Dennis Elias’s Latest Tweet :. Injustice News Twitter Feed :.Mark Bennett | March 31, 2009
I was called for jury duty today. Strangely, none of my 100-or-so fellows in the jury assembly room seemed nearly as excited about the prospect of serving as I felt. When I made it to the courtroom (the 180th District Court, Hon. Debbie Mantooth Stricklin presiding) and saw that Caroline “Wonder Woman” Dozier, one of [...]
Mark Bennett | March 30, 2009
I was relaxing on the front porch of Bennett Manor with a glass of good single-malt when the telephone rang. It was my private line — the number I don’t give out to anybody. Caller ID showed an unfamiliar overseas area code. I answered it.
-Hello?
Pssst. Mark.
-Mr. X? Where are you calling from?I’m here in town. [...]
Mark Bennett | March 30, 2009
The Dallas Morning News reports that Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, who recently whined about not getting Chip Babcock appointed to represent her in the Commission for Judicial Conduct’s suit against her, “failed to abide by legal requirements that she disclose nearly $2 million [...]
Mark Bennett | March 27, 2009
From Houston’s Fox 26 News: Pat Lykos regrets using the word “incompetent.”
Mark Bennett | March 27, 2009
Commenting on Sharon Keller’s whining about being denied the right to counsel because she has to choose between representing herself and paying Chip Babcock’s full fare, the Chronicle’s Rick Casey writes:
The judge should know better, especially in these tough times, than to ask us taxpayers to agree to a lawyer whose usual and customary fees [...]
Mark Bennett | March 27, 2009
It’s an encouraging sign that, when two prosecutors this week used seven of their peremptory challenges to strike black potential jurors, resulting in a sustained Batson challenge and the dismissal of the jury, Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos disciplined them.
Forcing a prosecutor who uses peremptory challenges on the basis of race to start [...]
Mark Bennett | March 26, 2009
(Inside joke. Sorry.)
Mark Bennett | March 26, 2009
Early this morning, my telephone rang. I answered it.
Psst. Mark.
Through my REM haze: Mr. X, is that you?
Shhh. Yeah, it’s me. Listen, Mark, I’ve got something for you.
I was immediately awake — X has always provided interesting stuff in the past; some of it pure gold.
I’m listening.
Okay, Mark, here it is. Jim Leitner went [...]
Mark Bennett | March 25, 2009
Here’s Sharon Keller’s sworn answer (h/t The Houston Chronicle, without which we would be a news-free town) to the Texas Commission for Judicial Conduct’s Notice of Formal Proceedings against her. She spends several paragraphs reiterating the facts of Michael Richard’s case (the “he had it coming” defense), explains that Richard was not seeking not to [...]
Mark Bennett | March 24, 2009
New York criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield really doesn’t like the idea, but prescribes two options for “when there’s no other choice.”
Virginia prosecutor (and former criminal defense lawyer) Ken Lammers did it himself, and offers “option C: nose to the grindstone.”
Miami criminal defense lawyer Brian Tannebaum, who got himself a fancy-pants PD gig out of [...]
