Defending People

the tao of criminal defense trial lawyering

I Leave the Punchline Writing to You

Mark Bennett | May 30, 2008

The Chronicle’s Allan Turner sure knows how to write a straight line:

Alarmed by a 4-foot rat snake found in a janitor’s closet, wildlife experts Thursday searched the Harris County Criminal Justice Center’s fourth floor for signs that more reptiles had infested the headquarters of the district attorney’s office.

For a Public Information Office

Mark Bennett | May 12, 2008

Napoleon’s Third Rule of Infantry Combat, per Terry MacCarthy:

When your enemy is in the process of destroying himself, do not interfere!

In light of that, I’m tempted not to comment on the Harris County DA’s proposed creation of a Public Information Office to serve as the “face and voice” of the Office.
The Chronicle doesn’t like the [...]

Introduction to Intake

Mark Bennett | April 17, 2008

AHCL, who knows an awful lot about the DA’s office for someone who’s not an ADA, has a post today about how the Harris County DA’s intake system works (a lot cleaner than the exhaust system). Drop by, and please thank AHCL for sheeding some light on the workings of the office that have been [...]

70 “Predator” Probations

Mark Bennett | April 2, 2008

I’m glad the Harris County DA’s race is almost over. Partisan politics and offices in the criminal justice really shouldn’t mix. In this election, both sides have tried to deceive the public.
Over at the Elect Kelly Siegler Kelly Blog you can read about Pat Lykos’s deceptions; here’s one from Siegler’s campaign.
Kelly Siegler’s campaign literature says [...]

Three Opinions

Mark Bennett | March 19, 2008

Kelly Siegler is behind 4-1 in the informal poll I’ve conducted down at the courthouse this week of people whose continued employment doesn’t depend on Kelly Siegler’s election.
• A former Harris County prosecutor (now a prosecutor elsewhere) who served in Judge Lykos’s court would vote for Pat Lykos over Kelly Siegler, whom he describes as [...]

Lykos Busted

Mark Bennett | March 16, 2008

Over at Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, my evil twin has caught DA candidate (and former judge) Patricia Lykos in a lie. Not just a lie, but a whopper — Lykos publicly claimed (in the KHOU Debate) not to have sought the campaign support of police organizations, less than six weeks after [...]

DA Magidson

Mark Bennett | March 13, 2008

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Magidson is reportedly Governor Perry’s choice for interim Harris County District Attorney. His appointment is supposedly contingent on his getting the U.S. Department of Justice’s approval to run the Harris County DA’s Office for 9 months and then return to his job at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but this sort of [...]