Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Is one sentence I hate to here in a consultation. Potential clients all desire the same thing during a consulation, the one thing that I can not promise them- certainty of outcome. Check the avvo message boards and you will see the most common question asked by defendants is “I’m charged with x, what sentence will I get?”

Most defendants are regular hard working Americans who but for the unlucky lottery and perpetual vigilance of law enforcement would have never been arrested or charged wtih anything. These defendants want the process over and their lives back, post haste.

Unfortunately, I don’t do guaranteed dismissals for any case. I can tell you that a small category of cases (hot checks in Kaufman in which the defendant pays restitution) are routinely dismissed. But even that doesn’t mean any one particular case will be dismissed.

I got back in from Key West last night an 9pm. I made three phone calls on the way home from the airport. One thing about leaving town for 5 days is the office tsunami that awaits upon return. I tried to not call anyone while in Florida and only sporadically checked my email. Law is a jealous mistress indeed, and right now she’s pissed.

Final Key West Thoughts

The NORML seminar is at the Pier House resort and spa. PH is located at the end of Duval street in a perfect location- close enough to the nightlife, secluded enough that you don’t realize it. PH also had some of the best food in Key West. It’s a little pricey, but we’ll probably go back next year. It’s good to stay with the NORMLers.

I wouldn’t leave. I’ve been in Key West for 24 hours and this is paradise. When I left Dallas it was snowing and I was fighting traffic on 360. Here, the weather is perfect and “traffic” is mostly golf carts and mopeds.

Where to start? First, there is the awe inspiring natural beauty of the Keys. The teal water, sandy beaches, flora and fauna deserve a few hundred words. But nature writing is not my strong point.

Besides beauty the commerce in Key West is refreshingly local and unique. While there is a CVS near our hotel there is nary a chain restaurant in site. One reason I loathe Cancun is that it’s been over run with megacorp blandness. I’ve always been more Port Aransas than South Padre Island. The conch republic/pirate shtick is fun. I’ve seen more than a few drunk “pirates” in full garb, complete with fake parrots.

I was quoted in DMN today for an article on the Dallas Constables allegedly selling raffle tickets to finance their campaigns. My entire contribution, soup to nuts, was

Robert Guest, a local criminal defense lawyer, said he believes the state’s anti-gambling law prohibits elected officials from using raffles to raise campaign money.

How did I come to that conclusion? It should come as no surprise that I’ve never actually represented someone for illegal raffling. Such prosecutions are rare. In fact, in my 6 years of lawyering I’ve never seen one.