Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

TCDLA has 7 registration scholarships to the NACDL seminar “Not Guilty! Making It Happen with Cutting-Edge Defenses,” on February 25-26, 2010 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Austin.

All travel expenses is the responsibility of the lawyers.

As added bonus, all lawyers who attend the NACDL seminar can also attend the CDLP Capital/Habeas CLE, at no cost, right around the corner at the downtown Marriott Courtyard. The attorneys will receive the materials on a CD.

There were a number of victories this week, in addition to the previous email.

(1) Dan Hurley got a not guilty on a DWI in CC2. It was a 0.15 breath test, but, apparently, a really good video.

(2) Susan Rowley got a hung jury that resulted in a dismissal on a Burglary of a Building in the 137th.

(3) Will Boyles got an LIO on a Poss CS 4-200 g in the 140th. (Charge was Intent to Deliver)

Attorneys feel free to give us details on your cases. Great jobs all the way around. Congratulations to all of you!

Cui and Amy got a Not Guilty this week in the 364th on a Sexual Assault. The following are the details from Cui:

This might be more than anyone needs to know, but there was a lot of stuff in this case.

Here are a couple of things about my and Amy Cook’s trial this week (if anyone’s at all interested):

Complaining witness testified to drinking 5-6 beers at her friends and “possibly” smoking pot (first time we heard of this was at trial) along with Xanax and being on anti-depressants (did she take them that night, who knows?) before they went to Jake’s sometime around 11 or 12. She ordered a beer and then someone sent her a beer which was given to her by the bartender.

After that, she doesn’t remember anything until she woke up naked with a blanket around her in her car. The car was not in the same parking spot where she remembers parking it. Bra cut between the cups, panties, blouse, purse and jacket gone. Guy’s “wife-beater” (as Mrs. Stanek characterized it), 2 socks and a cigarette case in the car. The cig case was thought to be the suspect’s (in trial, it came out that her friend smoked the same brand of cigs).

Also, nothing came of the “drugging of the drink.” No investigation was done on that whatsoever. The only investigation done was taking pics, rape exam, DNA CODIS hit. Indictment (which was totally wrong at first) had to be re-indicted (I filed a Motion to Quash). That’s why some bloggers on the AJ think my client had 2 separate sexual assault cases.

My client testified that he went to 50th Street Caboose around 7-7:30 and ate and drank. This girl (never saw her before) came in and they hung out. She got flirtatious and eventually told him she wanted to go to her car. She led him out and they had sex in the car. After that, she passed out. He didn’t know what to do so he drove her to his apartment a few blocks away. She still didn’t wake up. He took her purse inside, got a blanket, and then tried to carry her inside. He couldn’t do it so he kept trying to wake her up. It was getting late and he had to work at 6 am. He took her back to where his car was next to 50th St Caboose, left car on, locked the doors and left.

He went to work and then had a break sometime around 10. He went by the Caboose but her car was gone. He then went home and saw her purse in his apartment. Since he didn’t have a phone, he asked his neighbor to call a number that she could find in the purse and let the owner know where it was. He went back to work his second shift and that was that.

I did not talk to the jury, but Amy got from the Judge that the jury focused in on. “How did my client know which car was her’s and where was it parked?” She had to be coherent and lucid enough to lead my client to her car. Amy brought out the fact that she did not have a remote locking mechanism on her key chain so she had to be the one that showed him her car.

Supposedly, one of the jury’s preliminary votes was 11-1 not guilty (according to the deputies).

We also found out during the trial that the complaining witness did not want to come and testify but the State subpoenaed her anyway. (In this case, probably not the thing to do.)

My client’s version of events was the same from day one, even before he reviewed any discovery. I know the jury is getting some grief from some people on the AJ website, but it was the right verdict.

Cui Romo

Also, thanks to Joel Cook for offering his services as an expert witness on many issues in this case! Thank goodness I didn’t have to take him up on that.

Everett Seymore and Joel Cook got a reversal of County Court at Law #1. Case was a DWI based on traffic stop. The stop was based on suspect pulling a flat bed trailer and cop said he’d had reports of stolen flat bed trailers. Cop could not identify what color, type or style of trailer had been stolen, but thought that he had authority to stop every trailer. Judge Ladd denied the motion saying it was good police work. Everett and Jason Howard almost got physical during the trial and our client almost got physical with Howard as well. Amarillo reversed without oral arguments citing lack of evidence in record to justify the stop. State says their considering a PDR.

According to the A.J., Dan Warrick got a not guilty yesterday. His client was charged with Agg Assault, apparently in a 2 count indictment. State proceeded on one count, and the jury acquitted. We’ll see what happens with Count II. Stay tuned!

As always, the next meeting with be this Thursday at the Blue Light on Buddy Holly Ave. If you ever need to check when the next meeting will be, don’t forget to check the top right of the website. It’s always there and is automatically updated each week.

Please remember that we have a meeting this Thursday (5/21) at 5:30 at the Blue Light. We will be having a CLE program, graciously provided by David Crook; the topic is how to preserve error in voir dire. David does our appeals; so, if he says we need this lesson, then we need it! So, please plan to attend. You wil receive .5 hours of CLE credit for attending. Look forward to seeing everyone there.

The LCDLA meeting for March will be moved to March 26 due to spring break. Please make sure and attend the meeting, as we already have CLE lined up. This month’s CLE will be about the Honor Pod at the Lubbock County Jail. For those of you who attended the February meeting, you already have an idea of what this is about. For those of you who did not attend the February meeting, you will want to make sure and come to the March meeting. This is a very interesting topic and it will be very beneficial to all of those involved. See you on March 26.

Innocence Project of Texas client, James Lee Woodard, was released from incarceration yesterday after serving more than 27 years for a murder that he has always maintained he did not commit. The victim, Woodard’s girlfriend at the time of the homicide, was found strangled and sexually assaulted on the banks of the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas. A rape kit was taken, and the evidence was preserved by the Southwest Institute for Forensic Sciences (SWIFS). When subjected to a DNA test, the rape kit indicated that James Woodard was not the victim’s attacker and that he had likely spent more than a quarter century in prison for a crime that he was not involved in.

Although at first glance this case appears to be a relatively simple DNA-based case, more than 1000 hours were spent by both the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and the Innocence Project of Texas investigating Woodard’s claim of innocence. Once the DNA results excluded Woodard as the victim’s rapist, both organizations set out to interview all relevant witnesses and piece together the story leading up to Woodard’s conviction. This collaborative effort is one of the first of its kind, and it is a testament to the integrity of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.

For more information regarding James Lee Woodard and his case, please click here.

For more information about the collaborative effort of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and the Innocence Project of Texas, or to hear about the current state of justice in America today, please consider joining us tomorrow night for “Freedom and Justice in America: A Live Conversation Onstage” at the Angelika Theater in Dallas Texas. Details regarding this event can be found under the “Events” section of the ipoftexas.org website.

Rusty Gunter reports a success by Assistant Federal Public Defender and LCDLA member Jerry Beard. The United States Supreme Court has accepted cert on his client, Humberto Cuellar. Mr. Cuellar, the Defendant, was stopped in a car going to Mexico. A subsequent search of his vehicle turned up $80,000 in cash, but no drugs. After his conviction for international money laundering in District Court, Mr. Cuellar appealed. A panel of three judges from the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals found in Mr. Cuellar’s favor; however, upon rehearing before the entire 5^th Circuit, the panel’s decision was reversed.
The 5^th Circuit opinion can be viewed here.

Good luck to Jerry with The Supremes.