DWI, Drugs, Assault, Probation Revocation, Sexual Offenses, Theft, Juvenile Defense. Felony and Misdemeanor Offenses in State and Federal Court
Driving While Intoxicated, DWI and Your Drivers License Forney, Texas DWI Defense Lawyer.
Sexual Offenses, Drug Offenses, Assault and Violent Crimes, Theft, Truancy/School Related Criminal Charges.
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.
Nothing is more unjust, however common, than to charge with hypocrisy him that expresses zeal for those virtues which he neglects to practice; since he may be sincerely convinced of the advantages of conquering his passions, without having yet obtained the victory, as a man may be confident of the advantages of a voyage, or a journey, without having courage or industry to undertake it, and may honestly recommend to others, those attempts which he neglects himself
Samuel Johnson
I was in a band in law school and we penned a few original tunes to mix in with our Pat Green/CCR covers. Blogging is a lot like song writing. Some posts and songs require a lot of research, editing, and inspiration. Some just fall in your lap. Today’s post arrived with the force of back to back lap dances from the Biggest Loser crew.
Good stuff from Reason.TV. Whenever our government masters want more control over our bodies they send out the addiction boogeyman. In reality, addiction hype is just another trojan horse whereby our government offers the convenient liberty for safety trade.
Should the government ban effective pain mediations like Vicodin? Watch this before you decide.
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.
I had a DWI jury trial for most of last week. I don’t blog about trials or cases in detail, and I’m not going to start here. But I would like to talk about the experience of trial stress and what it’s like to represent a defendant in front of a jury of her peers.
I usually start feeling trial anxiety the weekend before. That is when my thought process becomes dominated by visions of voir dire and opening statements.
If my mind isn’t occupied with other matters then mentally I’m in trial. I often visualize the scene, projecting myself into the trial. I can see the jury, the prosecutor, and the courtroom.
Well my trial ended so now I’ve got some time to blog. Here is roundup of sorts I was working on last week.
Want to be on Penn and Teller Bullshit?
I got a call from a producer with Penn and Teller looking for an interview on sexting. I wrote a general post on the laws in Texas but BS is looking for an attorney or defendant who have been involved in a sexting case. Particulary for defendants who have had their lives ruined by overzealous puritanical prosecutors. BS will be in Dallas in February to film. Email me if you are interested.
What is the National Criminal Justice Act? It’s a commission proposed by Jim Webb (D) to evaluate the shortcoming in our criminal justice system. From Senator Webb.
The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 that I introduced in the Senate on March 26, 2009 will create a blue-ribbon commission to look at every aspect of our criminal justice system with an eye toward reshaping the process from top to bottom. I believe that it is time to bring together the best minds in America to confer, report, and make concrete recommendations about how we can reform the process. This legislation has already garnered wide bipartisan support in Congress and from interest groups representing a range of backgrounds and political viewpoints.
Why We Urgently Need this Legislation:
Recently, Shelby County District Attorney Linda K. Russell, found herself on the working end of a civil rights lawsuit for allegedly supervising a highway robbery (asset forfeiture) scheme in which casino bound minorities where pulled over for traffic violations and then threatened with prosecution if they didn’t sign over whatever cash they had to the State.
What happened in Shelby county is indicative of the problems with Texas AF laws. When you combine government greed, racism, and a lack of protection/due process for defendants you get malfeasance and corruption every time.
The Sharon Keller findings of fact were issued today. Basically, Judge Keller failed to act as an “exemplary” public servant, failed to foster the open communication we should expect from judges, and even failed to learn anything for her mistakes; but ultimately the blame lies with the defense. Nice.
Judge Keller’s conduct, however, was not exemplary of a public servant. She
should have been more open and helpful about the way in which the TDS could
Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog