Mark Bennett | September 9, 2010
For your perusal: Harris County misdemeanor courts, DWI statistics compared between the year ending July 31, 2010 and the previous year (roughly DIVERT and pre-DIVERT). August 2009-July 2010 August 2008-July 2009 DWI Cases Pending at Start of Period 6,687 6,039 New DWI Cases Filed 12,315 11,341 DWI Motions to Revoke Probation Filed 775 656 Other DWI Cases […]
Mark Bennett | February 8, 2010
Houston criminal-defense lawyers Herman Martinez and Dane Johnson report separately on the state of the Harris County DA’s DWI DIVERT program. Here’s Herman: This week the HCDAO decided that a defendant needs to decide if they want to be considered for the DIVERT program by their second court setting. This is patently unfair and lends itself […]
Mark Bennett | December 3, 2009
The rumor that I mentioned on October 30th, that the DA’s office was going to stop accepting charges on trace controlled-substance cases, has been verified. Prosecutors were notified today by email that starting January 1st the Harris County DA’s Office was going to stop filing possession cases on people in possession of less than .01 […]
Mark Bennett | November 13, 2009
From the State’s Motion to Recuse Judge Helm from all family violence cases: Due process requires recusal when “there is a serious risk of actual bias—based on objective and reasonable perceptions.” and This bias should not be allowed to interfere with the State’s due process rights in a manner that infects “the integrity of the […]
Mark Bennett | November 13, 2009
I, [name of prosecutor], the undersigned Assistant District Attroney, do hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing document was served on the attorney for the Defendant by certified mail on 11÷10÷09. [signed] When you sign a certificate of service it is supposed to be true. If you file a document with […]
Mark Bennett | November 4, 2009
As I understand it, the Harris County Commissioners Court has started approving all DA Office hires by name. So if Pat Lykos wants to hire Joan Schmo to be a Misdemeanor 4, she has to get Joan’s hiring on the Commissioners Court agenda and get the court to vote on it at a monthly meeting. […]
Mark Bennett | October 30, 2009
Scott Greenfield makes the world a little safer for blawgers (via Houston criminal-defense lawyer Paul Kennedy). RIP John O’Quinn. A great lawyer and, like many great lawyers, not without personal demons (Rick O’Casey, Houston Chronicle). Memo from Pat Lykos to Harris County prosecutors: if you violate Batson you’re “incompetent;” if you violate Brady it’s the […]
Mark Bennett | October 17, 2009
Houston DWI defense lawyer Todd Overstreet got the State to agree to a motion for new trial for a client who had pleaded guilty on September 14th to two counts of criminally negligent homicide (a class A misdemeanor State Jail Felony—thanks, TY) for deaths of a Houston couple in a traffic accident. Todd is being […]
Mark Bennett | August 29, 2009
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is looking for other people who allegedly may have been involved with Judge Donald Jackson. Donna Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, said investigators in the public integrity division want to know whether there are other people who have any knowledge of similar behavior in […]
Mark Bennett | August 4, 2009
Harris County Assistant District Attorney Roger Bridgwater has said of the DWI DIVERT (“Direct Intervention using Voluntary Education Restitution and Treatment”, I am reliably informed, and not “maybe this will make the voters love us”, as I suggested before) program: What happens if someone tests positive for alcohol while on diversion? The program is zero […]
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