Dennis Elias’s Latest Tweet :. Injustice News Twitter Feed :.Mark Bennett | April 30, 2010
Here’s Texas’s criminal trespass statute. In relevant part, a person commits an offense if the person enters or remains on or in property of another without effective consent and the person received notice to depart but failed to do so. “Effective consent” includes consent by a person legally authorized to act for the owner. And [...]
Mark Bennett | April 29, 2010
The Anonymous Prosecutor did a really nice job in jury selection. Next up: D. You’re probably all wondering what you got yourself into today. There’s a tension in this courtroom; I’m going to try my best to explain to you what’s going on. There’s more to it than just a class B trespass case. I [...]
Mark Bennett | April 29, 2010
Anonymous Prosecutor’s voir dire cont’d. Talk about some of the laws: Burden is on the state, on SM’s shoulders and mine. D does not have to do a darn thing. Not a thing. One of our most important rights: right to a jury trial. Let’s say I got a traffic ticket for speeding, and am [...]
Mark Bennett | April 29, 2010
Jury panel is filing in. 20 people. Mostly white, mostly women (12). Judge Mike Fields does the “good morning . . . good morning” thing. It’s stupid when a prosecutor does it, and it’s stupid when a judge does it. The State has the “property of” problem here: State and court will try to apply [...]
Mark Bennett | April 29, 2010
Jury selection is about to begin in Harris County Criminal Court at Law Number 14. Pro se defendant is charged with criminal trespass at Planned Parenthood. He allegedly entered the building without permission, remained after being told to leave, and blew a shofar. Defendant, who is not Jewish, is wearing a tallit. A Jewish lawyer—not [...]
Mark Bennett | April 28, 2010
If you know me well, you might think that I would find no pleasure in a law-and-order federal judge smiting a college student for contempt, bringing her court in short-shorts and chains (Mary Flood, Houston Chronicle). You might think that any pleasure I took from such an event would be alloyed with guilt. You would [...]
Mark Bennett | April 27, 2010
Seen on Avvo: I am a resident physician in Houston, TX. A charge of indecent exposure has been brought against me by a complaining witness- no other witnesses or evidence involved. I had a warrant for my arrest, for which I went it for booking and was released on bail. Pretrial hearing is set for [...]
Mark Bennett | April 26, 2010
Rick Casey thinks we Texas criminal-defense lawyers are “coddled” (Paul Kennedy) because the Texas Supreme Court declared in 1995 in Peeler v. Hughes and Luce that, unless a criminal defendant is acquitted, his criminal acts are—as a matter of law—the sole proximate cause of his conviction and punishment. Andrew Winters commented from New Hampshire:
Mark Bennett | April 23, 2010
Last week Houston judge Susan Brown jailed a woman for thanking God for her husband’s acquittal (Rick Casey, Chronicle). “It wasn’t an angry thing,” she said of the wife’s outburst. “Every black preacher teaches us to thank the Lord.” Um, okay, that justifies 36 hours in jail? [Update: According to criminal-defense lawyer Vivian King, who [...]
Mark Bennett | April 22, 2010
Criminal defense lawyers in Texas are all but immune from liability for malpractice. In Peeler v. Hughes and Luce the Texas Supreme Court held that a convicted defendant’s crime is the sole proximate cause of any injury he suffers as a result of the prosecution; in order to sue a criminal-defense lawyer for negligence, he [...]
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