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Recent Blog Posts
No More Sources For You! [Updated]
Seeking a scoop, rookie reporter Jennifer Latson from the Houston Chronicle went and tried to interview to a person accused of a serious felony without the person's lawyer's permission.
If the accused had said something incriminatory, it would have been front-page news in the Chronicle the next morning: the reporter would have been able to do something (question the accused without his lawyer present) that the prosecutor and the police could not do.
The lawyer wrote to the reporter requesting that she not talk to his client without first asking him.
Her response was "I'd refer you to the United States Constitution, Amendment I. I can attempt to interview your client until I'm blue in the face; he doesn't have to agree to see me."
That is certainly true: a reporter can try to interview an accused person until she's blue in the face (or until the jailers stop letting her in to the jail).
It seems like an excellent way to make sure the criminal defense bar is reluctant to talk to you about anything else, though.
From Today's Mailbag.
Hello there!Your blog is great! I wonder if you'd be interested in placing a post about http://www.SomeOntarioBankruptcyLawyer.com (the website I am working on)? I am trying to develop some buzz around this site and touching base with quality online publishers like yourself who write about lawyers. If we can work something out please let me know the associated costs.Hope to hear back from you on this, thanks!-Kind regards,Mike, Publisherseek
My response:
Mike,Thank you for the kind regards. They really mean a lot, especially coming from an august personage like you who has a gmail address and writes "Publisherseek" after his name. (Are you a lawyer? If so, I think you might qualify for an Ada Award!)As you know from reading my blog, Ontario bankruptcy law is a topic near and dear to my heart, and of great interest to my readers. I often say that Houston criminal defense and Ontario bankruptcy go together like porterhouse and poop!So, yes, I would be interested in placing a post about the website you're working on. I am honored that you think my blog is great and consider me a quality online publisher who writes about lawyers, and would be more than happy to help you develop some buzz around this site.As to the associated costs, ten thousand Euros in small unmarked bills should do just fine.Reciprocal kind regards,Mark, Defending People Blogger.
Judge Caprice Cosper
In November there are seven incumbent "Republican" felony court judges up for reelection in Harris County. I put the party affiliation in quotes because (A) judges should not be elected in partisan elections; and (B) the best of these judges don't act as though their party affiliation has anything to do with their judging.
All of Harris County's elected officials are Republicans, and have been for years. There was a Republican sweep back in '94 or '96 that cleared the last of the Democrats out of the Harris County criminal courthouse.
AHCL and I agree that there is at least one district court judge who should not be returning for another term in 2009 (I'm serving as campaign treasurer for his opponent, Shawna Reagin). But we probably disagree on how many good judges losing their benches would be acceptable collateral damage in the quest for change in the criminal judiciary.
Life for Quintero
On September 21, 2006 Juan L. Quintero was pulled over by a police officer and arrested for driving without a license. The officer cuffed Quintero's hands behind his back, searched him, and put him in the back of his patrol car. Then the officer got into the front of his patrol car. Quintero shot the officer seven times in the back, killing him. He was still sitting in the back of the patrol car when more police arrived.
On May 20, 2008 a Harris County, Texas jury, given the choice between sentencing Quintero to death and sending him to prison for life without parole, chose life.
The officer's family is very upset:
"We're just very upset," said Lorraine Crawford, mother of the slain officer's widow, Joslyn Johnson."We wanted the death penalty," Crawford said. "He had nothing but malice in his heart."She added that the jury did not seem to understand the difficulty of a police officer's job.The officer's brother, David Johnson, was in the courtroom with his wife, Donna Mack, when the sentence was announced. He said he and his wife also had wanted to see Quintero sentenced to death."He shot him four times in the back, three times in the head," Johnson said. "I can't believe that. What's mitigation?"
TOS Violations in Criminal Solicitation of a Minor Case
The indictment (h/t Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy) in U.S. v. Drew:
On or about the following dates, defendant DREW, using a computer in O'Fallon, Missouri, intentionally accessed and caused to be accessed a computer used in interstate and foreign commerce, namely, the MySpace servers located in Los Angeles County, California, within the Central District of California, without authorization and in excess of authorized access, and, by means of an interstate communication, obtained and caused to be obtained information from that computer [in violation of 18 U.S.C. ยง 1030(a)(2)(C)].
The Government's theory in Drew is that Ms. Drew and others broke the law when they obtained information by violating the MySpace terms of service. They violated the terms of service, according to the Government, by registering with false information. (They also allegedly violated the ToS by: using information obtained from MySpace to harass, abuse, or harm other people; promoting information that they knew was false or misleading; promoting conduct that was abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory, or libelous; and posting photographs of other people without their consent.)
Probation Eligibility in Texas
A Texas judge can give deferred-adjudication probation to a person pleading guilty unless:
(1) the defendant is charged with an offense:(A) under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code [DWI offenses]; or(B) for which punishment may be increased under Section 481.134(c), (d), (e), or (f), Health and Safety Code [Drug-Free Zone], if it is shown that the defendant has been previously convicted of an offense for which punishment was increased under any one of those subsections;(2) the defendant:(A) is charged with an offense under Section 21.11 [Indecency With a Child], 22.011 [Sexual Assault], or 22.021 [Aggravated Sexual Assault], Penal Code, regardless of the age of the victim, or a felony described by Section 13B(b) of this article; and(B) has previously been placed on community supervision for any offense under Paragraph (A) of this subdivision; or(3) the defendant is charged with an offense under:(A) Section 21.02, Penal Code [Continuous Sexual Abuse of Young Child or Children]; or(B) Section 22.021, Penal Code [Aggravated Sexual Assault], that is punishable under Subsection (f) of that section [Victim Under 6 Years of Age or Victim Under 14 Years of Age and Use or Threat of Deadly Force or Drugs] or under Section 12.42(c)(3), Penal Code [Capital Habitual Aggravated Sexual Assault].
What Lawyers're Doing Across the Pond
Taunting the government's AI; Geeklawyer is offering a bottle of whisky [sic] for the best question and answer.
Mack Arnold Fundraiser
Monday June 16, 2008. 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. El Tiempo Cantino, 3130 Richmond, Houston. Live auction, free food, cold beer and margaritas.
Problems With Judge Voir Dire
Notes I wrote during a federal judge's voir dire a few months ago:
A judge's voir dire is calculated to get jurors to promise to follow the law while a lawyer's voir dire is calculated to find those who might have difficulty following the law.
A judge's voir dire is calculated to get jurors to agree with the judge while a lawyer's voir dire is calculated to find those who disagree.
A judge's voir dire is calculated to qualify more jurors while a lawyer's voir dire is calculated to find those who are not qualified.
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