So, in year 20, I will continue to do what I have always done and do my best to represent people accused of crimes in Grayson, Fannin and sometimes Cooke County. I had the opportunity to run for district attorney in one of our counties but could not bring myself…
I eventually got really tired of the relapse levels of some of my clients and the reality of substance abuse and mental health populations in general, and starting using licensed chemical dependency counselors about seven years ago to help lower the recidivism rate and get people into treatment up front…
I also started doing Federal CJA appointments in 2006 and it took about five years to really begin to learn what I was doing in federal court, which is normal for most lawyers. The Sentence Guidelines are a penal-mathematical formula that every attorney must try to master and none completely…
It is always a challenge to get juries to understand what the problems were on a machine that the state put forth as scientifically qualified. The State of Texas was the last one to finally upgrade to the Intoxilyzer 9000, which still has some issues. But back then, most of…
I joined Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers association and attended every seminar I could, driving to Tyler, Corpus Christi, Huntsville for Criminal Trial College and even Laredo for a seminar. I eagerly wanted to learn how to protect my clients and learned the tools of the trade as fast as I…
On November 5, 2025, I will have practiced law for twenty years. I started out in 2005 with a desk, phone and covering the hearings for a personal injury attorney in 2005 in Sherman, TX. The local judges had known me from interning for Sheriff Keith Gary, Judge Paul Brown,…
Judging delay is one area where analysis under the due diligence doctrine remains relevant. Under the due diligence doctrine, the court looks to whether “reasonable investigative efforts [were] made to apprehend the person sought.” Peacock, 77 S.W.3d at 288. Per Peacock, such a requirement “helps a court determine whether the…
But, despite the elimination of the common law due diligence “scheme,” the Court of Criminal Appeals has recognized in both pre-Garcia case law and post-Garcia case law that there exists a Constitutional speedy revocation hearing right even where claims of common law due diligence do not lie. The Court of…
A Defendant formally accused of violating probation also has the right to a speedy revocation hearing. In addition to statutory provisions addressing timeliness in motions to revoke, the Court of Criminal Appeals has historically recognized two sources of law which provide for the right to a speedy revocation hearing: (1)…
The reasons for the delay of a trial are important under the second prong, and the State will be required to put forward their reasons at a dismissal hearing. Right now, blood and drug results from the State laboratory are taking six months or so to process. A person sitting…