Defending People

the tao of criminal-defense trial lawyering

Reprise: Prosecutors and Judges: How is this Possibly Okay?

| February 27, 2009

I recently discovered a Motion to Hold Without Bond and an order thereon in the prosecutor’s file in a case I was handling. Discovered, despite the certificate of service claiming that the motion had been hand delivered to me 13 days before. (The parties involved will remain nameless, but only because I like them personally.) [...]

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R.W. Lynch Raises Its Ugly Head Again

| February 27, 2009

Last month I got a call from Terry Fifer (or it maybe Terri Fifer or Terry Phifer or Terri Phifer) at R.W. Lynch claiming that she was calling about “a new case — an injury that I was involved in.” Since then she has become more truthful — “I want to know if you handle [...]

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Don’t Dial 9-1-1

| February 25, 2009

Steve Hobart says he’ll never forget the frantic moments after his 19-year-old son was shot. He’ll never forget seeing a bloodied Aaron Hobart die in front of his eyes as he struggled to give him CPR. “We wanted Aaron to get help,” Hobart said with watery eyes Tuesday. “We didn’t want him to die.” Stafford [...]

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Prosecutors Are So Dreeeeeeamy!

| February 22, 2009

From the TDCAA forums, via Grits: Hi, everyone. Some of you know me from my days prosecuting statewide for the AG’s Office. I took a new position about year ago with the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel. Among other things, I am responsible for seeking compulsory discipline against any Texas attorney convicted of certain crimes; [...]

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A Defending People Retrospective

| February 22, 2009

It all began on March 19, 2007: I’m a criminal-defense lawyer in Houston, Texas. I represent people accused of all sorts of crimes in state court all over Texas, and in federal court all over the country. In this blog, I plan to talk about anything that relates in any way to the practice of [...]

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Post #999 – A Taste of Things to Come

| February 19, 2009

Takuan Soho, The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom, from The Unfettered Mind: Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman: Even though you know principle, you must make yourself perfectly free in the use of technique. And even though you may wield the sword that you carry with you well, if you are unclear [...]

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Pat Lykos’s Diversity Record

| February 19, 2009

Murray Newman posts about Pat Lykos’s terrific success utter and complete failure in making the Harris County District Attorney’s Office more diverse. Not only are there not more non-white lawyers there than there were before Lykos came along, but there will also be fewer non-white lawyers in the Office a week from Friday. My only [...]

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When Official Woman Kills

| February 19, 2009

The ordinarily-effete Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, faced with bad press and public outcry (including a complaint from HCCLA), has grown some backbone and initiated formal public proceedings against Sharon Keller. Here is the pleading. The “official woman” of the title is not Keller, who is accused of ignoring the court’s standing procedures to kill [...]

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Steenking Batches

| February 18, 2009

Should I add these permanently to the blog somewhere?:

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Cross is Not Supposed to Be Angry

| February 17, 2009

Via Norm Kent (The Broward Law Blog), a prosecutor loses his cool during cross-examination: Stacey Castor questioned about day her daughter fell ill

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