Source: http://voiceforthedefenseonline.com/source/tcdla?page=6
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 12:35:08+00:00

Document:
A court of appeals has jurisdiction to review the Board of Immigration Appeals rejection of a non-citizen’s motion to reopen, even when the Board rejects the motion as untimely or it rejects a motion requesting equitable tolling of the time limit. Reyes Mata v. Lynch, 135 S. Ct. 2150 (2015).
President Sam Bassett extends special thanks to Robb Fickmann for his assistance in drafting the complaint against McLennan County Justice of the Peace Peterson on behalf of TCDLA’s Judicial Integrity Committee. A host of members posted on the listserve expressing similar feelings of gratitude.
D’s Kansas conviction for concealing unnamed pills in his sock did not trigger removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i). Mellouli v. Lynch, 135 S. Ct. 1980 (2015), stay granted, No. 15A137 (U.S. Aug 21, 2015).
Congratulations to Jeff Blackburn of Amarillo for receiving the Champion of Justice award from TCDLA at the TCDLA Innocence 101: Criminal Practice seminar in Austin in August. The award was given for his work in the posthumous exoneration of Tim Cole and the resulting legislation.
When a court was satisfied that a felon would not retain control over his guns, 18 U.S.C.S. § 922(g) did not apply, and the court had equitable power to accommodate a felon’s request to transfer firearms to a third party. Henderson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 1780 (2015).
Our own Buck Files has been honored once again, this time by the Texas Bar Foundation, which named him one of six Outstanding 50-Year Lawyers for 2015. Election to the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a member of the State Bar of Texas, representing the top one-third of one percent of Texas attorneys.
In May, Sam Bassett had two separate motions to suppress granted in DWI cases. In Burnet County, Sam won on a McNeely issue in felony DWI case with an alleged .24 blood test result. The timing of the Court of Criminal Appeals couldn’t have been better.
In March, Patty Tress, Lisa Fox, and Oni Groves received a not guilty verdict on a murder case in Dallas County. In a hard-fought battle over 5 days of testimony and many hearings, the jury heard very little testimony as the defense team came prepared with the rules of evidence and objections to evidence. After deliberating for 3 hours, the jury returned the two-word verdict.
The Fifth Circuit erred in holding that a federal habeas petitioner who prevailed in district court must file a separate certificate of appealability to respond to the State’s appeal. Jennings v. Stephens, 135 S. Ct. 793 (2015).
TCDLA members W. Alan Bennett and Susan Kelly (also a board member) heard the two-word verdict in a Waco murder trial after nine hours of jury deliberation. A big problem for the state was the testimony of one of its witnesses—a prison inmate serving 50 years for 5 aggravated robberies.

References: v. 
 § 1227
 v. 
 § 922
 v. 
 v.