Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

Congratulations to Ron Sanders. He picked a jury Monday in CCL#2, but his client decided not to return for trial on Tuesday, so the trial went on without him. The prosecutor was allowed to argue to the jury (over objection) that the client’s absence from the trial was the same as flight, and therefore evidence of a guilty conscience. Nevertheless, after about an hour and a half of deliberations, the jury found his absent client not guilty today. Ron wanted me to thank all of the LCDLA lawyers who helped advise him on the unusual issues that arose during trial.

Good job, gladiator!

Come learn what went wrong, and why…

Mr. Russ Hunt Sr. will be flying in from Waco next Tuesday, February 5^th, to give a lunch-time presentation at Tech Law in the forum. Mr. Hunt represented Carlton Dotson after he was charged with killing his friend and teammate Patrick Dennehy.

Mr. Hunt will discuss what it was like providing criminal defense in such a high profile case, what has led to his overall success as an attorney, and what things young attorneys can do to help them get out to a fast and successful start.

Some type of Mexican food will be provided.

Anyone and everyone is encouraged to attend.

Tuesday, Februray 5^th, 2007, at 12:00 noon in the Law School Forum.

SPONSORED BY CRIMINAL TRIAL LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATION

I have set up a section on Flickr to archive all of the LCDLA photos. You can reach it by clicking the picture below, but the permanent link will be the Photos link to the left.

Enjoy!

The good guys (and gals) were three for three this week.

First, Steve Hamilton and Nicky Boatwright got a not guilty on a DWI “B” Wednesday in CCL#2. It seems the client was stopped for failing to maintain a single lane and driving on a flat tire on an icy winter roadway. Smart client refused everything but the HGN. The jury was out all of five minutes.

Next, Laurie Key and Kelly Clark won a DWI “B” acquittal across the hall in CCL#1 on Thursday. “It was the luckiest damned thing I ever saw in my life,” Laurie says. Her college kid client admitted to drinking eight beers, admitted being under the influence of alcohol, and admitted that it was a mistake for him to be driving. But the cop’s bad attitude helped: in the DWI interview room, kid repeatedly says, “I’ll take any test you want me to if you’ll just let me go to the bathroom!” Of course, cop refuses and the kid urinates on himself. Laurie warns of a new tactic used in this case by the prosecution: during final argument, the DA showed produced a transcript of excerpts of what was supposedly said on the video, even though no witness authenticated the transcript, and the audio on the video was bad. The transcript was allowed over objection.

Finally, Rusty Gunter and Trey McClendon won an acquittal in 137th District Court Thursday on an aggravated assault case. Their hero was accused of beating up his father with a broomstick, causing some really bad injuries. Despite awful photos being admitted, the jury acquitted after about two and a half hours of deliberation. “I don’t know how the hell it happened,” Rusty says, but apparently the jury bought Rusty and Trey’s self defense argument. It helped that the victim had a .387 BAC at the hospital.

Great job, gladiators!

I discovered last night that they finally released the new and vastly improved version of phpBB, which is the program that we use for the members only section. I’ve already installed it and now I’m going to switch the old over to the new one. The upgraded members only section is officially online.

Most importantly, you do NOT have to re-register for this. It’s exactly the same as it was a week ago, only the program that runs it is much better. The forums are still there, they’re in the same place, and everyone’s user names and passwords are exactly the same.

http://lcdla.org/members

There were a few very important reasons why I made this upgrade. First, this new version allows anyone to attach a file to any post, which opens the door to the Brief Bank. Plus, it has a detailed log of the users and their activity, including what screen name was used to look at what posts. If someone illegally gets their hands on the site now, we’re going to have a detailed record of who it is and whose screen name is being used. Aside from fixing those two major problems, this upgraded version has a ton of improvements from the previous one, including (hopefully) an automated picture slideshow program for all the pictures that LCDLA collects.

If the members only section seems daunting to you, just stop for a second and look at it. It’s practically the same site as you’re used to seeing, with all the same links and buttons, only they should arranged better now and run more efficiently.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

$20, 248 pp., 2007
978-1-60156-033-9

The handy 4-by-6 inch format fits easily into your briefcase or pocket and is designed for quick and easy courtroom reference. This newly updated guide compiles the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure as amended through December 1, 2007. Includes approved forms.

Criminal Litigation and Legal Issues
Second Edition
Brent E. Newton

$50, 272 pp., 2005
978-1-55681-932-2

“There is no better way to learn criminal procedure.”
—Steven Lubet, Professor of Law, Northwestern University

“Brent Newton has performed a great service for law teachers, defender services, and all others who want to teach and learn ‘real criminal procedure litigation.’ His book will be an excellent work for advocacy-oriented programs, for it encourages students to master doctrine as well as technique. This book can—and should—also be used in classroom criminal procedure courses, coupled with one of the standard casebooks that students can use as a reference.”
—Michael E. Tigar, Research Professor of Law,
Washington College of Law

Criminal Procedure in Practice
Second Edition
Paul Marcus and Jack Zimmerman

$50, 352 pp., 2003
978-1-55681-810-3

Reviews

“To the authors’ credit, there are sufficient practice tips, cautionary notes, tactics, and comments interspersed throughout the text to breathe life into the subject matter and to make the book a worthwhile addition to the libraries of many practitioners.”
—Wisconsin Lawyer,
July 2002

“Criminal Procedure in Practice covers a lot of territory in one volume, focusing on the general state of the law with respect to each area of criminal procedure. It would be particularly useful for someone relatively unfamiliar with criminal procedure who needs a broad overview… The inclusion of the U.S. military law is a much welcomed contribution.”
—Inga L. Parsons, New York University School of Law

Congratulations to Everett Seymore. He won an acquittal for his client Thursday in CCL#2. It was a DWI “B”. Everett said he got the jury to try the FST’s during deliberations, and nobody could do the FST’s properly! The jury was out about 35 minutes. Good job, gladiator!

Also, Steve Hamilton asked me to pass along the following:

Some of you may know this but Leslea Underwood the ALR attorney had surgery this week at M.D. Anderson in Houston. She had cancer (very unexpected) in her leg and it was amputated above the knee. Leslea is a great person to work with we have enjoyed her so much at the ALR’s. She will be at MD Anderson for about a week. We sent her some flowers and I would ask that you consider doing the same. Her information is:

Leslea Underwood
Room P 418
M.D. Anderson Hospital
1515 Holcombe Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030

Congratulations to Rayme Shackelford and Michael Montoya. They busted a DWI panel in CCL #2 on Monday. It seems that 16 of the 20 panel members would give more credence to a police officer’s testimony than a lay witness. Check out the “member’s only” section for a pretty funny story about an encounter Rayme had with one of the more famous prospective jurors on his panel.

For those of you who practice in federal court, Asst. U.S. Public Defender Jerry Beard offers the following valuable new information:

Last Friday the Supremes granted cert in Irizarry v. US to decide whether sentencing courts must provide notice before imposing a non-guideline sentence. This is the Rule 32 notice issue which our office had aggressively appealed over the past 18 months. Looks like our petition lost the beauty contest.

Even so, the 5-5 circuit split on this issue is going to be resolved!

Since some judges routinely impose such non-guideline sentences without providing any advance notice, I would strongly advise folks to continue objecting on this basis, and also to object to the unreasonableness of the sentence:

“Your Honor, in accordance with Rule 32(h) and the Supreme Court’s opinion in Burns v. United States, and in light of the High Court’s recent grant of certiorari in Irizarry v. US to decide the ‘notice’ issue, we object to the Court’s failure to provide notice of its decision to impose a non-guideline sentence. We also object to the sentence imposed as being procedurally and substantively unreasonable.”

It is important, critical, that both objections be made in open court, even if it requires interrupting the judge. (A post-sentencing objection won’t cut it.)

Give me a shout if you have any questions.

Jerry Beard (Ph: 472-7236)