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I’ve spent some time perusing the websites of many criminal defense lawyers and I notice a disturbing trend. Many of them are being less than honest about their “win” rates. It is not uncommon to see lawyers boast that they have won 90% of their cases. This is a great marketing tool. Many potential unsuspecting…
Naturally, when many people are seeking a criminal defense lawyer they look for the most affordable lawyer. If they call around when shopping for a lawyer they may be surprised by the disparity in prices quoted they get from lawyers for handling their case. Beware of cheap criminal defense lawyers. Here’s why. For example, to…
Troy Davis was convicted and executed for the murder of Officer Mark McPhail in Savannah, Georgia. During his trial in 1991, seven witness testified that they saw Davis shoot Officer MCPhail, and two others testified that Davis had confessed to them. After Davis was convicted he appealed his conviction and sentence, but the appellate court…
In 2011, Texas enacted a program to certify specialists in criminal appellate law. There has long been board certification in criminal law, so why is there a need for certification in Dallas criminal appellate law? Criminal Defense is Not a Criminal Appeals Many people hiring a lawyer to handle a criminal appeal do not realize…
On March 7, 2011, Clint Broden achieved another appellate victory in a Medicaid fraud/Medicare fraud case when the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided United States v. Isiwele. Mr. Isiwele was convicted at trial and retained Broden & Mickelsen to represent him on criminal appeal in federal court. Mr. Isiwele was…
We received a call the other day from a potential client. Her son was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. The woman spoke at length about the child’s credibility problems and the possible motivations that child might have to make false accusations against her son. Her son faced life in prison if convicted….
Depositions play a key part of civil cases. In only a few states are they common in criminal cases, and they are extremely rare in Federal criminal cases. However, occasionally the situation arises that a critical witness is unavailable to travel to the criminal courtroom in which the trial is being held. When this occurs…
Yesterday we found out that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted relief to our client Roderick Newton. Mr. Newton was convicted of shooting Jesus Montoya. Allegedly, he and his co-defendant Julian Williams, acted together when they robbed and killed Mr. Montoya. Julian Williams, in exchange for a plea agreement of ten years incarceration, testified…
On October 14, 2010, my client, Gayland Bradford, was scheduled for execution. I began representing Gayland about ten years ago. At that time Gayland had been tried once; had his case reversed on appeal; tried a second time; had his case affirmed on appeal; and had his state petition for a writ of habeas corpus…
We have previously blogged on Defending Child Pornography Offenses in Federal Court. As we explained, federal prosecutors are prosecuting child pornography offenses at an astounding rate both here in the Northern District of Texas and throughout the country. We also discussed the dramatic changes over the years in the federal sentencing guidelines for child pornography….