Elsewhere. . .

Montana criminal defense blog Fight ‘Em ‘Til We Can’t (for my money, the best criminal defense blog name ever) calls our attention to Denver PD investigator Gary Norris’s Daglaw blog post, Judge John Bayly, Asshole of the Week. DC judge Bayly (who rose above some strenuous competition for the honor) jailed a PD for continuing [...]

Resiliency

I wrote here about the mind of the criminal defense lawyer. Today I realized I left a major point out.
In reading law practice management blogs, I happened on this post by Ed at LawBiz Blog, explaining that, according to a JD/psychologist, lawyers can’t “sell” because they have little or no “resiliency, or fast rebounding from [...]

Commodified Lawyering?

About three weeks ago, there was some buzz about biglaw partners’ fees hitting $1,000 an hour.
“So what?” I thought, “Racehorse Haynes bills more than that.” (See Kinky Friedman’s profile of Haynes.) Even I have made over a grand an hour on lots of cases. Of course, I don’t bill by the hour, so I’m motivated [...]

If Nobody Talks, Everybody Walks

There used to be conspiracy cases in which all of the defendants kept their mouths shut. Scott Greenfield wrote in the comments to my Time to Take a Stand? post about one such case:
Ah. I remember a 26 defendant conspiracy with 2 years of wires, where we held them together and only 1 defendant took [...]

TBI in McNews

USA Today had an article recently about traumatic brain injury (TBI) in veterans. In typical USAT fashion, the topic is very superficially covered — personality changes (the kind of things that might turn a law-abiding citizen into a criminal) are mentioned only in passing:
They may be depressed, irritable and confused, and easily provoked or distracted.
Better [...]

A Great Moment in Trial Lawyering

Submitted for your approval: my recall of a minute of Richard “Racehorse” Haynes’s cross-examination today of the cooperating codefendant in the murder case he’s trying. Richard is a great listener and a very patient questioner.
Haynes: Then you appealed your case.
Snitch: Yes.
Haynes: Because you thought the government owed you something.
Snitch: No, because I thought my [...]

DUI or DWI?

In Texas, a DUI is different than a DWI. The DUI (driving under the influence) statute forbids a minor (under 21) driving with any alcohol in his system. It is a class C misdemeanor, fine-only offense. If a minor is convicted of DUI but has no other alcohol-related convictions, the DUI can be expunged from [...]

Parties

In Texas, a person can be held responsible for something that he didn’t directly do. Here’s the charge the jury is given when there is a question whether a person on trial was a party to the offense:
Each party to an offense may be charged with the commission of the offense. A person is criminally [...]

Hayneswatch

Richard “Racehorse” Haynes is trying a capital murder case in the 185th District Court of Harris County, Texas right now (I’m writing from the courtroom, where he’s methodically cross-examining the state’s snitch witness).
I’ve said before that if you have a chance to see Richard in action, you should take it. This is such a [...]

About the Clients and Ethics

My Time to Take a Stand? post of yesterday has drawn some comment. In comments to my post, Shawn Matlock wrote:
It seems that you are limiting your potential clientele quite narrowly. I agree with you, that I would much rather be trying a case than pleading one out. It’s what I’ve been trained to do. [...]

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