Articles Posted in Kaufman County Criminal Defense Lawyer

For the third straight election cycle Kaufman voters have decided to vote out the incumbent District Attorney. Each situation was unique, but if there one thing you can count on in Kaufman county, it’s change.

To that end, the Kaufman electorate nominated Mike McLleland as the GOPs candidate for DA next November. Sans opponent (where are my Kaufman Libertarians?), Mike has already won the November election and will be sworn in in January.

I have a lot of good friends and colleagues at the Kaufman DA’s office. I know many are worried about what to expect, and if they will have the same gig come January. In this economy, I wouldn’t wish job insecurity on anyone. Fortunately, Mr. Mclelland has already promised not to make any personnel changes.

Yes, that is an SEO friendly title and I know the blog world looks down on self promotion, but I can’t help it. I’m proud of this accomplishment and I’m going to toot my own horn for a bit.

If you want something substantive on criminal justice try this excellent Grits post about hatchet man John Bradley’s cover up work on the Forensic Science Commission.

Not guilty, ya’ll got to feel me

The GOP primary is nigh upon Kaufman county. Voters have three Republican candidates to consider for District Attorney. With no Democrat or Libertarian candidates the primary is the defacto election. Let’s look at the two candidates I feel qualified to discuss.

Rick Harrison (incumbent)

When Rick won the GOP primary four years ago things were much different in K-town. The atmosphere at the courthouse was one of distrust and hostility. There was conflict for the sake of conflict; defendants and taxpayers suffered as a result. Court appointed fees for lawyers were setting records, the county jail was full, and a backlog tsunami of criminal cases was building. I don’t want to spend a lot of time rehashing the past; it’s fair to say that the courthouse square was ready for some hope and change.

This is a tough economy and many clients need until the last minute to come up with legal fees. No one plans on needing a criminal defense lawyer and even career criminals don’t keep a defense lawyer fund handy. Ergo, it is not uncommon for a client to retain my services the morning of their court appearance.

In Kaufman, I have often met clients the morning of an announcement at my office, signed them up as a client, and then passed their case and requested discovery. This scenario is convenient for the client since they don’t have to schedule an extra trip to my office and it gives them extra time to save money.

I have discovered one flaw in this last minute approach- it leaves little time for conflict checks. That led to my professional responsibility emergency this morning.

The Kaufman County Bar Association is conducting our soon to be annual judicial evaluations. If you are a member of the Kaufman Bar, or a lawyer who practices in Kaufman county and interested in becoming a member shoot me an email and I’ll send you the forms.

These forms are, of course, completely confidential. We hope to have the results in the next few weeks.

This past Wednesday was the final Kaufman County Bar meeting for 2009. What a difference a year makes. It was only twelve short months ago when a dozen lawyers met for what was only then 5th KCB meeting of the year and elected Tracy Booker, myself, Keena Greling, and Lisa Gent to office.

Largely due to the hard work by President Booker and Secretary Greyling 2009 saw monthly meetings (each with CLE), and a huge spike in attendance. Things are looking up, and more organized for the KC bar.

So who will lead the KC bar into 2010?

The longer the recession goes on the more unfamiliar lawyers I see on Kaufman criminal cases. Here are a few quick tips for the noobs.

1. Your client always has to appear, with one exception (first setting in CC2). Kaufman isn’t Dallas and a lawyer appearing sans client is not the norm.

In extreme/emergency situations you can it’s possible to reset a case without a client present (think ER). However, you will want to call the court before the day of the hearing and bring some documentation of your client’s situation.

As part of my regular open records work I ask for LEO disciplinary records. Today I received a thick envelope with over 60 pages of complaints and source material, including a DVD I haven’t watched yet. This complaint stood out-

On March 7th, 2005 Trooper XXXX was counseled for requesting a cigarette from a female he didn’t know, in a public place while on duty and in uniform. The arrested person later complained that Trooper XXXX was flirting with her, and took the cigarette pack from her without permission, and then arrested her when he discovered it contained a marijuana cigarette.

If the indignity of being hit on and having your smokes stolen by a uniformed officer wasn’t enough this poor lady was arrested for the “crime” of carrying a joint. Marijuana prohibition, empowering LEO creeps for over 70 years.

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