Collin County Deferred Prosecution Program — Update (1/31/11)

January 31, 2011

By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 562-7549

texasdefensefirm.com

Many changes have and are taking effect under new Criminal District Attorney Greg Willis.

Amongst those changes are changes to Collin County’s Deferred Prosecution Program.  That program was originally instituted by former District Attorney John R. Roach, Sr. and allowed youthful “offenders” the opportunity to avoid having their cases be filed formally in exchange for a less-formal probation under the supervision of the Collin County Community Supervision department (probation).

There were many complaints about how Mr. Roach’s administration ran the program.  For example, there were formal guidelines set in place that were inflexible and could be somewhat arbitrary.  For example, people were refused entry into the program because they did not reply within the narrow time frame given to them regardless of the reason.

Also, the method in which people were contacted was suspect.  First, the person would receive direct notification of the program via an unsigned letter bearing the letter-head of the probation department.  The letter would invite the offender and his/her parents to come and confess to the crime — and that they would then be considered for admission into Deferred Prosecution Program (the letters did not come from the DA’s office).  Lawyers in Texas cannot directly contact persons they know to be represented by counsel in opposing matters.

The new Collin County DA’s policy towards the Deferred Prosecution Program takes a far more common-sense approach.  It appears as though they are evaluating the program on a case-by-case basis and they are willing to review cases submitted to them for review.  It’s guesswork at this point as to how exactly the old-guidelines will play into the new decision making, but the Defense lawyer community is hopeful that the program will be more fair and available to people deserving a second chance.

Obviously, the DA’s office has to draw the line somewhere with allowing people into the Deferred Prosecution Program — which means that not everyone will get what they want.  At least everyone will be heard.  And that’s a huge change.

Ask your lawyer about the Deferred Prosecution Program in Collin County if you think it’s an option for your case or your child’s case.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For legal advice for any specific situation, you should directly consult with an attorney.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

Theft of Service

January 23, 2011

By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 369-0577

texasdefensefirm.com

Theft of service is a criminal charge where the alleged victim accuses someone of stealing services instead of actual property.  An example may include where someone hires a contractor to build something that he never intends to pay for.  Also, it is a law used by rental companies to charge people with theft if they don’t return the rented property.  It is controlled by Texas Penal Code 31.04(a) and says in relevant part:

“A person commits theft of service if, with intent to avoid payment for service that he knows is provided only for compensation:

“(1)  he intentionally or knowingly secures performance of the service by deception, threat, or false token;

“(2)  having control over the disposition of services of another to which he is not entitled, he intentionally or knowingly diverts the other’s services to his own benefit or to the benefit of another not entitled to them;

“(3)  having control of personal property under a written rental agreement, he holds the property beyond the expiration of the rental period without the effective consent of the owner of the property, thereby depriving the owner of the property of its use in further rentals; or

“(4)  he intentionally or knowingly secures the performance of the service by agreeing to provide compensation and, after the service is rendered, fails to make payment after receiving notice demanding payment.

The punishment levels for theft of service are the same as for normal theft charges.  This is to say that the level of offense is governed by the dollar amount alleged to have been stolen.

Theft of service is generally much harder to prove than a normal theft charge.  This is because there often isn’t a clear distinction between a bad business deal and fraud.  The key is the “intent” element.  The state must prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the accused planned to steal the services all along.  This can be extremely difficult because often the motive for someone not paying a bill lacks criminal culpability.

The second part of the statute in 31.04 creates presumptions that the court can use to instruct the jury that a person is presumed to have stolen in certain circumstances.  An example of this is where an accused fails to make payment within 10 days of receiving notice from the victim to make payment.  The presumption, though, is rebuttable and the jury does not have to accept it as true.

Theft of service — like theft — is a very serious charge.  Though to criminalize a deal gone bad may seem easy to deal with — you should get a lawyer regardless!

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice. For legal advice about any specific situation you should contact an attorney directly.

 

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

Two More Dallas County DNA Exonerations

January 4, 2011

By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 562-7549

texasdefensefirm.com

Dallas County is expected to exonerate the longest-serving prisoner shown to be innocent through DNA evidence this week.  Cornelius Dupree Jr., and Anthony Massingill were wrongly identified by a rape victim in 1979.  You can read about it here.

Yet again we see themes common to many of these cases.  Bad eye-witness testimony, failure to presume people innocent, and and decades of indifference.  Dallas has had the single most exonerations in America.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For specific legal advice on any matter you should contact an attorney directly.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

What You Can Expect from the New Collin County District Attorney’s Administration

January 3, 2011

By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 562-7549

texasdefensefirm.com

Greg Willis is the new Collin County District Attorney as of January 1, 2011 and he replaces the embattled John R. Roach, Sr. in that capacity.

I get asked a lot by clients what exactly that may mean for their particular case and in most circumstances the answer is probably nothing major.  That’s not to suggest that Mr. Willis’ administration will merely be a continuation of Mr. Roach’s regime… because it most certainly will not be.  But the truth remains that Mr. Willis inherits an office with probably 80% of the same prosecutors who take the same systematic approach to everyday cases such as DWI, drug possession, and theft.

The changes I predict we’ll see are broad policy changes impacting how the prosecutors manage their cases.  For instance, under Mr. Roach’s administration, the State would not allow the defense lawyer full access to the file unless the defense lawyer waived valuable rights.  Now, Collin County joins Dallas and Tarrant Counties that have an ‘open file policy’ and allow the defendant free access to the State’s file.  While the former administration believed in hiding part of it’s case to gain a strategic advantage over people accused of crime — the new administration believes that the truth is the truth and isn’t afraid to show it’s hand.

Other examples of changes we may see is doing away with some of the minimum plea offers on certain charges.  Under Mr. Roach’s administration, the prosecutor handling cases such as drug possession with intent to distribute were bound to offer a minimum of 15 years in prison.  While this makes for good politics in being tough on crime in Collin County, it resulted in many needless trials of bad cases where the accused was youthful, tangentially involved, or were “dealers” that lived at home with their parents and had little or no affiliations with real drug dealers.  While there’s been no announcement — it  is believed prosecutors will have more discretion in disposing of these types of cases.

There will likely be changes as well made to the intake procedures, grand jury procedures and deferred prosecution programs.  The impact of those changes will take time to gauge.

From the lawyers perspective, Mr. Willis changes are very welcome and long over-due.  Perhaps the biggest changes will be that the personnel changes made should eliminate the ‘circular firing squad’ which has embroiled the DA’s office which was responsible for many fruitless grand jury investigations of public officials, the indictment of Judge Suzanne Wooten and employees of the district clerk’s office.  Even the former first assistant Greg Davis was indicted in the after-math and wake of the legacy of outgoing DA’s Office.

Everyone in Collin County is ready for the dust to settle.  That should start now.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For specific legal advice on any matter you should contact an attorney directly.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

Does The Alleged Victim in an Assault Case Need a Lawyer Too?

November 16, 2010

By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 562-7549

texasdefensefirm.com

I get asked this question from time to time, so today I’ll try and answer it.

The short answer is maybe.  In virtually any assault case, the main evidence comes from the alleged victim who almost always gives a statement to police either at the scene of the arrest or at the police station.

Alleged victims are often later asked to give statement in subsequent proceedings whether it is in trial, statements to a prosecuting attorney, or by signing affidavits of non-prosecution requesting that charges be dropped.  Statements which are inconsistent with the original statement given to police can give rise to criminal liability to the victim.

Texas Penal Code 37.08 covers false reports to police officers and states in relevant part, “A person commits an offense if, with intent to deceive, he knowingly makes a false statement that is material to a criminal investigation and makes the statement to… (1)  a peace officer conducting the investigation; or (2)  any employee of a law enforcement agency that is authorized by the agency to conduct the investigation and that the actor knows is conducting the investigation.”

In a nutshell, it is possible that where an alleged victim makes a statement to law enforcement down the road in a case which reveals that they weren’t being truthful at any point of the case when dealing with police or with prosecutors… then the alleged victim themselves can have criminal exposure.

False reports to police officers are class b misdemeanors and carry a punishment of up to 180 days jail and a $2,000 fine.

Also, the attorney representing the accused in an assault cannot also give legal advice to the alleged victim.  This is because there is a very clear conflict of interest for the attorney who represents the accused’s best interests — and has no ethical or legal obligation to protect the alleged victims interests as well.

If you’re the alleged victim in an assault case or domestic violence case in Texas, you may want to seek legal counsel if you have any questions about your rights and representation if so needed.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For specific legal advice about any particular case or situation you should directly consult an attorney.

2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »