Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association

  • Home
    • COVID-19 Court Updates
    • Local Court Information
    • Criminal Law Jobs
  • COVID-19 Court Info
  • Membership
    • HCCLA Membership
    • Mentorships
  • About HCCLA
    • Officers & Directors
    • Member Directory
    • Mentorships
    • In Memoriam
    • Bylaws
  • Media
    • Press Releases
    • The Defender
    • Reasonable Doubt 2021
  • Events & Seminars
    • Event Calendar
    • HCCLA Annual Banquet & Awards
    • Pozner on Cross
    • Declaration of Independence Readings
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Member Login

Will the Harris County District Attorney Accept Responsibility?

July 18, 2015 3 Comments

Our clients have problems.

Despite their denial, the Harris County District Attorney has problems as well.

They want our clients to accept responsibility. Will they as well?

In yet another instance, injustice and an appearance of impropriety permeates the Office of District Attorney for Harris County. Apparently, it seems the prosecutor and the bailiff engaged in a series of conversations and text messages about the jury. The importance of this is two-fold: (1) the bailiff, a Harris County Deputy Sheriff, is an officer and arm of the court who is the only person authorized to speak with jurors and (2) the prosecutor is an officer of the court who is forbidden from talking to the jurors. Granted, the prosecutor did not engage in direct communications with the jurors; however, she did attempt to communicate through the bailiff.

She texted the bailiff saying she wished she knew what the jury was thinking. The bailiff responded saying he would find out. THAT IS INAPPROPRIATE. There is no way to spin this so that any part of that conversation was proper and within the rules that require the court (via his bailiff) and the parties (via the prosecutor) to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

So what’s the big deal? Well, the thing is this is just one of many instances – all seemingly small – which cast doubt on the ability to have a fair trial in Harris County.

When will Devon Anderson accept responsibility? She didn’t in her response to our request about Dan Rizzo and the Alfred Brown case. She didn’t in an inquiry about prosecutor’s Connie Spence and Craig Goodhart threatening witnesses. She hasn’t in her media responses to the Kelly Siegler findings of prosecutorial misconduct. And, she hasn’t here. What will it take?

 

Filed Under: appearance of impropriety, honor, justice, police, politics, prosecutors, Public Trust Tagged With: alfred dwayne brown, appearance of impropriety, bailiff, cell phone, criminal defense, Criminal Justice, Dan Rizzo, devon anderson, district attorney, fair trial, fundamental fairness, harris county, Harris County District Attorney, harris county sheriff, hccla, honor, Improper Conduct, justice, kelly siegler, lawyers, perception, prosecutorial misconduct, prosecutors

Practice Pointer: Eyewitness Effects

June 9, 2015 Leave a Comment

By Mark Bennett

Scientific research and practical experience have shown that eyewitness testimony is often unreliable and a leading factor in wrongful convictions. Still, jurors tend to put a great deal of faith in the testimony of an eyewitness.

Eyewitness testimony can go bad because of bias, because of flawed memory, or because of flawed perception. We all think that we see things correctly and remember them accurately. The Internet recently gave us a tool to demonstrate to jurors that we are our perception of very simple things, such as the color of a dress, can be mistaken.

dress

Some people see the dress in this picture as blue and black. Some see it as white and gold. Put the image up on the screen (test it first to make sure that the effect works on the courthouse equipment) and your jurors will disagree on what color it is. (An informal Buzzfeed poll found that 70% of people saw it as white and gold, rather than blue and black. I got about the same results at home.)

Use this to demonstrate that people of good faith, with no biases, can perceive things wrong and believe beyond any doubt that they are correct. Also use it to make the point that how sure we are about things is not a reflection about how correct we are: those who are 100% sure that the dress is white and gold are 100% wrong.

Filed Under: Defender, practice pointers Tagged With: criminal defense, dress, eyewitness, lawyers, perception, practice pointer, trial technique, voir dire

Helpful Links & Resources

  • HCCLA Annual Banquet 2022
  • COVID-19 Court Updates
    • Court Policies
    • Center for Disease Control (CDC)
  • ePLEA: How-To Guide
  • HCCLA Ethics Hotline 713.518.1738
Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association (HCCLA)

Important Links

  • Bylaws
  • HCCLA Membership
  • Join HCCLA
  • Media
  • HCCLA Blog
  • Pozner on Cross

Upcoming Events

  • Todd Dupont Crawfish Boil & HCCLA Membership Drive
    Sat May 21 2022
  • MEMORIAL DAY: COURTS CLOSED
    Mon May 30 2022
  • JUNETEENTH: COURTS CLOSED
    Mon Jun 20 2022

Contact Us

Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association
P.O. Box 924523
Houston, TX 77292-4523
(713) 227-2404

    

Copyright © 2022 · Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. The HCCLA logo is a registered trademark.