I do not write I'm sorry I haven't written more lately; here's why; I promise to do better blog posts. The first part strikes me as narcissistic—as though it matters to the world that any particular blogger hasn't written more lately; the third part is usually a lie—people who write these posts almost always return to silence shortly afterwards. And I don't figure readers generally care much

In the name and by authority of the State of Texas: The Grand Jury for the _______ term of the ___ Judicial District Court of Williamson County, Texas, having been duly selected, empaneled, sworn, charged, and organized, presents that before the presentment of this indictment, on or about the ___ day of ____, 2013, in Williamson County, Texas, X, hereinafter “defendant”, with the intent to arouse or

Here (pdf) is the Bureau of Justice Statistics' report on Rape and Sexual Assault Victimization Among College-Age Females, 1995–2013. Some highlights (all statistics are for women aged 18–24 unless otherwise noted): 6.1 out of 1,000 college women experience "sexual victimization"—rape, attempted rape (("Rape is the unlawful penetration of a person against the will of the victim, with use or threatened use of force, or attempting such an

When I first saw the Rolling Stone UVA rape story by Sabrina Erdely, I'd been thinking about satanic ritual abuse stories because Fran and Dan Keller were in the news. I tweeted: Speaking of satanic ritual abuse: https://t.co/MyO2bC2Cjm — Mark W. Bennett (@MarkWBennett) December 1, 2014 The story was unbelievable to me. Not "unbelievable" in the loose sense of "sensational," but literally unbelievable. I knew that the

It started with criminal First Amendment litigation. I fought for five years against a speech-restricting penal statute, learning the law along the way and finally punching a hole in the dam last year, freeing a lifetime's worth of people who had already given up hope. Naturally, I went on the hunt for other statutes to kill. My friend and fellow TLC alumnus Don Flanary of San Antonio

Texas Penal Code Section 22.011, Sexual Assault: (a) A person commits an offense if the person: (1) intentionally or knowingly: (A) causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person's consent; (B) causes the penetration of the mouth of another person by the sexual organ of the actor, without that person's consent; or (C) causes the sexual organ

Dear _, We are pleased to officially inform you that you have been chosen to receive this year's prestigious TOP 10 Attorney Award for the state of Texas. Through a multi-phase selection process, the National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys (NACDA) has chosen you to receive our organization's highest honor because of the hard work and dedication you have shown in protecting the rights of the accused.

In 2013, while 8 percent of all federal criminal charges were dismissed (either because of a mistake in fact or law or because the defendant had decided to cooperate), more than 97 percent of the remainder were resolved through plea bargains, and fewer than 3 percent went to trial. The plea bargains largely determined the sentences imposed. While corresponding statistics for the fifty states combined are not

I recently had a discussion with a lawyer from another culture. One of my clients is a potential witness in one of his cases, and my client got tired of hearing from him. So I sent the lawyer a brief email asking that he not contact my client anymore. I said "please" and "thank you," but otherwise didn't mitigate my speech. Because the rule is very simple:

I just learned that Houston criminal-defense lawyer (and frequent Defending People commenter) Charles B. "Brad" Frye died about an hour ago of COPD. RIP, Brad. Take care of yourselves, everyone else.