Mitch Adams was appointed to represent a client in Cherokee County on a second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon case. After visiting with the client and reading the deputy’s report, Mitch figured that no one involved in the case had clean hands (read: drug deal), and that the alleged victim would probably not be a very cooperative witness. Mitch filed a motion for an examining trial to find out for sure. At the hearing on the motion (2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas), the prosecutor announced that he’d subpoenaed two sheriff’s deputies (who were present) and two civilian witnesses, including the alleged victim, neither of whom showed up. After a brief recess during which the prosecutor tried unsuccessfully to contact his witnesses by telephone, he announced that the State would have to file a motion to dismiss the case. Mitch decided not to object. Mitch called the State’s bluff, and he was right. Congratulations!
Scott Medlock, an attorney at Edwards Law in Austin, and the lawyers at Winston & Strawn won a permanent injunction against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Executive Director Bryan Collier on behalf of their clients, Laddy Curtis Valentine and Richard Elvin King. The plaintiffs are incarcerated in the Wallace Pack Unit in between College Station and Houston. The injunction alleges the defendant, TDCJ, “failed to properly protect (the plaintiffs) and other similarly situated Pack Unit inmates from the COVID-19 pandemic.” Congratulations to Medlock and the team at Winston & Strawn.
Letitia D. Quinones represented Arkema Inc. in Houston. Arkema, a chemical plant, was indicted on several charges, alleging the company endangered the lives of its employees and emergency personnel during Hurricane Harvey because the company had not properly moved or stored 350,000 gallons of organic peroxide, which is toxic once it reaches a certain temperature. Arkema executives argued they had real-time monitoring of all their chemicals. The trial was plagued with two instances of prosecutorial misconduct and ended with the DA’s Office dropping all criminal charges. Congratulations to Letitia on a hard-won case.
