Happy Birthday Mr. President

Today is HCCLA President Todd Dupont's birthday.

In the past, I have been reminded that I forgot it, so I'm actually going proactive this time by wishing him a happy birthday in advance.

He did have to remind me again this year, but at least I talked to him before mid-afternoon this time.

So, if you see Todd today around the CJC wish him a happy birthday!

Mike Anderson on Reasonable Doubt (12/13/12)

Please join me and host Todd Dupont on Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. for Reasonable Doubt, where our guest will be Harris County District Attorney-elect Mike Anderson.

On the heels of yesterday's announcement about Judge Belinda Hill, Judge Anderson has also been meeting with various people involved in the Criminal Justice System to let them know his plans for the future of the District Attorney's Office (which begins in t-minus 19 days).  He's answering all questions and he looks forward to answering any calls the viewers might have.

So call in with your questions.

As always, you can catch us live streaming by clicking here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (7/19/12): UPDATED

UPDATE:  Unfortunately, Dan is unable to appear on tonight's episode and has rescheduled for early next month.  Tonight, our throw-down last-minute "special" guest will be Franklin Bynum.  With or without the shoes.

Please join me and Todd Dupont for tonight's Reasonable Doubt, where our guest will be one of my favorite people on Earth, Dan Cogdell.  Having had the opportunity to have tried a murder case with Dan, I can say from personal observation that he is one of the best attorneys I've ever seen.  He's also one of the funniest people I've ever had a conversation with.  (NOTE:  I think the reason there is a sketch of him on his website rather than a photograph may be because photography had not been invented yet when he first started practicing, however.)

It is going to be a great show.

Please tune in tonight at 8 p.m.  As always, you can watch it live streaming on the internet by clicking here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (7/12/12)

Please join me and Todd Dupont for tonight's episode of Reasonable Doubt where our guest will be the shy and un-opinionated shrinking violet, Brian Wice.  Please call in with your questions.

As always, you can watch it live streaming by clicking here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (5/24/12)

Please join me and Todd Dupont for tonight's Reasonable Doubt with our guest, new HCCLA President Chris Tritico.  It has been several weeks since my last appearance, and I apologize for the long-haired hippy that Todd got to fill in for me.  I know that I will be much more entertaining.

We're going to probably be talking about some politics and election fever, so please tune in at 8:00 p.m. tonight.

As always, you can watch it live streaming by clicking here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (1/5/12)

Join us tonight as we return from the Christmas break with a new episode of Reasonable Doubt.  Our guest tonight will be the Reverend John Craig Still of the Harris County Public Defender's Office.  As always, you can tune in at 8:00 p.m. and catch it live streaming by clicking here.

Anthony Graves and Nicole Casarez on Reasonable Doubt

Several people have asked me to post the Reasonable Doubt video with Anthony Graves and Nicole Casarez on the blog.  Special thanks to Kelly Siegler for putting us in touch with Anthony and Nicole.  Additional special thanks to Franklin Bynum for putting the show on the Net.


Reasonable Doubt, December 15, 2011, Anthony Graves and Nicole Casarez from HCCLA on Vimeo.

New Reasonable Doubt Commercial

Regular viewers of Reasonable Doubt may have noticed that over the past few weeks, our host, Todd Dupont has been letting his beard grow.

And grow.  And grow.

Based on his new appearance, we decided to shoot a new promotional commercial for the show that you can catch here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (11/10/11)

Although tonight's Reasonable Doubt will not be nearly as good as it usually is because Franklin Bynum is subbing in for me while I'm out of town, I highly recommend you tune to catch Todd Dupoint, Franklin, and guest Dane Johnson.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that they might talk about the B.A.T. Van controversy.

As usual, you can tune in to watch it live streaming by clicking here.

And, I'm just kidding about it not being as good because Franklin is co-hosting.

Kind of.

Reasonable Doubt Returns

New episodes of Reasonable Doubt return tonight after a several-week hiatus (due to City Council debates).

So join me and Todd Dupont and our guest, former prosecutor and future Assistant Public Defender Scott Pope, as we talk about the current state of affairs at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center.

Trust me.  We've got A LOT to talk about.

You can tune in to watch it live streaming at 8 p.m. by clicking here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (9/1/11)

Regular viewers will be devastated to know that I will not be co-hosting tonight's Reasonable Doubt with Todd Dupont, as I will be replaced by the Usurper Franklin Bynum for the evening.  I suppose, if you really and truly STILL want to watch the show, it will be on with a great guest -- Bob Wicoff.

As always, you can tune in by clicking here for live streaming video at 8 p.m. tonight.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (8/18/11)

Tune into tonight's Reasonable Doubt with me and Todd Dupont at 8:00 p.m.  Our guest will be our friend and fellow criminal defense attorney, Fox Curl.  We'll be talking about domestic violence.

You can watch it live streaming at 8:00 p.m. by clicking here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (7/14/11)

Tune in tonight for Reasonable Doubt at 8:00 p.m. with me and Todd Dupont.  Our guest will be Carmen Roe, and we'll be talking about juries, the Casey Anthony verdict, and anything else you want to talk about.

As always, you can (allegedly) watch it live streaming by clicking here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (6/23/11)

Tonight's guest on Reasonable Doubt with me and Todd Dupont  will be Public Defender Alex Bunin.  We've been trying to line Alex up as a guest for several weeks and are extremely excited to finally get him on the show.  Please tune in and call with questions.

As always, you can tune in by clicking here at 8:00 p.m.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (6/16/11)

Tune in for tonight's Reasonable Doubt with host Todd Dupont.  I know you will all be devastated and beside yourselves to know that I will not be co-hosting tonight as I will be out of town, but Franklin Bynum will be filling in with the guest-hosting duties (I hear this is how Jay Leno got his start).

Todd and Franklin's guest tonight will be Jani Maselli from the Public Defender's Office.

As always, you can tune in by clicking here.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (5/19/11)

Please join me and Todd Dupont for tonight's Reasonable Doubt at 8:00 p.m.  Our guest will be defense attorney Norm Silverman.  As always, you can watch it on live streaming video by clicking here.

As a side note, there is no truth to the rumors that Norm, Cunningham and I are starting the Three Bald Guys Law Firm, despite what the picture indicates.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (4/28/11)

Todd Dupont and I will be back on the air tonight with Reasonable Doubt at 8 p.m..  Our guest will be the Reverend John Craig Still.  As always, you can watch it online by clicking here.

Todd Dupont's Eulogy for Tody Dupont

For those of you unable to attend Tody Dupont's Memorial Service last week, you missed a very heartfelt and heartwarming eulogy given to him by his son, Todd.  Todd did an amazing job of saying goodbye to his father, law partner and friend.  I don't believe I could have done the same thing in his shoes, and I greatly admire him for his delivery of this eulogy:

Thank you all for coming.  And “thank you” First Baptist Church, for allowing us the privilege and honor of being able to formally remember Tody in a place he called home.  I am speaking on behalf of all of our family today. I have written many summations in my legal career.  But, having to prepare a eulogy, a summation, for our father’s–my law partner’s–incredible life has truly been daunting.

The truth of the matter is I have always, secretly, hoped to be able to have a lifetime to draft these words. Yet, God had something else in mind. As one can understand, either through imagination or, worse, experience, the loss of one’s father is traumatic–especially when the death is untimely. As I stand before you, please know that my family and I, like the rest of you here, are stunned by his early departure for Heaven.  We are deeply saddened. Most of all, we are profoundly heartbroken. If I could have but one wish, right now, my wish would be to have him back.

I would hastily arm-wrestle God for him.

Aeschylus wrote: “In our sleep pain which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” I sure wish I could rush that process.

My father was born on March 4, 1945, in a small Louisiana town, named Plaquemine.  When he was born, Roosevelt was President, Finland had just declared war on Nazi-Germany, and Bing Crosby played on the radio. Bread was 9¢ a loaf, milk 62¢ a gallon, and a gallon of gas cost 21¢–for those that had cars. Money was non-existent, Jim Crow laws were the norm in the deep South, and inequality was the standard operating procedure. There were little chances of success for most people, including my father.
As it was in my father’s case, if you were going to make it, you had to do it on your own.  With your own two hands.  In those times, in that setting, no one gave you anything, unless you earned it.

What the world didn’t really understand at that time, was that this is all the opportunity that a man named Thomas Barker Dupont would ever need. 

The rest is history.

Before I begin, I suspect many of you, like me, might be interested in understanding exactly WHY he was nicknamed Tody?  It’s such an unique, almost obscure, name.  I’ve never met another person named Tody.  Have you?  Many people, who first met him, would need for him to repeat himself, because it such an uncommon name. The true answer is, the jury is still out. Some of his siblings say it was because he was to be nicknamed “Tommy”, but they could only pronounce “Tody.”  Others say it was because, as a child, he had no aversion to picking up toad frogs, and carrying them around.  I’ve always heard he liked to bounce around a lot as a child.   Nevertheless, the name stuck; and as a human, Tody would prove to be as unique as this unusual nickname.

As a child, young adult, and even as a man, I have always remained curious and fascinated by my father.  As a child, I would sneak in to watch him shave.  As I grew older, in the places that I went in life, if someone knew Tody, I would stop what I was doing, and talk to them as long as I could, to fill in the blanks. I would venture to speculate that this phenomenon has happened to all of us here.  Tody had an aura that beamed from him, and that attracted you to him.  No matter your age.  Or gender.  Very few human beings have been blessed with this quality..but Tody was.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Tody had more than his fair share of quirks: he loved burnt bread (because that’s how his mama made it).  He loved to float in water, swim, and scuba dive.  Dad knew where every Ace was in a deck of cards. He was an voracious reader, and loved to go to the movies.  He was easy to buy a gift for because all he ever asked for was movie gift cards.  In fact, he loved to talk on his cell phone in the movie theater, while the movie was playing.  I would call, and he would answer while the movie was playing,  I would immediately hang up, being embarrassed for him! 
 But he didn’t care.  Blissful oblivion, I suppose.    

Tody loved to play Santa Claus, and bring joy to children.  He loved to make children happy.  This tickled his heart, in a way that only matter to him.  Tody loved to dress to the occasion.  You should have seen his closet.  Interestingly, he is largely responsible for my clothing habits–especially in the courtroom–though we do have different taste in shoes and ties.  Tody loved to eat good food, but he literally didn’t know how to boil water.  He never really needed to.  My dad personalized everything.  I have never encountered another man, like my father, who loved to personalize his personal effects.  This might help you understand where this “D” ring came from. 

Regardless, I am sure that my sisters would agree with me when I say that we have always been compelled to please our father.  We wanted his approval.  We wanted his acceptance.  We wanted his smile and nod when we did something that pleased him.
We went out of our way to please him. Yet, Tody also taught us many more important things about life.  Tody’s word, truly, was his bond, and he preferred, if at all possible, to operate on a handshake–even in the age of one-inch thick, small-typed contracts. Tody could be trusted. If he told you he was going to do something, he did it.  Conversely, If he told you he wouldn’t, he didn’t.  It was really that simple for him.  And that was both refreshing and reassuring for the rest of us.  Tody believed in the ballot box.  He fundamentally believed in the democratic process.  In his core.  I suspect he early-voted in every election he has voted in since he was able to vote. Tody was concerned about racism.  Prejudice.  Inequality.  Injustice.

Deep down, Tody was hardwired to fight for the disadvantaged and the weak.  The outnumbered.  This is where he found strength.  Resolve. This is what got him out of bed each morning.

Simply put, Tody loved being a lawyer.  To him, the words “Tody” and “lawyer” are synonymous.  Tody was his profession.  He worked 7 days and week.  He worked in his sleep.   Tody was 100% committed to profession of being a lawyer.  Serving his clients needs.  He was 100% committed to ethics.  Standards.  Professionalism.  In an age where competition in the law is fierce, Tody was old school, by even old school standards.  Dad didn’t know how to use a computer, nor did he really want to.  He hand wrote everything.  If he had it his way, we would all still be using IBM typewriters, white out, and legal-sized carbon paper.  And I still don’t know what this means to this day, and I have worked for the man since I was 15, but every motion or document that he has worked on, he had saved on “tape.”  Tody had a method.  HIS method.  A method that only HE understood, and the rest of us would bang our heads trying to decipher.

God forbid you moved anything in his office.

His office, literally, had stacks and stacks of paperwork...all over the place.  And he, and he alone, knew where it all went.  Tody did not believe in winning at all costs.  Tody believed in winning by outworking his adversary.  Believe me when I tell you, he has won his fair share of cases; and, he also lost many a case–and when he did, he would lose with dignity.  But if you did get lucky to beat dad, I would guarantee that he made you work for it.  Tody wanted to change people’s lives through the law.  He could read a newspaper, and find five different lawsuits waiting to happen, before most people have had their morning coffee.

He saw the world differently than most people.  He saw the world through the lens of a lawyer.  He dreamed bigger than the rest of us.  He thought longer than the rest of us. He fought harder than the rest of us. 

Tody taught me to fundamentally care about being a lawyer, and to pay close attention to the details.  Look for and see the things that are before you, but also look for and find the things that aren’t.  Those are the things that would make the difference. 

I am also proud to say that no matter where I went in life, if I met someone who knew my dad, they always had something nice to say about him.  I can’t count the number of times, after these encounters, that I would swell with pride, knowing I was this man’s son.  I am confident my sisters feel the same way. Even his adversaries liked him.  And he like them–especially if he respected them.

The only way I can attempt to describe what my father was like to us is by comparing him to a safety net.  There was simply no question that if we needed something, or even if we didn’t, he was there.  He was a constant in our lives.  Much like the sun.  Being faced with the fact that the sun will no longer be coming up in our sky is a concept that we can’t comprehend yet.

Even though we are all just at the beginning of the grieving process, my overriding fear is that this will be the one thing that we are all going to miss the most. The world is a better place for Tody Dupont having lived.  Tody Dupont was unique.  One-of-a-kind.  There will never be another like him...not in my life time, and probably not in yours.

Chris Sorenson wrote:  “No one ever really dies as long as they took the time to leave us with fond memories.” Some of you knew Tody personally.  Some in passing.  Other’s may have only heard folklore. Regardless, I think we could all agree that there will never be a human being who knew Tody who will be able to accuse him of failing to do this.
Whether intentional or otherwise, Dad, you planted those seeds in the depths of our subconsciousness when we weren’t even looking.

From this day, this hour, this minute forward, remember Tody the way HE would want you to remember him.

Remember the cases that he won or the cases that he lost, and his vigor to litigate his cases to juries in the courtroom.
Remember his love of politics, civil liberties, and community service.
Remember his compassion for justice, and his remarkable and unselfish generosity towards his fellow man.
Remember his zest for life.
When you leave here, and head back on the road of your own journey through life, and find yourself with a spare minute to think about Tody, pause to think about HIM thinking about his next big lawsuit...his disarrayed files, scribbled notes, newspaper clippings, and yellow legal pads scattered about.
 Think about his disarming charisma, and deceptive charm.
 Think about his affable Cajun accent, peppered throughout his lengthy legal narratives or majestic storytelling.
 Think about him blushing when you complimented him.
 Think about and his infectious laugh.
 Think about his smile.
 This is what he would want you to do for him. At the cost of all that you leave behind, dad, you have achieved immortality. We love you dearly; we will miss you sorely; and, thanks to you, we will never forget you.

Rest in eternal peace, dad.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt

Tune in tonight (3/24/11) at 8:00 p.m. for Reasonable Doubt with me and Todd Dupont.

Our guest tonight will be Troy McKinney.  We have been off the air for the past few weeks, so we have a lot of things to talk about.

As always, you can watch it on live streaming video by clicking here.