713-224-1747
Recent Blog Posts
The Lesson of Todd Akin
The lesson (for criminal-defense lawyers) of Missouri Republican Todd Akin's surprising assertion that "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down" is that there are people who earnestly believe such nonsense, which may be turned to our clients' advantage.
Butthurt Prosecutrix
A Harris County ADA had been trying to talk to a potential witness. The witness didn't want to talk to her. Feeling harassed, the witness hired me. I told the prosecutor that I represented the witness. The prosecutor tried to subpoena the witness to court.
While the case was technically still pending, the defendant had made a deal. There was no hearing set at which my client's testimony might be relevant. The purpose of the exercise was not to put my client on the stand, but to make it more convenient for the prosecutor to confront her face-to-face.
Here's the "subpoena." It's not signed by the court or the clerk (or, in point of fact, by anyone). It's not a subpoena.
So my client didn't have to go to court. I went for her, though, and explained that my client, not subpoenaed, wasn't there.
The prosecutor was finger-pointingly cross with me. She took it as a personal affront that I hadn't informed her about the problems with the document she was trying to use to get my client (who didn't want to go to court or talk to the prosecutor) to go to court so that the prosecutor could try to talk to my client. If I had told her that the document wasn't a subpoena (she contested that-apparently in her code of criminal procedure a peace officer can issue a subpoena), she would have issued a proper subpoena so that my client would have to come to court, which wouldn't have been in my client's interest.
The UVDQ
A young lawyer asked me today to suggest some questions to ask the jury panel in a prostitution case.
To voir dire a jury, one needs only a single question. It applies to any situation and to any topic:
How do you feel about...?
For example:
Sex: How do you feel about prostitution / pornography / strip clubs?
Drugs: How do you feel about illegal drugs / drug use / the war on drugs?
Rock and roll: How do you feel about Queen / Elvis / Buddy Holly?
How do you feel about...? is the Universal Voir Dire Question.
Everything else is either warmup (how many of you have loved ones who have been affected by illegal drugs?) or followup (Ms. Jones, how will that affect your ability to be fair in this case?).
(At the State Bar's Advanced Criminal Law Course last month a prosecutor told me that he has to ask certain questions and do things a certain way, and so can't follow my 16 Rules for Better Jury Selection, which give the jury more control over the conversation. He is of course, correct: if you think you can't, you can't.)
My Prediction in Dionne Press's Assisted-Suicide Case
I've written about the case of the British guy charged with assisting in his wife's suicide (and represented by Dionne Press) here, here, and here.
My bet is that sometime in the next two weeks the DA's Office will take the case to a grand jury, and the grand jury will no-bill (because there's no evidence that the accused caused his wife's suicide). The DA will have washed her hands of the matter and Press will be able to pretend (at least to herself) that she's a heroine for "beating" the case.
By that time, however, Press's client will have spent almost sixty days in the Harris County jail charged with a fine-only offense because of Press's lack of diligence.
TANJ.
Masad “Max” Baba, Roni Buff Greenberg, and Other Thieving Swine
[J]ust about anything you can imagine someone being accused of, we've defended it.
–Me.
[J]ust about anything you can imagine someone being accused of, we've defended it.
-Lawyer Masad "Max" Baba, here.
It seems every year penalties for driving while intoxicated in Texas are becoming more severe.
Misdemeanor cases are often given little attention because there is not as much jail time attached as for felonies.
Max Baba stole his criminal-law-related content wholesale from me.
I filed a DMCA takedown notice on him; that page doesn't turn up in Google results, but the takedown didn't get Max Baba's attention. That's a shame, really.
Max isn't the only one appropriating others' content for self-promotion without its creators' permission. Today I got a pingback on this post from the blog of Roni Buff Greenberg, who claims to be a divorce lawyer...somewhere. The pingback went back to this post:
A Comment…
From a prospective juror, after my jury selection Friday: "You seemed a little nervous."
That is amazing because I was really nervous. I always am nervous when I have someone's freedom in my hands. In fact, I find that rather than getting less nervous with experience, I get more nervous-I think because as my youth recedes I have a better understanding of how much is at stake.
If I'm ever not nervous, it will be because I don't care any more, and it will be time for me to quit.
New Improved Docket Policy
Judge Mike Fields of Harris County Criminal Court at Law Number Fourteen, has announced a new docket policy:
At arraignment a defendant with counsel,will be reset for four months for motions;
After the motions setting the defendant is set for a plea in thirty days or a trial in sixty.
That's three-count 'em, three-court appearances from the lawyer's first appearance to trial of the case.
I think this is a great step forward. The prevailing policy in Harris County requires defendants to appear monthly or semimonthly for "court appearances"-not trials nor hearings-at which they don't have to do anything but be on time and sit patiently until released.
In most Harris County courts, a working defendant has to miss a morning's work for each court appearance, going to court just because some party hack in a robe likes the feeling of importance. (Too much? How about just because some petty tyrant in a black dress feels the need to exert a little more control over his little kingdom? No? Okay, just because some closet prosecutor with a little wooden hammer wants to pressure him to plead guilty? No? Can you do better?)
Jury Selection: Scrap the Script
Today I went into court to pick a jury. I took a Powerpoint presentation talking about issues in the case. When the jury was in the hallway I went to hook up my laptop, and it wasn't in my trial box.
The Powerpoint presentation had become much like a a script, with a slide for every issue and all the slides in a particular order. I had used a similar presentation on my last trial. Apparently today I unconsciously sabotaged myself, forcing myself to follow Rule 6, No Scripts, by effectively tearing up my own script-leaving my Powerpoint presentation at home.
I recognized that I had sabotaged myself and resolved to make the best of it (Rule 1, Just Do It). As a result I had a much better jury-selection experience. Jurors talked more (Rule 4, 90/10), I talked more like a human being (Rule 5, MacCarthy's Bar)...in fact, I probably followed all of the rules better for having discarded the script.
Nothing New Under the Sun
There's a cause for all sorts of human conduct, just exactly as there's a cause for all the physical actions of the universe. The real cause of crime is poverty, ignorance, hard luck, and generally youth. These almost invariably combine to produce what we call a crime.
(H/T Houston criminal-defense lawyer Robb Fickman .)
Contact Us if You're
Ready for a Better Future
Schedule a consultation today by filling out the form below or calling our office at 713-224-1747. We look forward to representing you.
The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.
I have read and understand the Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.
From our office in Houston, we represent clients throughout Harris County and across the state of Texas. We assist with criminal cases in Conroe, The Woodlands, Kingwood, Bellaire, Friendswood, Highland Village, West University Place, Cypress, Willis, Austin, Dallas, For Worth, Arlington, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Beaumont, Tyler, Plano, Spring, New Caney, Porter, Humble, Atascocita, Aldine, Cloverleaf, Pasadena, South Houston, Pearland, Fresno, Missouri City, Sugar Land, Pecan Grove, Richmond, and Katy.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
917 Franklin Street, Fourth Floor, Houston, TX 77002
713-224-1747
