Thanks to all who attended our annual banquet. Our honorees truly left us all inspired to be better, do more, and stand up!

Photos from the evening are available here

Tyler Flood, our member of the year, was unable to attend but kindly sent a video thanking us for the honor. He looks forward to his upcoming year as President-Elect.

Chris Tritico received the president’s award for his mentorship and assistance to Carmen Roe during her tenure as President.

David Ryan was once again honored (3rd year in a row) as our mentor of the year for his never-ending mentorship of young lawyers.

Thuy Le, one of our unsung heroes, was highlighted as a champion against all odds, even the judiciary. Much of her story can be found in the Houston Chronicle archives as reported by Lisa Falkenberg (Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist): here and here. She stood up to a judge trying to take a child away from her 12 year old client.

Nicolas Hughes, another unsung hero, was praised for his work against the sexual offender civil commitment process and Judge Sieler.

Dick DeGuerin was honored for his 50 years in practice and his dedication to HCCLA. He is a founding member, a past president, and recipient of awards (lawyer of year, lifetime achievement). He also swore in our officers and directors for the upcoming year. This year’s officers: JoAnne Musick (President), Tucker Graves (Vice President), Lisa Strauss (Secretary), Steven Halpert (Treasurer) and Tyler Flood (President-Elect).

David Dow, our torch of liberty recipient, was honored for his struggle against the Court of Criminal Appeals wherein Judge Keller has taken a personal interest in harming defendants by removing David as counsel. You can read about it here. David appeals his suspension and lawyers across the state have called for a reinstatement and a proper hearing on the matter.

Mark Bennett, our lawyer of the year, achieved some magnificent results this past year. Almost single-handedly, he has taken on the penal code and challenged several statutes under constitutional grounds. Not surprisingly, he has prevailed!

Stanley Schneider, our lifetime achievement honoree, has had a distinguished career defending the accused. And, he is not even close to being finished! He has overturned death sentences, appealed cases to the United States Supreme Court, and mastered the art of his craft: trials and appeals.

It was such an honor to share our evening with these amazing lawyers. We are truly thankful for their example. May we all strive to achieve such results.

Harris County has launched a website for the purpose of disseminating information to those attorneys practicing in the criminal courts of Harris County.

Our HCCLA President, Carmen Roe, had indicated it is a place for the judges and District Attorney’s Office to post notices for defense lawyers. Currently, this website has information about jail phone and video systems for attorney use.

Given that the site itself notes the County assumes no liability for continued accuracy of posts, you should always confirm information found on the site with judges or prosecutors. (From the site footnote: The information contained in this site was valid at the time of posting. Harris County assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions, or discrepancies.) Yet, the posts themselves are not dated so there is no way of knowing how current the post may be. As such, I have already contacted the site administrator to request, at a minimum, they add dates to the notices. The site administrator has indicated they are forwarding the request on to the proper department. (though we are unsure what department that may be)

Attorneys should have received an email today from the District Clerk’s Office introducing the website.

Take a few minutes and learn a little about your candidates for Harris County District Attorney: Devon Anderson and Kim Ogg.  They have squared off in a couple debates and you need to watch at least one of them!

You can view the Fox26 Debate by clicking here, and you can view the Local2 Debate by clicking here.

Now that you’re getting up to speed on the District Attorney race, spend a little time reading about the criminal judicial races via the Chronicle editorials: Part 1 and Part 2.

HCCLA does not endorse or support any particular party or candidate – we encourage you to become educated and vote Your Choice!

 

 

 

HCCLA is collecting and publishing a bit of history!  With the help of our member, Rosa Eliades, we have recovered a few old Docket Call magazines and the first Defender issues.  You can view the older publications by visiting our website (www.hccla.org/publications).  Thanks to all our members who have worked on our publications throughout the years:  Robert Pelton, Allen Isbell, Rosa Eliades, Melissa Martin, Daucie Shefman, Shawna Reagin, Kathryn Kase, and JoAnne Musick.  And special thanks to our executive director, Christina Appelt, for her constant help.

Let us know if we have forgotten anyone or if you have additional archives we might be missing!

Another exciting issue of The Defender has hit the mail is now available online here.

Check it out and thank our writers, sponsors and leaders for their continued work to benefit the organization.  This issue includes key pieces by Joseph Ruiz, Mark Theissen, and Justin Harris.  Additionally, Sarah Wood and David Ryan contribute with mentorship news; Tyler Flood contributes his chess corner and workflow in practice pointers.

With a short delay in timing on the Summer issue, the Fall issue is just around the corner! Look for it soon!