Toluwani Osibamowo
A federal jury awarded $98,650,000 in damages to the family and estate of Botham Jean, who was killed by former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger in his apartment in 2018. After about three hours of deliberation, jurors found that Guyger used excessive force in shooting and killing Jean, a 26-year-old accountant and Guyger’s upstairs neighbor, when Guyger said she mistakenly went into his apartment and mistook him for an intruder.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
dentonrc.com | Toluwani Osibamowo
DALLAS — A federal jury awarded $98.65 million in damages to the family and estate of Botham Jean, who was killed by former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger in his apartment in 2018. After about three hours of deliberation, jurors found that Guyger used excessive force in shooting and killing Jean, a 26-year-old accountant and Guyger’s upstairs neighbor, when Guyger said she mistakenly went into his apartment and mistook him for an intruder.
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Nov 15, 2024 | 
dentonrc.com | Toluwani Osibamowo
Effective Friday, users of Elon Musk’s X — formerly known as Twitter — can only file lawsuits against the social media platform in a federal district that includes North Texas, where a federal judge owns stock in Tesla. As part of X’s updated terms of service that take effect Nov. 15, all disputes related to X must exclusively be brought in the Northern District of Texas or state courts in Tarrant County.
