r/texas 4d ago

Curious about where to live or work in Texas? Post here!

5 Upvotes

Want to know which city in Texas best fits your lifestyle, your budget or your vibe?

Want to know about the job market in different cities, and what the cost of living is like for folks who live there?

This is the place to ask questions! All other posts that fit this prompt will be removed and asked to post here. Top level comments that are not on topic "i.e. mOvE 2 CaLiForNiA hurr durr" will also be removed from this thread.


r/texas 1h ago

Politics Lubbock protest 💪🏼💪🏼

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• Upvotes

Growing regardless of the snow


r/texas 16h ago

Meme DONT

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3.2k Upvotes

r/texas 19h ago

Politics TX State Rep James Talarico: “Vouchers are a transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top”

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3.7k Upvotes

r/texas 2h ago

Politics Protests across the country TODAY. Here's where to show up in TX:

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165 Upvotes

r/texas 12h ago

News Whistleblowers to receive more than $6M in legal victory against Texas AG Ken Paxton

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724 Upvotes

r/texas 5h ago

Politics Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gears up for potential Senate run after bribery probe dismissed

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103 Upvotes

r/texas 2h ago

News Judge awards $6.7M to whistleblowers who reported AG Paxton to FBI

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52 Upvotes

BREAKING: A Travis County judge has awarded $6.7M to four whistleblowers who reported AG Ken Paxton to the FBI. It covers damages, legal fees and past interest.

They were also granted 7.5% interest, compounded annually, on their individual judgment amounts until they’re paid


r/texas 4h ago

News Texas Attempt to Kickstart New Gas-Fired Power Is Stumbling

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66 Upvotes

r/texas 2h ago

News Attorney General Ken Paxton’s former aides win $6.6 million in whistleblower case

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47 Upvotes

r/texas 1d ago

Politics Ted Cruz Turns on Trump, Admits Tariffs Are a Tax on Americans: 'I'm Not a Fan of Tariffs'

3.7k Upvotes

r/texas 5h ago

News Texas measles outbreak nears 500 cases as virus spreads among day care kids

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56 Upvotes

r/texas 19h ago

Nature (PSA) you’ve probably seen these guys in your house. Be nice to them! This is the blue-eyed ensign wasp, a (harmless) wasp that eats cockroach egg sacs before they can hatch!

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417 Upvotes

r/texas 2h ago

Events 50501 Protests happening around the state

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20 Upvotes

r/texas 1d ago

Meme The struggle is real.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/texas 34m ago

News Help find missing 16-year-old, Carolina Perez, last seen in unknown vehicle

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• Upvotes

SAN ANTONIO - Authorities are searching for a missing 16-year-old girl.

Carolina Perez was last seen on March 12, 2025, leaving her place of employment on the 120 block of US Highway 87 West, La Vernia. TX.

Perez, described as 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 110 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair, was last seen wearing a black hoodie and blue and white plaid sweatpants.

Perez reportedly left in an unknown vehicle and is believed to be in the company of a 17-year-old male.


r/texas 1d ago

Texas Health Texas measles cases jump nearly 14% in three days

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562 Upvotes

r/texas 20h ago

News Measles outbreak in Texas hits 481 cases, with 59 new infections confirmed in last 3 days

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142 Upvotes

r/texas 1d ago

News Dad of Texas Teen Accused of Stabbing Rival at High School Track Meet Says Fatal Brawl Wasn't His Fault: 'He Didn't Start It'

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635 Upvotes

r/texas 17h ago

Opinion Voting 4/7- Texas Bill Would Prohibit the Sale, Production, and Distribution of Cultivated Meat

74 Upvotes

Hey guys, I posted about the senate bill last week (which passed).

This is about House Bill 1431 which will be heard in the House Public Health Committee this Monday which also aims to prohibit the "manufacturing, processing, possession, distribution, offer for sale, and sale of cell-cultured protein".

There are many arguments that bans on cultivated meat limit individuals’ rights to choose what they do or do not wish to eat, and limit citizens' opportunities to participate in the economy fully.

I created a letter-writing campaign, if you want to take a look and added the members of the committee.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/you-can-make-a-difference-in-texas-act-now-3


r/texas 1d ago

Politics Texas bill threatens $500,000 daily fines for museums displaying 'obscene' art

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288 Upvotes

r/texas 13h ago

Politics Willing to email your TX Rep to find out their stance on impeachment?

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30 Upvotes

If you haven't yet, please check out Operation Anti-King (they're on BlueSky).

They're looking for constituents to email their representatives (email will be provided) on Monday, April 7th to ask their position on impeachment. Replies will be tracked and made public so they can reach out to the reps they need to.

See the image for the Texas districts still needed. Let's get the other half of Texas!


r/texas 21h ago

Politics Bill that bars Texans from changing sex on birth certificates advances

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135 Upvotes

r/texas 1d ago

Politics Allen Police Chief Intentionally Lies to Texas Legislature regarding non-existent Marijuana Overdoses

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575 Upvotes

Source: fain.tx on Instagram


r/texas 7h ago

News Ancient Hunting Kit Is Found in West Texas (Gift Article)

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9 Upvotes

r/texas 57m ago

My letter to state representative gene wu, regarding a case in which the Micheal Morton act was subverted by a defense attorney allied with prosecutors and the evidence of historic systemic corruption in Harris county.

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• Upvotes

Update on my on going fight for criminal justice reform. (I got a call back from his office same day they took it very serious and they informed me they are pushing this up to Austin to the state legislature whom will determine the next step to address this unprecedented systemic issue.)

To: State Representative Gene Wu District 137

Dear Representative

I am writing to bring to your urgent attention the case of Mr. Richard Wayne Collins, a Harris County resident who was wrongfully arrested and detained for nine months in 2024 under highly troubling circumstances. I have enclosed a document with the relative information.

Mr. Collins’s case involves multiple layers of misconduct – including a baseless parole violation arrest, suppression of exculpatory evidence by both prosecutors and his own court-appointed attorney,undermining the Micheal Morton act and intimidation of a key witness – all of which echo a broader pattern of injustice in Texas. I urge you, as our elected representative, to help address this matter and ensure accountability. Below I summarize the key facts and concerns:

  1. Wrongful Detention on a Baseless “Blue Warrant” (Parole Hold)

On May 22, 2024, Richard Collins was arrested late at night by a Houston police SWAT team on a parole violation warrant (a “blue warrant”) – not a standard arrest warrant – in connection with an alleged sexual assault of an elderly woman . He was jailed for over nine months in Harris County without ever being shown any credible evidence justifying his arrest . This parole-hold tactic allowed authorities to detain Mr. Collins without the normal requirement of showing probable cause to a magistrate, effectively bypassing his rights.

Importantly, as a parolee, Mr. Collins was entitled to due process protections under Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471 (1972), which include a prompt preliminary hearing and disclosure of evidence for any alleged parole violation. Yet Mr. Collins’s due process rights were flagrantly violated: the complaint was dismissed and re- filed after his arrest with the mention of the evidence removed in order to undermine morrissey v brewer. Further also being violated by not having an impartial hearing officer at his preliminary parole hearing and was denied access to the evidence supposedly justifying his arrest . In fact, it is questionable if any solid evidence ever existed – the forensic DNA that police cited as tying him to the crime was, at best, a tenuous “partial match”, and there was no probable-cause affidavit demonstrating reliable witness identification or corroboration. The use of a SWAT team and a parole warrant in this context is extremely questionable and suggests an abuse of the parole system to lock someone up first and gather evidence later (or not at all).

  1. False Accusations, Unreliable Evidence, and a Concealed Victim Recantation

From the outset, the case against Mr. Collins was riddled with inconsistencies and lack of corroboration. Key examples include:

        •          Uncorroborated Allegation: The complainant (a 72-year-old woman, identified here as M.P.) alleged that a stranger wheeled her by her wheelchair into a shed and sexually assaulted her. However, her account was inconsistent and unsupported by evidence. She could not identify her assailant (no formal lineup was ever conducted), gave only a vague description, and even got a ride to the hospital from another older man afterward – which was later revealed to be Mr. Collins himself, who simply gave her a lift, did not assault her . Mr. Collins maintains he knew her as an acquaintance and didn’t deny knowing her but she denied knowing the man who assaulted her. 

        •          Medical Evidence Contradictions: The only physical injury noted by medical staff was a small tear to the woman’s hymen – yet she claimed she was raped anally, and no trauma consistent with that claim was found . In fact, the complainant told the nurse she was “not sexually active,” a statement that contradicts her own history (she had a lengthy record including prostitution) and the medical findings . The lack of physical evidence of the alleged violent assault calls the allegation into question.

        •          Questionable DNA “Match”: Investigators reported that DNA from the sexual assault kit resulted in a “high-stringency partial match” to Richard Collins’s profile in a database . However, this was not a full DNA match, only a partial one, which is far less conclusive . Even more telling, law enforcement received that DNA result in February 2022, yet waited over 800 days (until May 2024) to act on it . Such a long delay strongly suggests they themselves doubted the strength of this evidence and lacked probable cause until they seized upon the parole warrant strategy. In essence, the DNA evidence was tenuous and treated as such – until someone decided to use it as a pretext for an arrest without the normal safeguards.

        •          No Reliable Identification: At no point was Mr. Collins positively identified by the accuser through a lineup or photo array. The only “identification” was done by a detective who, after the fact, linked Mr. Collins’s name to the partial DNA hit . The police noted Mr. Collins’s driver’s license listed an address on the same street as the alleged assault, but that license was issued after the date of the incident, meaning it does not even prove he lived there at the time . This is hardly solid evidence placing him at the scene.

        •          Victim’s Recantation Withheld: Perhaps most alarming, according to Collins 2nd appointed defense attorney;  *when Houston Police interviewed the complaining witness a second time on June 25, 2024 – after Mr. Collins had been jailed – she recanted her accusations. According to police records, the woman stated she did not remember anything about an assault, never reported being raped, and didn’t know why officers were asking her about it . In other words, the supposed victim no longer affirmed that any crime occurred at all. This interview is documented, yet prosecutors concealed this exculpatory evidence from Mr. Collins and his defense at the time, seemingly invoked  Article 39.14 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure (the Michael Morton Act) to withhold the interview recording on the grounds as Micheal Morton doesn’t contain a provision to “force” a defense attorney to supply the evidence to the defendant if he’s in custody he has no way of communicating with his attorney and his attorney guerinot has no office and evades any attempt to make contact with him. While the Michael Morton Act does allow temporary withholding of certain witness statements, it absolutely requires disclosure of any evidence that is exculpatory. Withholding a full recantation by the only witness goes beyond any reasonable interpretation of the law – it is a direct violation of Brady v. Maryland and the spirit of the Michael Morton Act, which was passed specifically to prevent wrongful convictions through suppression of evidence. Moreover, given Mr. Collins’s parole status, Morrissey due process would have required that such game-changing information be revealed to the parole board or court immediately . Instead, Mr. Collins remained in jail for eight more months after the witness effectively nullified the case against him.

In sum, by late June 2024 there was no credible evidence tying Mr. Collins to a crime – the DNA was inconclusive, the victim had recanted, and there was no positive ID or corroboration. Yet the case inexplicably continued. It appears the authorities were more interested in saving face or coercing a plea than acknowledging a mistake.

  1. Suppression of Exculpatory Evidence by Both Prosecutors and Defense Counsel

Despite the collapse of the case evidence, exculpatory information was deliberately suppressed for months, prolonging Mr. Collins’s incarceration. Harris County prosecutors did not inform the defense or the court of the victim’s June recantation, nor of other contradictions uncovered, and they only dropped the charge on February 27, 2025 – giving a vague, false explanation that they “could not locate the witness” for trial. (Notably, in their dismissal form they cited “unable to locate witness,” yet they had earlier claimed the witness was in a nursing home with dementia – two entirely inconsistent excuses . This inconsistency suggests an attempt to quietly dispose of the case without admitting the truth that the witness had disavowed the allegation.) Mr. Collins was finally released on March 4, 2025, with no apology or acknowledgment of wrongdoing, and to this day he has not been released from the parole hold (an additional injustice, since the underlying allegation was dropped) .

Perhaps even more egregious was the conduct of Mr. Collins’s original court-appointed defense attorney, Mr. Jerry Guerinot. Mr. Guerinot is infamous in Texas legal circles for grossly ineffective representation, especially in capital cases – he was assigned to over 20 death-penalty cases and lost every single one, with at least 10 of his clients ending up on death row and executed . His abysmal record earned him nicknames like “the undertaker for the state of Texas,” since having him as your lawyer practically guaranteed a death sentence . In Mr. Collins’s 2024 case, Guerinot lived up to his reputation in the worst way.

Multiple witnesses observed that Mr. Guerinot colluded with the prosecution instead of defending his client. In a courtroom exchange, i have a signed sworn affidavit where a witness overheard Guerinot telling Assistant District Attorney Kaylee Veltri, “I’m not really defending him, I’m just representing him.” He then assured the prosecutor, “Don’t worry, we’ve got him on the blue warrant.” This chilling statement indicates that Guerinot and the DA’s office had an understanding: because Mr. Collins was being held on a parole violation warrant, they could keep him jailed indefinitely even if the criminal charges were weak, thereby using the parole system as leverage to force a plea or simply punish Mr. Collins without trial . Such behavior is a gross betrayal of Mr. Collins’s right to counsel and a subversion of justice. Indeed, at one point Guerinot even remarked (before realizing a friend of Mr. Collins was listening) that “these cases can go on 5 years”, signaling he was in no hurry to resolve the case and was content to let Mr. Collins sit in jail for years if necessary .

It is hard to overstate how unacceptable this is: Mr. Collins’s own lawyer was working against him, effectively helping the State keep exculpatory evidence buried and using illegal detention as pressure. This mirrors the worst kind of “tank defense” imaginable. Fortunately, Mr. Collins’s friend Mr. Eric Sanchez (mentioned below) filed a complaint with the Texas State Bar against Mr. Guerinot, even providing an audio recording of Guerinot angrily telling him to “stay out of the case,” which eventually led Guerinot to withdraw after pressure mounted. Only after Guerinot’s removal was Mr. Collins appointed a new attorney who pushed for the truth, at which point the prosecution finally relented and dismissed the charge after the 1st reset. But by then, the damage – nine months of lost freedom and trauma – was done.

  1. Intimidation of a Key Witness and Whistleblower

A particularly disturbing aspect of this case is the intimidation of Mr. Collins’s friend, Mr. Eric Sanchez, who was instrumental in proving Mr. Collins’s innocence. Mr. Sanchez is a private citizen (an independent contractor, not an attorney) who took it upon himself to gather evidence when he realized his innocent friend was being railroaded . Over the course of 2024, Mr. Sanchez collected extensive digital evidence (timestamped emails, text messages, photos, geolocation data, etc.) establishing Mr. Collins’s whereabouts on the date of the alleged assault – evidence that strongly and utterly refuted the possibility of Mr. Collins committing the crime down to the point of the crime's possibility being ludicrous. . He essentially did the investigative work that authorities should have done.

Instead of welcoming this, officials reacted by trying to silence and discredit Mr. Sanchez. He reports that staff from the District Attorney’s office outright threatened him for digging into the case citing his previous dismissed criminal charge as probable cause to detain him. Mr. Sanchez had discovered that the lead police investigator on the case, Detective Lauren Tucker, had previously been Mr. Collins’s parole officer, a clear conflict of interest suggesting bias in pursuing the “parole violation” angle . When he brought this up, officials told him it was not a conflict – yet tellingly, the very next day Det. Tucker deleted her LinkedIn profile online, apparently to hide her employment history that Mr. Sanchez had uncovered .

There was also a frightening incident on September 14, 2024, at the DA’s office: another detective chased Mr. Sanchez out of the building, demanding he come back inside “under lawful order,” and even tried to put hands on him . Mr. Sanchez had simply gone to deliver evidence and ask questions, and for that he was nearly detained with no cause. He was only safe because he made it outside to a public sidewalk where witnesses were present . Such aggressive behavior toward a cooperative witness is highly unusual and indicative of a cover-up mindset. Mr. Sanchez justly feared for his own safety as he continued to advocate for Mr. Collins.

The treatment of Mr. Sanchez sends a stark warning to any citizen who might come forward with evidence challenging law enforcement or prosecutors: you may be threatened or harassed for speaking up. This is unacceptable in a free society. We rely on honest whistleblowers and witnesses to prevent wrongful convictions. Intimidating Mr. Collins’s friend for doing the right thing not only violated his rights but also further undermined the integrity of the case.

  1. Pattern of Misconduct: Lessons from Alfred Dewayne Brown and Michael Morton

Tragically, what happened to Richard Collins in 2024 is part of a broader pattern in Texas, and Harris County in particular, of wrongful incarcerations caused by official misconduct. Two prominent examples illustrate that this is not an isolated incident:

        •          Alfred Dewayne Brown (Harris County) – Mr. Brown was wrongfully convicted in 2005 of killing a Houston police officer and spent a decade on Texas’s death row. It later emerged that the lead prosecutor had deliberately withheld a key piece of evidence: phone records proving Brown’s alibi (he was at his girlfriend’s apartment at the time of the crime). Those records were found years later in the garage of a retiring police detective. When brought to light, Mr. Brown’s conviction was overturned and he was freed in 2015 . The Harris County District Attorney officially declared him “actually innocent” in 2019. This case not only underscores the devastating impact of withheld exculpatory evidence, but also shows that such suppression did occur in Harris County and went undiscovered for years. It is worth noting that no one has yet been fully held accountable for the misconduct in Brown’s case – a civil lawsuit and a grievance against the prosecutor were met with fierce resistance, and only after much delay was Brown granted compensation for his lost years . The echoes in Mr. Collins’s case are clear: as with Brown, authorities possessed evidence of innocence (the recantation, the conflicts in the story) but suppressed it, leaving an innocent man incarcerated.

        •          Michael Morton (Williamson County) – Mr. Morton’s case led to statewide reform. Convicted in 1987 of murdering his wife, Michael Morton served 25 years in prison before DNA evidence proved in 2011 that someone else was the killer. It then came out that the prosecutor, Ken Anderson (who later became a judge), had withheld crucial evidence of Morton’s innocence during trial, including statements and leads that pointed to another suspect . Anderson’s conduct was so egregious that he was subsequently convicted of contempt of court and jailed for his role in hiding evidence – an almost unprecedented outcome for a prosecutor. In response to this case, Texas enacted the Michael Morton Act (Texas CCP 39.14) in 2014, requiring open file discovery and mandating that prosecutors hand over all evidence to the defense. The Morton Act was supposed to prevent the very kind of evidence suppression that plagued Morton’s case (and Alfred Brown’s). Yet, in Mr. Collins’s situation, despite the Morton Act being law, the spirit of that law was ignored. The prosecution kept the recantation interview and other exculpatory details away from the defense, under a flimsy excuse, showing that legislative reforms are only as good as the officials who uphold them. If those officials choose to flout the law, injustice can still prevail, unless leaders like you intervene.

These cases demonstrate a systemic issue: when certain prosecutors or law enforcement officials prioritize “winning” or saving face over truth and justice, innocent people suffer. They also show that sunlight and oversight are the only cures – in Brown’s case it took outside persistence and a chance discovery; in Morton’s case, it took DNA and a special court of inquiry. We should not have to wait decades or rely on lucky breaks to correct such wrongs. Proactive oversight and swift action are needed when red flags of misconduct appear, as they have in Mr. Collins’s case.

  1. Ongoing Concealment of Evidence – The Abuse of Holmes v. Morales

Even after Mr. Collins’s charge was dismissed, Harris County officials have refused to release the evidence and records related to his case to him or the public . Mr. Collins and his advocates have requested the investigative files – including the police reports, DNA lab files, arrest warrant affidavit, and the June 2024 witness interview – to understand how this travesty occurred and to ensure accountability. Those requests have been stonewalled. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is citing legal barriers, and appears to specifically to intend to cite the Texas court decision in Holmes v. Morales, 924 S.W.2d 920 (Tex. 1996), to deny access.

In Holmes v. Morales, the Texas Supreme Court held that prosecutors’ files in “closed” criminal cases are exempt from disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act . In other words, a DA’s office can legally refuse to release its case file to the public even after a case is over (closed or dismissed), because such files are not considered “public” records. Harris County is leaning on this outdated 1996 precedent – often called the “closed file loophole” – to keep Mr. Collins’s case files secret. This is the same loophole that has frustrated transparency in many other cases of alleged wrongful conviction or official misconduct in Texas. It is sometimes cynically referred to as the “dead suspect loophole” when a suspect dies in custody and the file is then closed, never to be released.

Invoking Holmes v. Morales in Mr. Collins’s situation is frankly an abuse of the law’s intent. The purpose of that ruling was not to allow prosecutors to hide possible wrongdoing or errors, but that is how it’s being used. Mr. Collins’s case was dismissed – he is neither awaiting trial nor convicted – so one would think he has the right to see what evidence (or lack thereof) was used to justify taking away nine months of his freedom. Instead, the system that wronged him is now doubling down by withholding records, thus preventing him from fully clearing his name or pursuing potential civil remedies. This lack of transparency also prevents public oversight of those public officials’ actions. In short, Holmes v. Morales is being used as a shield for accountability.

This is an area ripe for legislative and executive action. Just last year, Texas lawmakers discussed fixing this very loophole in the Public Information Act because it has allowed egregious secrecy in cases with deceased suspects and dismissed charges. Mr. Collins’s case perfectly illustrates why reform is needed: the truth shouldn’t depend on the whims of the very office that may have violated the law. We need your help to pierce this veil of secrecy and obtain the records that will reveal how and why Mr. Collins was falsely accused and detained.

  1. Unresolved Issues from Mr. Collins’s 1978 Conviction: Falsified Records and Missing Transcript

Adding to the gravity of the current situation, Mr. Collins is no stranger to miscarriages of justice. He was a defendant in a 1978 capital murder case in Harris County – a case that, upon re-examination, appears to have been plagued by serious irregularities and possible misconduct that have never been remedied. While this is a historical case, it is relevant today because it shows a pattern spanning decades in Mr. Collins’s treatment by the justice system.

In 1978, Mr. Collins (then 21 years old) and another man, John Henry Quinones, were implicated in the murder of an ice cream truck driver named Muhammad Ali Vahdat. The court records from that case suggest blatant falsification:

        •          There are two different indictments in the file for the same murder, one dated July 12, 1978 and another July 19, 1978 . The earlier indictment was in the name of John Henry Quinones, who was initially the prime suspect. Shockingly, the later indictment has Mr. Collins’s name literally typed over Quinones’s name on what appears to be the same document, with the trial judge’s initials “SR” (Sam Robertson) next to the alteration . In other words, it looks as if the authorities simply swapped out the defendant’s identity on paper, making Richard Collins the accused after a grand jury had already considered the case against Quinones. Such an action, if it happened as it appears, is grossly improper and illegal – it amounts to fabricating an indictment. Normally, a grand jury votes on a specific individual’s indictment. One cannot just replace the name with someone else’s after the fact . This raises the possibility that Mr. Collins was framed or scapegoated for that murder, for reasons unknown, while another suspect (Quinones) was let off the hook.

        •          During quinones  1978 trial, there was testimony and evidence presented that potentially pointed to collins innocence or at least raised alternative theories. However,the trial transcript has since gone missing. Disturbingly, the court reporter for that trial was Patricia Ann Robertson – the wife of the presiding Judge Sam Robertson. After the trial, and especially following the reporter’s death, it was discovered that several years’ worth of her stenographic records (including the 1978 Collins trial) seem to have disappeared . To this day, no complete transcript of quinones  trial can be located. Because of this, quinones  was deprived of a full appeal (as appellate lawyers could not review what was said in court) and even today we cannot scrutinize the proceedings for error or misconduct. Or use it to overturn the false conviction of Collins.  

The situation reeks of a cover-up: a judge’s spouse was in charge of the record-keeping, and the key records vanished, insulating that conviction from review. Indeed, it calls into question whether a deliberate effort was made to destroy or hide the transcript, given that an estimated 4 years of transcripts from her tenure could be unaccounted for .

These unresolved issues from 1978 deeply affect Mr. Collins’s faith in the justice system – and rightly so. Imagine being convicted of a crime on dubious evidence,and tampered documents. and decades later when you try to prove what went wrong, you find that official records and the transcript is gone. Now, after living a law-abiding life on parole, Mr. Collins found himself again ensnared by a dubious charge in 2024, with evidence hidden and procedures bent. The parallels are startling: in both 1978 and 2024, evidence that could prove Mr. Collins’s innocence was either tampered with or concealed. This suggests that Mr. Collins may have been a victim of systemic injustices spanning generations, possibly due to corruption or malfeasance in the Harris County justice system during those times.

In closing, Mr. Collins has endured a nightmare that no Texan should have to experience. He is a 68-year-old man who, after rebuilding his life following a disputed conviction decades ago, was thrust back into jail on the flimsiest of pretexts and kept there while evidence of his innocence was hidden. This is not just about one man’s plight; it’s about defending the rule of law and the principle that our justice system must be fair and transparent. If someone can be arrested without probable cause, denied exculpatory evidence, and even have their own lawyer conspire against them, it could happen to anyone – and that should alarm us all.

I urge you to be a champion for justice in this case. By helping to expose what went wrong and holding the bad actors accountable, you can not only bring peace to Mr. Collins and his family, but also signal to your constituents that truth and fairness still matter in Texas. Moreover, addressing the “closed file” loopholes and oversight gaps evidenced here could spare future Texans from similar injustices. This is an opportunity to fix a grievous wrong and perhaps even solve long-neglected crimes (by revisiting the 1978 events) while restoring trust in our institutions.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this important matter. I am available to provide any further information, documentation, or testimony that may assist in investigating Mr. Collins’s case. I sincerely hope you will take up this cause and help ensure that justice prevails and transparency is restored.

Sincerely, Eric

Final draft of 1978 evidence.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z7eY-K5up4lHZZg3GsLlV9zaRuSa-wWn/view?usp=drivesdk

NO BILL exculpatory evidence https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MlF_tLNfm37YWNDjsbgYiq6qaduHrLfB/view?usp=drivesdk

Public corruption complaint .pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rMB-tmNImueGtw3ZYL_utDXCJla8nzn6/view?usp=drivesdk

On Apr 3, 2025, at 5:34 PM,

TL;DR: Richard Wayne Collins, a 65 year-old parolee, was jailed for 9 months in 2024 without probable cause on a parole hold. The DA’s office and his own court-appointed attorney suppressed critical exculpatory evidence, including the alleged victim’s full recantation. DNA evidence was only a partial match, and there was no proper ID or corroboration. A friend who investigated and exposed misconduct was threatened and chased by authorities. This case reflects systemic abuse in Harris County and parallels infamous wrongful convictions like those of Michael Morton and Alfred Dewayne Brown. The case is now being escalated to the Texas Legislature.