AltWeeklies Wire
Portrait of a Shattered Familynew
Murder destroyed Charity Lee's family, forever altered her concept of justice.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
06-13-2013 |
Crime & Justice
Dead in Seven Hoursnew
When overdosed means overworked, Bexar County jail's fatal flaws come to light.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
06-05-2013 |
Crime & Justice
In Texas, Juvenile Sex Offenders Get Virtual Life Sentencenew
Texas is one of at least 10 states that put children found guilty in juvenile courts on public sex-offender registries.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
05-09-2013 |
Crime & Justice
The Great Imposternew
How digital-age con Gemase Simmons preyed on young fame-hungry victims for years.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
02-21-2013 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Gemase Simmons
Sexual abuse victims testify in Lackland hearingnew
In the summer of 2011, a single trainee came forward to claim she was raped by her instructor at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
01-30-2013 |
Crime & Justice
Confessions of a Revenge Pornographernew
Revenge porn has become a legal grey area. In the past, victims have sued websites over copyright infringement or privacy. But proprietors of revenge porn websites like Texxxan.com fall under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides that websites aren't liable for user-submitted content.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
01-30-2013 |
Crime & Justice
Murder City: Police stats show 2012 had more kills in San Antonionew
Nationally, homicides have continued to decrease steadily since about 2005. According to FBI stats and previous media reports, San Antonio's murder rate appears to have peaked in the mid-1990s
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
01-23-2013 |
Crime & Justice
Why Have Jail Suicides Soared in Bexar County, Texas?new
Up until 2009, suicides were rare at the Bexar County jail. More common were inmates dying from natural causes, like liver failure or complications from lung cancer.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
10-17-2012 |
Crime & Justice
What Texas Criminal Justice Reformers Could Teach the Booming Immigrant Detention Systemnew
GOP State Rep. Jerry Madden took the helm of the House corrections committee in 2005, just in time for a deeply distressing projection: booming incarceration in our notoriously tough-on-crime state meant Texas would need eight new prisons by 2012, at a cost of about $1 billion.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
09-20-2012 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: jail, criminal justice
Lackland's Instructor-on-Rainbow Sex Crimesnew
Lackland Air Force Base boils over.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas and John Lasker |
07-17-2012 |
Crime & Justice
Anatomy of a Wrongful Texas Executionnew
Until the day Texas executed him in 1989, Carlos DeLuna insisted another Carlos stabbed and killed 24-year-old Wanda Lopez at a Corpus Christi gas station in February 1983. At trial, prosecutors dismissed the idea, calling the other Carlos "a phantom" that didn't exist.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
05-28-2012 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: execution, Carlos DeLuna
Questions Over Testing Stall Bartee Executionnew
The night of August 16, 1996, gunshots rang out from David Cook's East Side home shortly before neighbors heard someone take off down the street on Cook's prized red Harley.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
03-02-2012 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Anthony Bartee execution
Underage sex trafficking is everywhere, but will law enforcement budgets hold out?new
On any given day, the 19-year-old takes to the streets, turning tricks for cash to feed her heroin habit. She's long bounced between sex work, jail, and unsuccessful stints in treatment.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
02-09-2012 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: sex work, sex trafficking
9/11: A Legacy of Errorsnew
The attacks of September 11 brought me back to the world.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
09-14-2011 |
Crime & Justice
Claims of Sexual Abuse by Former Priest Results in Calls to Stay Executionnew
The church of St. Clare’s in San Antonio, a symbol of faith and piety for some, has become an icon of the fear and shame others here have kept buried for decades.
San Antonio Current |
Michael Barajas |
06-15-2011 |
Crime & Justice
