Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer : Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Jamie Spencer Law Firm : DWI, DUI, Drug Possession : Serving Georgetown, Round Rock, San Marcos, Travis, Williamson, and Hays County, Texas

Via Pete:

Concerning the actions of the officers involved in the death of Jonathan Ayers on Sept. 1, 2009, we find that the use of deadly force by Agent Billy Shane Harrison was legally justified based upon his objectively reasonable belief that such use of force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or others,” a statement signed by the grand jurors read.

“Based upon this finding, we the Grand Jury believe that the officers involved in this incident would be immune from criminal prosecution pursuant to Official Code of Georgia Annotated 16-3-24.2.

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From Ron Chapman’s new blog/website, “Federal Criminal Lawyer – Frequently Asked Questions”, comes this post titled in the form of a question, “How Can You Avoid a Minimum Mandatory Sentence in Federal Court?”:

In federal court, there are only two ways to avoid such a sentence:

1. Safety valve; and
2. Cooperation.

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Several classes of eight 3-year olds a piece, dressed as stars, shepherds, lambs, and other characters out of a nativity scene marched in through the nave, past the parents with cameras, and up to the front of the altar of the parochial Lutheran Daycare on a Wednesday morning at 11 a.m., and sang “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” and “Hark The Herald Angels Sing”.

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…I will not be moving to Laredo. [H/T: Robert W. Boyd]

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Some google searches that caught my eye:

www. austin state laws on weed.com - Quick, check GoDaddy. It may still be available. Probably not with the spaces in the URL though.

Can judge still sentence jail after acquittal? – The answer is supposed to be “No”, but that’s not always the case. (Also see federal sentencing.)

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I didn’t give the prosecutor enough credit, when I pre-guessed that his response would be “out of time”. But he did throw a procedural wrinkle at me: Municipal Court judges can’t grant a writ. From Article 11.05, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure:

Art. 11.05. By Whom Writ May Be Granted.

The Court of Criminal Appeals, the District Courts, the County Courts, or any Judge of said Courts, have power to issue the writ of habeas corpus; and it is their duty, upon proper motion, to grant the writ under the rules prescribed by law.

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Ron:

Regarding what we talked about in court the other day, my last post didn’t quite fit the bill. So I had to write another. This should do the trick.

JS

P.S. Thanks for reminding me.
 

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I’m about to go argue a writ of habeas corpus in Austin Muni Court, for a Class C No Insurance conviction from about a year and a half ago. Client attempted to pay some outstanding speeding tickets and the monies were wrongly applied to an FMFR that was pending.

When she returned a few days later with proof of insurance to get the dismissal, she was told “too late, we already convicted you when you came to the counter with money for the other ticket.” She filed a few motions for new trial – pro se – which were denied as untimely, and the case ended up in my hands after a few referrals and through UT Student Legal Services.

Should be fun. I wonder whether the prosecutor will say “Not Timely” in response to my writ. As if that applies…

[By the way, I don’t handle traffic tickets, and I make up my own mind what I’ll do pro bono, so don’t call me if you think you fall into either of those categories.]
 

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It’s me.

So says Acerbic at his anonymous blog “Jamie Spencer – Crappy DWI Defense Lawyer”. Before we get to Acerbic’s accounting of the facts, let’s review what really happened.

Five days after its first post on October 10th, I gave a shout out to the newest criminal law blog in town: D.A. Confidential. Despite the short amount of time since its debut I predicted great things would come from it, and it hasn’t disappointed.

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If, hypothetically, a prosecutor were to start a semi-regular series of posts, consisting of the same 4 or 5 questions, posed to and answered by individual criminal defense lawyers (and, of course, linking to the CDL’s blog or website), what should those questions be?

My initial thoughts… One goal would be to make the questions interesting enough that they wouldn’t all be answered the same way. And no softball questions that lend themselves to overly advertisey-answers. Probably would have to include the cocktail party question.

It could be an interesting medium to start up some of our regular conversations where they’re not always heard. I’d like to hear from anyone, CDLs to non-lawyers alike, via comment section or email. Thanks in advance.
 

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From a possession of dangerous drugs information:

[JAMIE’S CLIENT], the Defendant, on or about [SOME DATE], did then and there intentionally and knowingly possess, a dangerous drug , to wit: [Prescription Medication], a drug that federal law provides shall be dispensed by prescription and a drug which is required to bear the legend: Caution: federal law prohibits dispensing without the prescription,

AGAINST THE PEACE AND DIGNITY OF THE STATE

/s/
Assistant County Attorney of
Travis County Texas

Let’s play “What’s wrong with this charging instrument?”. And I’m deliberately not linking to the Code, because it should be obvious without even referencing the statute.
 

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Received an email today inviting me to learn (no doubt at some up front cost to me) how I could:

motivate [my] best clients to return for more business.

I wonder if the spammer knows (or cares) that I only practice criminal defense.
 

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