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After taking a two week vacation, I came back ready to fight the state and got some great results for my clients.
Over the last two weeks, I was able to convince a Harris County Grand Jury to refuse to indict three of my clients who were charged with various felony offenses:
State of Texas v. AM – Sexual Assault of a Child – My client was wrongfully accused of having sex with a teenage neighbor. My client maintained his innocence and passed a polygraph. The accuser claimed in her video interview that she could not remember having sex with my client, but “felt like she had”. Shoddy police work or as the result of malicious intent by the investigator, this fact never made it in the offense report, which cause my client to be charged with this horrible crime. I was able to present to the grand jury what my investigation revealed and the grand jury cleared my client of all charges. The police investigation was done by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
State of Texas v. KB – Deadly Conduct – My client was charged with deadly conduct for shooting at a vehicle that was occupied. My client should never had been arrested. He discovered a burglar breaking into his car and when he confronted him, the burglar pointed a gun at my client. My client shot back in self defense and to protect his property. In Texas, a person is legally allowed to use deadly force to protect himself and to protect his property from theft in the night. A stray bullet struck a car that was driving through the parking lot. Nobody was injured as a result of the shooting. My client called 911 for help, but when the police arrived, they refused to investigate the burglary and detained my client. The police accused him of being a drug dealer because he was a black man with tattoos and drove a nice car. I was able to present a summary of the law and the evidence to a grand jury and my client was cleared of the charges. This police investigation was conducted by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
State of Texas v. MO – Assault of a Family Member – My client was charged with Assault on a family member as a second offender. In Texas, if you have ever pled guilty or have been found guilty of a domestic violence charge, then you will be charged with a felony offense. In this case, my client was not the aggressor and only pushed the complainant away when she was trying to assault him. According to the police report, the prosecutor that reviewed the case accepted the charges because the wife had more injuries than my client and she called the police first. The grand jury reviewed the States case as well as the defense perspective and refused to return a bill of indictment. The police investigation was conducted by the Houston Police Department.
Other results this week are as follows:
State v. RJ – Terroristic Threat – DISMISSED – The alleged threat was a “conditional threat”. In Texas, for a person to be guilty of Terroristic Threat, the must make a threat that is imminent and not based on a future occurrence. For example, If I tell the county commissioner I will beat him up unless he paves the road in front of my house, then I would not be guilty of Terroristic Threat because he can avoid me beating him up by paving the road.
State v. LR – Assault on a Family Member / Domestic Violence – DISMISSED – My client was charged after her girlfriend came home drunk and started a fight. A mutual fight ensued and my client ended up going to jail and being charged. It is a defense to assault if the accuser and the accused are engaged in a mutual combat situation. The state made the right call and dismissed the case instead of setting it for trial.
State v. AC – Assault on a Family Member and Injury to a Child – Both cases DISMISSED – The client was wrongfully accused of hitting his baby’s mother and was accused of hitting the baby while the mother held the baby. No marks were observed on the mother or the child, but it was still enough for the Houston Police Department to bring felony charges. The state dismissed the charge when my client refused to plea and demanded a trial.
State v. JM – DWI with 2 prior DWI’s – REDUCED to misdemeanor – Client was charged with a DWI and had already been convicted of 2 prior DWI’s. In Texas, a 3rd DWI is a felony. The client looked pretty good on video and the blood results (over 2X the legal limit) did not match how the client looked on video. The state offered probation on a misdemeanor and the client chose to avoid the risk of a felony conviction at trial and a possible prison sentence if we lost.
Department of Public Safety v. PS – We fought a license suspension for a client accused of refusing to give a breath sample after being arrested for Driving While Intoxicated and we were able to prevent DPS from suspending the client’s license.
State v. RR – Retaliation – DISMISSED (Set for Trial) – Client was charged with the felony offense of Retaliation for allegedly threatening the officer who arrested him after the officer beat the client and tased him multiple times. The client only told the officer that he whished he would have the same bad luck of a police officer who had been shot over a decade ago when this arresting officer was still in grade school.
State v. AS – Injury to a child – REDUCED to attempted endangering of a child (Set for Trial) – Client was charged with the felony offense of Injury to a Child. After the case was investigated and eventually set for trial, we were able to show the state that the more appropriate charge would be a misdemeanor charged of attempted endangering of a child, which is a Class A misdemeanor. This was an appropriate result for this case and the client was happy to prevent the risk of a felony conviction.