Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

Congratulations to Tom Stanfield and Kelly Clark. In a felony evading with a vehicle case in 140th District Court this week, the jury opted for the lesser-included charge of fleeing or attempting to elude police officer, a Class B misdemeanor. Check it out in the Texas Transportation Code, section 545.421: “A person commits an offense if the person operates a motor vehicle and wilfully fails or refuses to bring the vehicle to a stop or flees, or attempts to elude, a pursuing police vehicle when given a visual or audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop.” Brilliant work to get this in the court’s charge. Good job, gladiators!

ACLU of Texas and The Women’s Studies Program at Texas Tech University to Co-Sponsor Fourth Amendment Event:

[Lubbock Chapter Hosts Event]

Lubbock, TX: In response to the “War on College Kids” and the complaints of alleged police misconduct by the “Party Patrol” as well as the recognition that the Citizens of the Tech Terrace neighborhood may have been victimized by possible noise violations and late-night parties that may have disrupted their neighborhoods, the ACLU of Texas and the Women’s Studies Program of Texas Tech University will be co-sponsoring a public forum entitled: “The War on College Kids: Knowing Your Fourth Amendment Rights”

It is hoped that this event will afford our community, and in particular the University community, an opportunity to learn more about their Fourth Amendment rights. It is just as important to give City officials and Tech Terrace residents an opportunity to offer their viewpoints and observations, thus allowing a full picture of this issue.

This event will be held at Texas Tech University, Human Sciences Room 169, on Thursday, January 10, 2008, from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm. It will be an educational forum and not a debate and the forum will be moderated.

For more information about the event, contact Vince Gonzales, President of the Lubbock Chapter of the ACLU, at 214-354-2337, or via e-mail at dpmitigation@hotmail.com.

Congratulations to The Tangler, Fred Stangl, after a five-day fight this week in 137th District Court in a case of possession of controlled substance with intent to deliver 1-4 grams in a drug free zone (DFZ). The State dropped the DFZ after Fred’s investigation revealed the subject daycare had lost its license. Fred aggressively attacked the shoddy police investigations in the primary case and the extraneous cases admitted by the court. With the jury out a couple of hours, the State made a five-year offer. Unfortunately the client didn’t accept the five-year offer until the jury knocked with a guilty verdict. At punishment, Christmas came early for Fred: the snitch on a fourth extraneous delivery of 1-4 grams admitted to blatantly being coached to remember details of the delivery by the undercover cop just before she testified (a violation of the Court’s Orders to the witnesses not to discuss the case during trial). The State offered a two-year prison sentence (after client having already served more than nine months in jail). This time, client quickly accepted the offer, and all the other pending cases were dismissed. Good job, Tangler!

The 28th Annual Prairie Dog Lawyers Advanced Criminal Law Seminar is just around the corner: January 3 and 4 at the Texas Tech School of Law. THIS IS OUR SEMINAR! It is a big deal, and we all need to do our part to make it a success as usual. If you have not signed up yet, click this link and get signed up.

Be sure to sign up for the dinner and dance Thursday evening at Kershner’s 4-bar-K, as well as the other social events listed on the form.

If you have any problems signing up, or if you have any questions, just let me know, or any of the other course directors: Laurie Key, Rusty Gunter, and Donnie Yandell.

Ted Hogan asked me to remind everyone about the MH/MR seminar to be held at 1:00 p.m. on December 14th at the Law School. CLE credit has already been approved. Professor Brian Shannon has agreed to teach the course along with Mary Gerlach and Dr. Robert Morgan of Lubbock Regional MHMR. Here’s the agenda:

Texas Criminal Procedure & Offenders with Mental Impairments: A Refresher

When: December 14, 2007 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Where: Texas Tech University School of Law, Room 201 (or larger room depending on enrollment)
Hosted by: TTU School of Law
MCLE Hours: 3.75 hours
Registration Fee: Free
Trainers: Prof. Brian Shannon, TTU Law
Mary Gerlach, Lubbock Regional MHMR
Dr. Robert Morgan, TTU Dept. of Psychology

Agenda
1:00 – 2:00 Diversion of Offenders Legislation & Practical Implementation
2:00 – 3:00 Criminal Competency Provisions: Chapter 46B
3:00 – 3:15 Break
3:15 – 4:00 Competency Restoration in the Community
4:00 – 4:30 Procedural Steps if Competency Restoration is Unsuccessful
4:30 – 5:00 Insanity Provisions – a Primer on Chapter 46C

The purpose of the seminar is to help educate the bar on how to better serve clients with mental impairments. The Board of Judges has recently authorized the amendment of the Local Rules to include an appointment wheel of attorneys who have agreed to serve accused citizens with special needs. This class is the first step in the implementation of that process.

The idea here is to develop a pool of defense attorneys to help those clients who need a little extra attention in these areas. We already have about a dozen people who are committed to the seminar, but we can certainly use all of the help we can get. If you are interested, you should call Ted Hogan at 765-0447 so that he can get you on the list of attendees.

Congratulations to Perfesser Pat! Pat Metze this morning was named full-time TTUSL Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Texas Tech Criminal Justice Clinic. Beginning in September, Pat will take on full-time duties at TTUSL, on the tenure track. I just saw Pat over at the courthouse, and he is a happy camper, looking forward to moving into his ivory tower.

This is a good move for Pat, and a great move for the law school.