Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

Congratulations to Pat Metze! He won an acquittal today for his client in a Hockley County District Court evading with a motor vehicle. � Pat won a $50 bet from Philip Wischkaemper by working the following lyrics into his final argument: � “He’s just a good ol’ boy, never meanin’ no harm.” � (!) � The jury took 30 minutes to hum the rest of the tune.

Congratulations to David Guinn. He won a victory in CCL#2 Tuesday on a DWI “B”. It was a “goofy, goofy Tech kid”, per David, who was stopped for running a red light. No breath test. The jury was out 15 minutes.

Also this week, in a Garza County murder trial, Danny Hurley was granted a mistrial after complaining that the prosecutor withheld Brady material.

In Yoakum County District Court today, Donnie Yandell kept a jury out 11 hours before they hung up six-six. � It was a first degree felony: � aggravated sexual assault/child.

Congratulations to Mark Snodgrass. The big guy had a big victory in 137th District Court yesterday. It was a burglary of a habitation with intent to commit sexual assault (first degree felony). The jury took 6.5 hours to convict on the lesser-included charge of criminal trespass. Mark was his typical modest self in describing the victory: said the jury was likely hung 8-4 for guilty and opted to compromise on a lesser crime that he was lucky to get in the court’s charge. Since the client had been in jail over a year, the punishment of $4,000 fine and one-year jail sentence is as good as a walk. Great job, Mark!

20th Annual Rusty Duncan Advanced Criminal Law Course
Date: June 7-9, 2007
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Facility: Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Lodging: Hilton Palacio del Rio (host hotel), Menger, Red Roof Inn
Texas CLE: 17.75, 2.0 ethics
Sponsor: TCDLA

Scholarship Qualifications
Deadline: May 10, 2007
Scholarships for seminar tuition are available to deserving attorneys actively engaged in the defense of criminal cases who can demonstrate financial need. Scholarship requests must be in writing and state that the applicant is a TCDLA member and has not received a scholarship within the last two years (Trial College does not count as a scholarship). Scholarships are available to public defenders who do not have access to CLE funds.

Scholarship applicants must send in the following to be considered:
1. Letter of request;
2. Letter of recommendation from a Texas or federal judge;
3. Letter of recommendation from a TCDLA member.

Scholarships recipients will receive materials on CD. Course books may be purchased for a $50 fee. Scholarships are awarded to qualified applicants in order received.

Apply today
:: Scholarship request form (pdf)
:: Registration form (pdf)

Questions
Contact the TCDLA office at 512.478.2514 or email mschank@tcdla.com. Please note: This e-mail was sent from an auto-notification system that cannot accept incoming e- mail.

Melissa Schank
Director of CLE and Special Events
Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
512.478.2514 x24 p
512.469.0512 f
mschank@tcdla.com

www.tcdla.com

Congratulations to Mark Snodgrass. The big guy had a big victory in 137th District Court today. It was a burglary/hab with intent to commit sexual assault (first degree felony). The jury took 6.5 hours to convict on the lesser-included charge of criminal trespass. Mark was his typical modest self in describing the victory: said the jury was likely hung 8-4 for guilty and opted to compromise on a lesser crime that he was lucky to get in the court’s charge. Since the client had been in jail over a year, the punishment of $4,000 fine and one-year jail sentence is as good as a walk. Great job, Mark!

Congratulations to Wes Keng on his big victory in Bailey County last Wednesday, April 25. It was two third degree felonies — assault of a public servant and subsequent assault domestic violence. Wife was threatened with CPS involvement by investigating officers, so she made allegations at the scene. She immediately recanted with DA’s office and signed affidavit of non-prosecution with Wes. During trial, she was threatened with perjury by DA investigator. Of course, Wes got all of this into evidence. Evidence regarding assault of public servant amounted to a touch on the cop’s arm. Followed of course by a tazer and a takedown. Then a knee in the back and handcuffs, then two more tazers while face-down on the ground.

This is classic cross examination by Wes: “Why did you taze him after he was on the ground in cuffs with a knee in his back?”

Officer: “For his own protection. We often have offenders break their arms struggling to get out of the cuffs. So, I kept tazing him.”

It took only an hour and 20 minutes for the jury to find Wes’ client not guilty of both offenses, but guilty of Class C assault on the officer. The client walked out of the courtroom after agreeing to pay a $300 fine. Great victory, Wes!

Anyone interested in gaining access to the Lubbock County computer system can use this document to apply: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d6skmkb_34hj6tk5

This document is viewable online at Google Docs and can be saved to your computer in a variety of formats, including Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF. Print it off and fill it out.

This is a permanent link and will be available until another application takes its place or the system is otherwise disabled.