JOHN T. FLOYD LAW FIRM
Texas Criminal
Lawyer
EXPERIENCED CRIMINAL
DEFENSE LAWYER
TRIALS, SENTENCINGS, AND APPEALS
FEDERAL AND STATE CRIMINAL DEFENSE
"Serious Criminal
Defense Throughout Texas"
Phone (713) 224-0101
E-mail jfloyd@JohnTFloyd.com
Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer
Seriously, Texas is the place...
Law and order in Texas is good, but you can be caught up in the system of justice where the punishment bears no resemblance to the crime. Texas is the number 1 place to have the death penalty. Each year many are executed here. Over one third of all U.S. executions occur in Texas each year.
Comments on Current Events In Criminal Law from the Federal Criminal Courts in Texas
May 13, 2012
PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT GOES UNPUNISHED IN TEXAS
Preserving Error in Cases of “Contumacious” Prosecutorial Misconduct
By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair
Let us say at the outset that many prosecutors are fine, decent people who honorably fulfill their charged task of seeking the truth and justice—to convict the guilty and free the innocent. They believe in a fair testing of their case in our adversarial criminal trial process. We respect prosecutorial zeal, even though we’re always on the other side.
But when it comes to prosecutorial misconduct, it’s truly disheartening. It’s a disease without a cure—a blight on our fundamental notions that the criminal trial process must seek the truth and ensure that the interests of justice are served. Yes, with this piece, as we have with others, we’re once again talking about that prosecutorial epidemic—the Ebola virus that infects our justice system. It’s like a plague of locusts consuming everything in sight. And there’s nothing we can do about these night riders lynching the very integrity of our judicial system under the cover of darkness and in pursuit of “conviction at any costs.” Punish them? Arrest them? Disbar them? It’s not going to happen. The marshals charged with protecting the integrity are turning a “blind eye” to these night riders. So what, some will say? Integrity, after all, is in the eyes of the beholder, and, of course, it’s subject to expanding definitions. The price of a few innocent people going to jail is well worth convicting the guilty. This is not about Truth; it is about Justice and dispute resolution.
Given their consistent complicity, that must be the way our appellate courts see the issue of prosecutorial misconduct. A little Ebola is necessary to get all the bad apples out of the barrel, even if that means taking some good ones out in the process.
This past December we called your attention to a 2009 report titled “Preventable Error: A Report on Prosecutorial Misconduct in California 1997-2009.” The report was released by the Northern California Innocence Project at the Santa Clara University School of Law. The report dealt with 4,000 California and federal appellate court rulings rendered between 1997 and 2009 concerning prosecutorial misconduct.
As would be expected by seasoned criminal defense attorneys, the appellate courts determined that only 707 of the cases involved actual misconduct. In another 282 cases the courts did not even address the prosecutorial misconduct issue because, as the courts reasoned, the defendants received a “fair trial.” In the remaining 3000-plus cases the courts explicitly found that there was no prosecutorial misconduct involved in those convictions. Not surprisingly then, the courts could muster up just enough ethical fortitude to find that in only 159 of the 707 cases in which misconduct was found had the defendants suffered actual harm to result in some form of relief—new trials, new sentencing hearings, etc. In the remaining 548 cases the courts upheld the convictions that the prosecutorial misconduct did not deprive the defendants of a fair trial. more...
The "Texas war on drugs" is putting many in the ward of the state. Now more than one in twenty is in the prison population. In many cases a conviction and sentence can be attributed to the word of a trapped informant who is trying to get a deal for himself. What do you think the truthfulness is of this source? Also some law enforcement personnel are also inclined to be untruthful in their investigations to advance their careers. A reporter of a Houston newspaper studied court data on Texas’ war on drugs, finding that most of the 58,000 convictions won by local prosecutors in the past five years “involved less than a gram of a drug.” The result is that few major dealers get caught and Texas jails are filled with users who “often find waiting lists for counseling programs so long that they are released before they can get in.”
Harris County "get tough on crime" causes many new regulations and procedures that cost taxpayers more money and creates inequities and harsh conditions. Harris County Court rules are complicated.
Here are the local district attorneys words… “Being tough on crime means protecting citizens from predators and violent criminals and making sure there is space in the prisons for those that commit violent crimes and who the public need to be protected from. I do not consider it being tough on crime to send a mother to jail for welfare fraud who worked during the Christmas holidays to provide Christmas gifts for her children.”
The resources of the state are vast with the State criminal court system, the District Attorney’s, the crime lab, and law enforcement officers. Add to that court reporters, Bondsman, Investigators, and expert witnesses from the support industry. What about the reliability of some of those departments? Take the crime labs for one. The Supreme court allows the law enforcement people to lie to you to get there convictions. Just look at any entrapment involved in cases where the police solicit the offender to break the law.
The laws are very complex and voluminous and it would be smart to familiarize yourself with these. Definition of a felony… A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a "very serious" crime; misdemeanors are considered to be less serious. Crimes which are commonly considered to be felonies include: aggravated assault, arson, burglary, murder, and rape. Those who are convicted of a felony are known as felons. Originally, felonies were crimes for which the punishment was either death or forfeiture of property.
Protect your rights, know your rights, and exercise your rights defined by the Texas state constitution, statutes, rules, and judicial decisions . When a law enforcement officer questions you, ask to speak to your lawyer. When they ask permission to search your vehicle or you, politely refuse and ask to speak to your lawyer.
Do you know what happens when you are arrested and then bonded out with a bail bond?
Some of the rules you are under…
Phone check in every two weeks.
Call in the day before court.
In-person check-in on court date.
Notify agency of change of address, phone or employment.
No travel outside county.
No contact with complaining witness
What are the results of a conviction?
Loss of freedom, and the inability to get good employment ever. Loss of your reputation and exclusion from serving on a jury, just to mention a few.
Who you choose to represent your case is the most important consideration for your well being. Make sure you choose an attorney who has successfully conducted trials and is knowledgeable in your classification of criminal law.
John T Floyd Law Firm is the answer for representation in a criminal defense strategy that will ensure you get fair treatment under the law.
TEXAS CRIMINAL
LAWYER
TRIALS, SENTENCINGS, AND APPEALS
STATE AND FEDERAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE
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