For our look at due process - Charges recently filed . . .

What does it means to be charged with a crime? 

Keep this in mind as we walk through civil liberties soon. Due process rights are defined in Amendments 4 - 8 in the U.S. Constitution, and made applicable to the states in the 14th Amendment. The Texas Constitution also contains a list in its Bill or Rights.

From ChatGPT: 

Being charged with a crime means that law enforcement or a legal authority has formally accused someone of committing a criminal act. It’s the start of a legal process where the person accused will have to respond to the charges in court. This involves:

- Formal Allegation: The charge is a formal accusation that the person has violated the law. This is usually outlined in a document like a complaint, indictment, or information, depending on the legal system.

- Legal Process: Once charged, the person will go through legal proceedings, which might include an arraignment, where they enter a plea, and possibly a trial if the case isn’t settled through a plea deal.

- Rights and Defense: The accused has the right to defend themselves against the charge, which includes hiring a lawyer, presenting evidence, and challenging the prosecution's case.

- Consequences: If found guilty, the consequences can range from fines and community service to imprisonment or other penalties, depending on the severity of the crime.

Being charged doesn’t mean the person is guilty; it means there’s a formal allegation that they need to address in a legal context.

In the news: 

- In historic case, father of 14-year-old school shooting suspect charged with murder.

Georgia officials charged the father of the suspected Apalachee High gunman with two counts of second-degree murder Thursday — the most severe charges ever filed against the parent of an alleged school shooter. The arrest came less than 36 hours after two students and a pair of teachers were gunned down with an AR-15-style rifle that, investigators allege, the man allowed his 14-year-old son to possess.


- Steven Hotze charged with more felonies over voter fraud conspiracy assault.

Conservative activist Steven Hotze has been charged with two more felonies in connection to a bizarre confrontation that left an air conditioning repairman facing the barrel of a gun held by a man investigating conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

The aggravated robbery and engaging organized criminal activity charges double the number of allegations Hotze was already facing over a 2020 incident where a private investigator, Mark Aguirre, is accused of tailing and attacking the repairman, wrongfully believing that he had thousands of fraudulent ballots in his vehicle.

- Nearly 50 people charged in Houston bail bond scheme will all face trial in February.

More than 50 people accused of participating in a conspiracy to bail inmates of the Harris County Jail using fraudulent information will stand trial together in February, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The defendants, collectively, are charged with using various strategies, including falsifying documents, to obtain bonds for people who had been arrested. At least one person is accused of recruiting strangers to add their names to the fraud documents, which would be wired to a Georgia underwriting company that provided financial security for the bonds.

AABLE Bail Bonds, the company at the center of the case, was raided in June 2022, and ceased operations soon after.