Defending People

the tao of criminal defense trial lawyering

Works on Voters, Too.

Mark Bennett | March 23, 2008

The Chronicle reports that, “in a 2002 trial skills presentation in Austin, [Harris County DA candidate Kelly] Siegler’s worksheet on final arguments included, ‘Make jury afraid.’”

Lykos Reads the DA Playbook

Mark Bennett | February 23, 2008

From AHCL, talking about Harris County Republican DA candidate Pat Lykos:

At a recent political event, she refused to speak until after the representative of the Siegler campaign had gone first (even though that wasn’t the agreed upon order). Apparently, she didn’t want anyone to follow up after her speech and point out (yet again) that [...]

Jury Argument in Criminal Cases

Mark Bennett | November 27, 2007

Today my copy of Ray Moses’s “Jury Argument in Criminal Cases: A Trial Lawyer’s Guide (Second Edition)” arrived in the mail. (Bookmark the book’s website.) This is one of my favorite resources, but I had never gotten around to ordering a copy before now (Professor Moses doesn’t make it particularly easy to order) — I’d [...]