Every once in a while, a random thought crosses my mind that I decide I would like to share with the unsuspecting masses. The easy way to ask the question would be to ask, "What is your favorite book?"
My question is what book have you read the most times over?
Mine is probably Lonesome Dove, which I guess I've read cover to cover about four or five times, closely followed by The Cop Who Wouldn't Quit, which I've read three or four times.
Yes, I know it has nothing to do with criminal law or the CJC, and I'm sure that somebody will find something rude to say about me going off topic, but I'm genuinely curious.
Seeing as how this isn't exactly a controversial question, if you'd like to sign your name to the answer, I'd like to know that, too.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Reasonable Doubt Archives
For those of you who have asked about catching archived Reasonable Doubt episodes on the web (Really, I swear, there have been people who have asked. I'm not just making that up), there is now a website where HCCLA is starting to put old episodes.
You can find the website by clicking here.
Special thanks to Assistant Public Defender, technological whiz kid, and President of the Lee Greenwood Fan Club, Franklin Bynum for organizing the website.
You can find the website by clicking here.
Special thanks to Assistant Public Defender, technological whiz kid, and President of the Lee Greenwood Fan Club, Franklin Bynum for organizing the website.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
New Chronicle Blog Post
I did a new blog post on Judge Guerrero's ruling on the change of venue in the Chad Holley beating case. You can check it out by clicking here.
Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (8/25/11)
Plean join me and Todd Dupont for tonight's Reasonable Doubt, where our guest will be the mildly opinionated former Assistant District Attorney Sean Teare. Look for an entertaining show, which will doubtlessly feature call ins from Hollywood entertainment attorney Dodge Rosen.
As always, you can tune in tonight at 8:00 p.m. to catch it live by clicking here.
As always, you can tune in tonight at 8:00 p.m. to catch it live by clicking here.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
In Case of Emergency
Based on some recent events that have occurred around the CJC over the past few weeks, Mark Bennett and I came up with an idea that we wanted to share with our friends and family members of the courthouse. Two weeks ago, a member of the defense bar passed away from natural causes at her home. Court coordinators knew that she had missed her cases on the docket that day, but had no one to contact to check on her welfare. The efforts to check on her welfare and notify a relative were made difficult because there was no central location that had that information.
Unlike prosecutors who have the benefit of co-workers and supervisors that will notice almost immediately if they don't come to work without explanation, many members of the defense bar are solo practitioners. Some don't even have a receptionist or office aide that can be contacted in case of emergency.
In an effort to respond in a "worst case scenario," Mark has created a data base that all courthouse personnel are welcome to utilize if they want. The list will be completely confidential and at this point, only Mark and I will have access to it. If you want to sign up for it, you can rest assured that it is not going to be added to an e-mail list for marketing purposes. It will also not be something that is created so that a coordinator can call and find out why you haven't shown up for docket by 10:30.
The list will be maintained solely for the purposes of having a safety net in place for people in case of emergency. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask them. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear them as well.
Thanks to Mark's work, the database is now up and running. If you would like to put your information in it, you can do it whenever you want.
The link to get there is here.
Unlike prosecutors who have the benefit of co-workers and supervisors that will notice almost immediately if they don't come to work without explanation, many members of the defense bar are solo practitioners. Some don't even have a receptionist or office aide that can be contacted in case of emergency.
In an effort to respond in a "worst case scenario," Mark has created a data base that all courthouse personnel are welcome to utilize if they want. The list will be completely confidential and at this point, only Mark and I will have access to it. If you want to sign up for it, you can rest assured that it is not going to be added to an e-mail list for marketing purposes. It will also not be something that is created so that a coordinator can call and find out why you haven't shown up for docket by 10:30.
The list will be maintained solely for the purposes of having a safety net in place for people in case of emergency. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask them. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear them as well.
Thanks to Mark's work, the database is now up and running. If you would like to put your information in it, you can do it whenever you want.
The link to get there is here.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
I Love My Hometown News
As I've mentioned frequently on this blog, I love being from Bryan, Texas. I loved growing up there. I love the people there. I love to go back there when I can.
I also love watching the news there. Every local commercial features either a) somebody I know or b) somebody I grew up watching on commercials.
The weatherman and the sports guy have been the same since I was in junior high school, and to this day, when you see one of them at the grocery store, you kind of feel like you just saw a celebrity.
And then there are the news stories themselves . . .
Like tonight's headline.
I love that a minor accident made the TV news when it wasn't even a hit and run and nobody was seriously injured.
I also enjoy that instead of giving the location with a cross-street, the description of the location read:
I also love watching the news there. Every local commercial features either a) somebody I know or b) somebody I grew up watching on commercials.
The weatherman and the sports guy have been the same since I was in junior high school, and to this day, when you see one of them at the grocery store, you kind of feel like you just saw a celebrity.
And then there are the news stories themselves . . .
Like tonight's headline.
I love that a minor accident made the TV news when it wasn't even a hit and run and nobody was seriously injured.
I also enjoy that instead of giving the location with a cross-street, the description of the location read:
It happened around 9 o'clock Friday night on East 29th Street in Bryan near the Dairy Queen.Sometimes, it is just nice to know that there are still some small towns where a minor accident is the worst thing that happens on a Friday night.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Before They Were Stars
Okay, we all are aware of the tragic E! True Hollywood Story of child star Will Womble, but I was recently made aware that we have another aspiring star in our midst.
Check out this video and see if you can spot who it is. (NOTE: This video usually won't play on a portable device, so you'll have to check it out on your desktop or laptop).
Special thanks to the anonymous prosecutor who forwarded this gem.
Check out this video and see if you can spot who it is. (NOTE: This video usually won't play on a portable device, so you'll have to check it out on your desktop or laptop).
Special thanks to the anonymous prosecutor who forwarded this gem.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (8/18/11)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
More Humor from the Holdover
An exchange between me and a shoplifting client in the holdover:
ME: Good morning, Ms. _________.
HER: Are you my new attorney?
ME: Um, no. I've always been your attorney.
HER: You're the same guy from last time?
ME: Yes.
HER: I just remember you being a lot younger last time.
ME: That was only three weeks ago!
HER: Maybe you had more hair back then.
ME: Trust me, I didn't.
ME: Good morning, Ms. _________.
HER: Are you my new attorney?
ME: Um, no. I've always been your attorney.
HER: You're the same guy from last time?
ME: Yes.
HER: I just remember you being a lot younger last time.
ME: That was only three weeks ago!
HER: Maybe you had more hair back then.
ME: Trust me, I didn't.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The People We Know
It has been a brutally rough two weeks for the Defense Bar in Harris County.
The weekend before last, we lost John Denninger to cancer.
Days later, we learned of the deaths of Phil Jenkins and Rosemary Garza.
Last night, we learned that Marguerite Hudig passed away.
It seems lately that we've been losing a lot of fine people long before their time on this Earth should have been up.
Last week, I was up in Brazos County, talking to my friend, David Hilburn, and we talked about how it seemed that the frequency of hearing tragic news seemed to be increasing as we got older.
When we were all children, losing a friend or a family member was a much more rare, yet tragic occasion.
Now, it seems that every month or so, we learn that someone we know (at least, someone we know in passing) has died.
Maybe it's just the harsh reality of growing older that brings this to light. To me, that's the sad way to observe this phenomena.
The other way to look at it is that as we've grown older, we've expanded our boundaries and have gotten to know so many more people than we did when we were children. If you look at the circle of friends and acquaintances that we all had when we were smaller, it vastly pales in comparison to the number of people we get to know as adults.
We grew from children and met more people. The more people we meet, the more people we ultimately have to say goodbye to. The more goodbyes we say, the sadder we become.
The loss of a friend, a family member, a co-worker, or even just a familiar face that you were accustomed to seeing in the hallways of the courthouse is always sad.
But the reason for the feeling of sadness is the loss of that familiarity that we once had.
For some reason, learning of Marguerite's passing has made me particularly sad.
I can't articulate why. I didn't know her well at all. I had a few cases against her as a prosecutor, but none that ever went to trial.
But, I suppose I was used to her. She was a regular face around the CJC. Just like John Denninger, Phil Jenkins, and Rosemary Garza -- not to mention all of those other attorneys that I've had the honor to know and subsequently say goodbye to over the years.
I'm sorry that I won't be seeing those faces around the CJC again. They will be missed.
But I'm glad that I had the opportunity to meet them. Glad to have gotten to know them -- some better than others.
I'm happy to have expanded my circle of friends and co-workers as I've gotten older, because the people that we get to know along the way are the ones that make all of our lives so much richer and so much more interesting for having known them.
Even if it is so sad to ultimately have to say goodbye to them.
The weekend before last, we lost John Denninger to cancer.
Days later, we learned of the deaths of Phil Jenkins and Rosemary Garza.
Last night, we learned that Marguerite Hudig passed away.
It seems lately that we've been losing a lot of fine people long before their time on this Earth should have been up.
Last week, I was up in Brazos County, talking to my friend, David Hilburn, and we talked about how it seemed that the frequency of hearing tragic news seemed to be increasing as we got older.
When we were all children, losing a friend or a family member was a much more rare, yet tragic occasion.
Now, it seems that every month or so, we learn that someone we know (at least, someone we know in passing) has died.
Maybe it's just the harsh reality of growing older that brings this to light. To me, that's the sad way to observe this phenomena.
The other way to look at it is that as we've grown older, we've expanded our boundaries and have gotten to know so many more people than we did when we were children. If you look at the circle of friends and acquaintances that we all had when we were smaller, it vastly pales in comparison to the number of people we get to know as adults.
We grew from children and met more people. The more people we meet, the more people we ultimately have to say goodbye to. The more goodbyes we say, the sadder we become.
The loss of a friend, a family member, a co-worker, or even just a familiar face that you were accustomed to seeing in the hallways of the courthouse is always sad.
But the reason for the feeling of sadness is the loss of that familiarity that we once had.
For some reason, learning of Marguerite's passing has made me particularly sad.
I can't articulate why. I didn't know her well at all. I had a few cases against her as a prosecutor, but none that ever went to trial.
But, I suppose I was used to her. She was a regular face around the CJC. Just like John Denninger, Phil Jenkins, and Rosemary Garza -- not to mention all of those other attorneys that I've had the honor to know and subsequently say goodbye to over the years.
I'm sorry that I won't be seeing those faces around the CJC again. They will be missed.
But I'm glad that I had the opportunity to meet them. Glad to have gotten to know them -- some better than others.
I'm happy to have expanded my circle of friends and co-workers as I've gotten older, because the people that we get to know along the way are the ones that make all of our lives so much richer and so much more interesting for having known them.
Even if it is so sad to ultimately have to say goodbye to them.
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