Features

We read the recent opinion in Hall v. State and discussed the judicial clemency aspect of the case with some of our fellow defense counsel.

United States District Judge Karon Owen Bowdre of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division, recently authored a memorandum opinion having to do with the Crime Victims Right Act: 18 U.S.C. § 3771. United States of America v. Michael Heath Thetford, WL 1309851 (2013). The CVRA can be a pain for defense lawyers, prosecutors and the judges of the federal courts. Any defense lawyer who has been through a case involving a Ponzi scheme with multiple victims can attest to this.

Special thanks to David Burrows, Larry Boyd, and Deandra Grant, our course directors for the DWI Defense Project: More Silver Bullets CLE held in Arlington in May. Thanks to David, Larry, Deandra, and our speakers, we had an outstanding program with 185 attendees.

Features
18 | Proposed Bylaws Changes - Submitted by Adam Kobs & Coby Waddill
22 | Early Termination of Probation with Judicial Clemency Under TCCP Article 42.12 - By Michael C. Gross & Jeffrey D. Weatherford
28 | Fear and the DWI Field Sobriety Tests - By Mimi Coffey
33 | I Could Have Danced All Night - By Warren Wolf

Kudos

Kudos to the firm of Habern, O’Neil and Pawgan, LLP, of Huntsville. The Houston Lawyers Association and the Houston Lawyers Foundation in June honored the firm with the Matthew W. Plummer Sr. Justice Award in honor of the black Houstonian who challenged Jim Crow laws in Harris County and—eventually—won.

“Cool Hand Luke” is a 1967 American prison drama film starring Paul Newman in the title role as Lucas “Luke” Jackson, a prisoner in a Florida prison camp who refuses to submit to the system and observe the established pecking order among prisoners. In a 1940s setting, Luke is arrested and sentenced to prison for two years after vandalizing parking meters. Luke’s resistance to observe the pecking order runs afoul with the prisoners’ leader, Dragline. Luke takes a beating from Dragline and eventually earns his respect and that of the other prisoners.

When next you see Allen Place, David Gonzalez, Kristin Etter, Mark Daniel, Sharon Johnson, and Bobby Mims, give them a big THANK YOU. These criminal defense lawyers were extremely effective in maintaining the balance in our courtrooms. Their work with the legislators and their aides proved to be most fruitful. Every one of these individuals worked tirelessly on our association’s behalf, and thus, finally, for the residents of Texas. Primarily because of their effort we’ll not have reciprocal discovery come from this session of the Texas Legislature.

The question remains whether there will be changes, and if so, will they be more than window dressing. But before I continue with this article, I want to tell you about a case Leonard Martinez handled in Williamson County. This case happened several years ago while Michael Morton’s lawyers were fighting to get the discovery that would ultimately free him.