Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center

SCENE:  It is only minutes until midnight on December 31, 2020, and Droids are busily signing off on paperwork on STAR DESTROYER INTAKE under the supervision of CORPORAL LEITNER.  The space hatch doors open and in comes the ADVANCE TEAM led by a beleaguered CO-VICE-ADMIRAL MITCHAM.  LEITNER salutes MITCHAM. CORPORAL LEITNER:  Vice-Admiral, you're . . . early. CO-VICE-ADMIRAL MITCHAM:  I decided it would be wise to arrive prior to the Empress to make sure everything was running smoothly.  We cannot afford another embarrassment in front of her.  She's fired so many that we hardly have anyone left. CORPORAL LEITNER:  Very good, sir. CO-VICE-ADMIRAL MITCHAM:  What are all of these droids doing? CORPORAL LEITNER:  They are signing Probable Cause complaints, sir. CO-VICE-ADMIRAL MITCHAM:  What?!  Didn't the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals just rule that was illegal? CORPORAL LEITNER:  Yes sir, but we've appealed it to the Louisiana Supreme Court. CO-VICE-ADMIRAL MITCHAM: What

When I'm explaining the plea bargain process to my clients, I compare it to someone selling a car.  The prosecutor's position is like that of the car owner, and the strengths and weaknesses of the case are akin to the value of the vehicle.  Maybe the car is flawless and in perfect running condition.  Maybe it is a complete lemon.  The same can be said for a case -- although I've seen many more lemons than flawless cases in my time. But in both scenarios, it is the car owner/prosecutor who is completely in charge of setting the negotiating price.  If the car/case is flawless and powerful, the buyer/defendant can expect high prices with less flexibility.  If, however, the car or the case is not particularly powerful and has engine problems, one might expect that price to be drastically reduced, or for the car to be totally tossed on the scrap pile. Whether the case is flawless or an utter disaster, one thing remains the same:  the prosecutor has the sole discretion to set the

 Oh, dear Lord.  I've hauled off and pissed off the Twitterverse. Not in the normal way, like when I'm fully intending on pissing off people.  I did this one on accident. Yesterday was a frustrating day in general.  We had a family emergency that required my wife to go out of town unexpectedly and I was trying to do Zoom hearings while keeping my 6-year-old and my 14-year-old on task with their online classes.  At one point, while Zooming into a court and setting a case for trial, the judge mentioned that I seemed relaxed and comfortable.  It was then that I looked down and realized I hadn't changed into a collared shirt for my Zoom hearings (as I normally do). Instead, I was wearing a Drive-By Truckers  concert t-shirt that read "Hell No, I Ain't Happy." I changed and went outside for my next Zoom setting because I didn't want to disturb the kids' classes.  While sitting on my front porch, a lizard ran up my leg.  It was just one of those days where t

*All apologies to former Senator and Saturday Night Live  alum Al Franken, who wrote a great book with this title.  It just fit so perfectly for the topic of this article that I couldn't resist copying it.  I love Al Franken so if this ever gets back to him, I hope he isn't mad. So, remember back in June when I wrote this post ? The short-ish version of what it covered was this: A year or so ago, Kim Ogg used taxpayer money to hire Mark Goldberg  as an Assistant District Attorney, a politically connected former City Councilman who Ogg had gone to law school with.  He spent a very brief stint in Misdemeanor before being "promoted" to upper management at the office as a "community outreach committee member."  What this actually means is that Ogg hired somebody with taxpayer funds to prosecute, but then reassigned him to plan events designed to get her reelected.  Not that it will matter to voters, but some of us find that to be really illegal. As part of his

 With everything going on in the world lately, I have to admit that early voting kind of snuck up on me this year.  I remember hearing something about Governor Greg Abbott adding a week of early voting a few months ago, but then I saw that some of the Right Wing "power brokers" had tried to sue him to stop that from happening.  Apparently, the plan didn't change, and citizens of Texas can begin voting Early Voting on Tuesday, October 13th.   It ends on Friday, October 30th and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd. Regardless of whether you are a Right-leaning voter or a Left-leaning voter, you should anticipate turn out to be tremendous this year.  You should definitely be making plans to vote early and give yourself some padding if your original scheduled plan to vote falls through.  My guess would be that given the new numbers of registered voters (over 200,000 new voters since the 2016 election, I believe), that even traditionally "slow" days during Early Vo

 The world is a little darker tonight due to the passing of legendary defense attorney, former prosecutor, and friend Mike Hinton. I've looked through all of my photos hoping to find one of me and the first man who gave me a job in the legal profession, and sadly I couldn't find one.  For those of you who knew Mike, it is understandable that I don't have a picture with him because he never sat still long enough for me to take one. The phrase "to know him was to love him" is often said on the occasion of a person's passing, but I can't think of anyone more worthy of the phrase than Mike Hinton.  Everyone who met him simply loved him.  He didn't really give you much of an option to do otherwise.  He was a short, roly-poly man with an exuberance for simply existing.  He was perpetually happy and happy to see you.  Hugs, cheek kisses, over-the-top greetings followed by sincere conversations punctuated with his staccato exclamations and his deep laughs were

Under the title of Scott Henson's noted criminal justice blog, Grits for Breakfast , is a subheading that reads "Welcome to Texas Justice:  You Might Beat the Rap, But You Won't Beat the Ride."  For those of you who are either 1) outside the criminal justice world; or 2) too young to recognize the old phrase, you are probably missing out on how witty Grit's use of the phrase is. The original use of the phrase can be attributed to a police officer dealing with a suspect who is confident (rightfully or wrongfully) that the charges he is facing won't hold up in court.  The officer's response is that although said suspect may ultimately win in court ("beat the rap"), he's still arresting him and he's getting a "ride" to jail.  Scott's blog serves as a respected watchdog for the Texas Criminal Justice System and his well-researched posts delve into the inequities in the System as they apply to prisons, prosecution, and police (am

  My good friend and fellow defense attorney, Ricardo Rodriguez, passed away on Friday.   I've heard that he had some health issues that were complicated by the COVID virus, but I haven't confirmed that.  The last time I saw him -- which doesn't seem like was all that long ago -- he seemed healthy and happy.  His sudden passing is a tremendous shock and a huge loss to all of us who knew him. I posted about his passing on my personal Facebook page and the reactions to his death were all the same.  Everyone was heartbroken and shocked.  Everyone talked about what a gentleman and honorable man he was, and how he was kind to everyone he met.   He deserved every last one of those accolades and then some.  He was a fixture and a giant of the Harris County Criminal Justice System.  He was a man who embodied Character.  And he was definitely a man who was  a Character. I first saw Ricardo Rodriguez when I was an academic intern working in the 209th District Court during the summer