Dennis Elias’s Latest Tweet :. Injustice News Twitter Feed :.Mark Bennett | May 17, 2010
I believe strongly that federal criminal trials can be won—the Government, while powerful, is not omnipotent. Because of this belief, I have tried more federal criminal cases than state misdemeanor cases; my first jury trial ever was a bank robbery case in Lee Rosenthal's court. Some years ago, I aspired for a brief time to [...]
Mark Bennett | May 16, 2010
I've noticed that trial lawyers, when their beliefs about how to try cases are questioned, sometimes react as though the questions are personal attacks. This came to my attention in discussions among Trial Lawyers College alumni about the management of that institution. Most alumni remained silent, but the truth—that the avowedly anti-institutional College is run [...]
Mark Bennett | May 13, 2010
From the TCDLA Bylaws, Art. IX Sec. 3: A qualified member who desires election as an officer, director or associate director of the Association may file a petition to that effect. Such petition shall set forth the office sought and shall have attached to it the signed statements of twenty (20) members who believe the [...]
Mark Bennett | May 12, 2010
You get something like this in the mail, addressed to you:You know you’ve got no business with the accountancy that sent it. You’re a criminal-defense lawyer, and have no business with accountants as a general rule. Do you: a) Figure it’s junk mail, and roundfile it; orb) Figure it’s important, and open it immediately? I [...]
Mark Bennett | May 12, 2010
[This fragment has been hanging around for weeks in ScribeFire. It has nothing to do with Norm Pattis's Triage post, except that the title of Norm's post reminded me of this one. It has much to do with "I need a lawyer just to. . ." and this comment on magic words.] Quoth Greenfield: [Lawyers] [...]
Mark Bennett | May 12, 2010
“I’m looking for a lawyer just to . . .” This is a bad-news call. “Just to” has one of three implications, none of which involve situations that you want to get into. Get off the phone as quickly as you can. First, “just to” can mean “for only the following activities, which are a [...]
Mark Bennett | May 7, 2010
There was a little discussion on Twitter this morning, started by Houston DWI lawyer Paul Kennedy, about suppression of illegally obtained evidence in Texas. In Texas, foreigners are often surprised to learn, juries can decide suppression issues on disputed facts—for example, when the cops say that they stopped the defendant for not wearing a seatbelt [...]
Mark Bennett | May 7, 2010
Here’s a list (compiled by Houston criminal-defense lawyer—and hero of the revolution—Robb Fickman) of the Houston Police Department officers suspended in the last two weeks: Chinese Consulate: Officer Timothy Riley Jr. (Central Patrol Division) Officer Quang Tran (Central Patrol Division) Officer Victor Olivares (Central Patrol Division) Chad Holley Arrest: Sgt. John McClellan (Westside Gang Unit) [...]
Mark Bennett | May 5, 2010
I was licensed on May 5, 1995 and immediately started my practice. Today I celebrated my fifteenth anniversary by getting a client’s family-violence assault case dismissed. I was going to write a “things I’ve learned in 15 years of criminal defense” post, but Miami criminal-defense lawyer Brian Tannebaum, whose fifteenth was last week, beat me [...]
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