Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center

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.

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.

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 .

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 .

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 pe

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: 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

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.

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 .

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.

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

The turnout for the Veterans Court graduation today was outstanding, as a packed courtroom filled the 228th.  Here are a couple of photos from the big event. Judge Carter hosted the ceremony. Deputy Walker keeps his pants up like the Good Lord intended . . .  Connie Williams gave a very moving speech. Craig Still and I spend our last moments with Greg Allman. Halfway through Pat McCann honoring his deal. Brothers in baldness. Like I said in my last post . . . With all the fun of Pat McCann honoring his bet, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that today's ceremony was a very important and moving moment in the CJC.  A big congratulations goes out to Judge Carter, Pat, Shannon Davis, Staci Biggar, and (most importantly) the graduates of Veterans Court for a great day today.

There will be a ceremony in the 228th District Court today at 2:00 p.m. as Judge Marc Carter and the dedicated attorneys who have donated their time to the Veterans' Court celebrate the successful completion of pre-trial diversions by fifteen members of its starting class.  As part of the Veteran's Court, defense attorney Pat "Sumo Jesus" McCann challenged the Veterans by swearing he would allow his head to be shaved should they successfully complete their pre-trial diversions. And they did. So, a big congratulations to the Veterans who helped make this project a big success, as well as to Judge Carter, Pat, Shannon Davis of the D.A.'s Office and all the other attorneys who have made this project possible. And on a sad note, we bid a fond farewell to the flowing locks of hair that belong to Mr. McCann for only a few hours more.  As a veteran of hair loss, I will be there to support you in the days to come, my friend. I, for one, will remember you like this

I was very saddened to learn yesterday that my friend and longtime Defense Attorney John Denninger passed away after a battle with lung cancer. I first met John when I became a Felony Two in Judge Michael McSpadden's court around 2006.  He, along with Ken Goode and Chuck Hinton, were the contract attorneys in the court.  I had known Chuck and Ken when I had been an academic intern in the 209th back in 1998, but John wasn't in the court back then. John took me awhile to figure out, because he had such a deadpan sense of humor.  Where Chuck and Ken were more prone to laughing out loud and telling jokes, John was often quiet and stone-faced by comparison.  It wasn't until I got to know him better that I realized the quiet demeanor actually masked a very very dry wit. He was a good lawyer who was very dedicated to his clients, and we tried serious cases against each other during the time I spent in Judge McSpadden's court.  His clients were appointed to him, and he fo

I've gotten a bunch of complaint s lately that I haven't posted on anything in a while, either on this blog or the Chronicle blog. Either there just hadn't been much happening of interest lately or I've just been experiencing a bout of writer's block.  Also, I've been very busy with my Little Man's summer activities and my Favorite Editor from New York being in town for an extended visit. And then last week, several different things happened that were all worthy of writing a blog post (or two or three) on . . . . . . and I'm at a place for the weekend that has no Internet connection. Ah the irony. One of the major things that happened last week was the stunning revelation by former Houston Police Department technical advisor Amanda Culbertson that HPD's mobile "BATmobiles" (used for the on-site testing of a DWI suspect's breath) had some major glitches in their reliability .  It was covered at length by Paul Kennedy with his