Dennis Elias’s Latest Tweet :. Injustice News Twitter Feed :.Mark Bennett | October 8, 2009
Believe it or not, sometimes criminal defendants have a serious lack of judgment, reason and/or common sense. Some even possess what might be considered a reckless disregard for what’s in their best interests. (Not my clients, mind you, but I’ve noticed that other criminal defense lawyers seem to represent people who are a mess.)
Todd Taylor, [...]
Mark Bennett | April 3, 2009
When I sat on a jury panel this week, one thing that jumped to my attention was the behavior of the accused. He, a non-English speaker wearing headphones to listen to the simultaneous translation of the proceedings, had his head down, chin against his chest, for — as far as I could tell — the [...]
Mark Bennett | January 28, 2009
From a Defending People reader’s description of his experience with the criminal justice system:
So, I got a good attorney. My bond was $5,000, and I was out for almost a year keeping my nose clean. Then he called me in and announced that he couldn’t do anything for me and that I was getting 20 [...]
Mark Bennett | January 26, 2009
From a post, The Nature of the Job, last October:
Clients sometimes think that they want a lawyer who will act unethically for them, but they don’t: first, because a defense based on lies is almost always doomed to fail; and second, because clients need lawyers they can trust. Unethical lawyers are . . . unethical. [...]
Mark Bennett | January 7, 2009
In Broward County, Florida, the judge has kicked the whole DA’s office off a murder case because two prosecutors had listened to two phone calls between the jailed accused and his lawyer. (H/T Social Services for Feral Children.) The trial started in September; it’s “on hold” now (not even a mistrial?).
In her order, the judge [...]
Mark Bennett | January 4, 2009
Paraphrased actual letter from lawyer to first-time DUI client:
Dear X,
You have told me that you can’t afford to pay me to try your case. This forces me to ask the judge to allow me to withdraw from your case. Three bad things might happen as a result.
First, the judge might revoke your bond and take [...]
Mark Bennett | December 20, 2008
In the comments to Murphy’s Law of Investigation we had a little discussion of what a lawyer should do when his client maintains his factual innocence, and he discovers that there is evidence that, if analyzed, could either confirm that factual innocence or conclusively disprove it.
Renaissance man Joel “JDog” Rosenberg wrote of a hypothetical rape [...]
Mark Bennett | July 8, 2008
Miami criminal defense lawyer David Markus blogs about a fight between criminal defense lawyers on the steps of the jail (H/T Arkansas criminal defense lawyer John Wesley Hall’s Law of Criminal Defense).
I think that might be a natural extension of lawyers treating clients as property.
(I wonder if I could take Ollie in a fight.)
Mark Bennett | March 14, 2008
He came to me with a real legal mess, and I steered him through it. Not a magic-wand result, but a favorable agreed resolution that included a misdemeanor probation in felony court.
Mark Bennett | February 8, 2008
If it is before noon and a weekday, I am probably chugging along at either the Harris County Criminal “Justice” Center or the Houston federal courthouse. If I’m not in trial, I’m taking notes on a file, or negotiating with a prosecutor, or investigating, or filing stuff.
If you call me, I will probably answer the [...]
