Robbery

July 23, 2010

By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

Our mind’s eye tends to think of a typical robbery as a person holding up a bank or a convenience station with a gun and asking for all the loot.  In reality, the Texas robbery statute is far thinner and believe it or not, some robbery cases can be extremely difficult cases for the prosecution.

Texas Penal Code Section 29.02 governs robbery and under subsection (a), robber is committed where, “…in the course of committing theft as defined in Chapter 31 and with the itent to obtain or maintain control of the property, he; (1) intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; or (2) intentionally or knowingly threatens or places another in fear of imminent bodily injury or death.

One main reason why these cases present difficulties to the State is that there is no requirement under the law that the robbery be pre-meditated.  In other words, it is a common scenario for a “robber” to be someone that in the course of simple shoplifting gets into an altercation with a shop-owner.  So a person who merely intended to shoplift property from a store can walk-out being saddled with a robbery charge!  These present the prosecution with headaches because jurors think robbery charges in those circumstances may be a bit harsh.

Aggravated Robbery is committed under Penal Code Section 29.03 and differs from a simple robbery because the victim suffers serious bodily injury or the defendant “use or exhibits” a deadly weapon.

Robbery is a 2nd Degree felony punishable between 2 and 20 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000; and aggravated robbery is a first-degree felony and is punishable between 5 and 99 years of prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000.

Punishment in these types of cases are often the greatest battles.  The Collin County District Attorney’s Office, for example, has policies which do not allow prosecutors to plea negotiate very much and have harsh prison recommendation for first-time defendants.

Getting a lawyer on a robbery case is important for both guilt-innocence and punishment phases of a trial.  Having a trial lawyer that knows how to show you as a human to the jury is critical.

*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 you should consult an attorney.

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Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

Interference With Child Custody

July 18, 2010

By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

As most people know, divorces may unfortunately turn very nasty. On occasion there are collateral criminal problems which can arise from a party’s conduct either prior to or after the court makes custody determinations for the children. While the blame may often seem trumped-up or baseless — being accused of interference with child custody is as serious as a heart attack because it’s a felony accusation in Texas. Also –as with any criminal prosecution –it is important to remember that the charges are no longer between you and your divorcing spouse; it’s between you and the State of Texas.

Texas Penal Code Section 25.03 is titled “Interference With Child Custody,” and that section reads accordingly:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person takes or retains a child younger than 18 years when the person:

(1) knows that the person’s taking or retention violates the express terms of a judgment or order, including a temporary order, of a court disposing of the child’s custody; or

(2) has not been awarded custody of the child by a court of competent jurisdiction, knows that a suit for divorce or a civil suit or application for habeas corpus to dispose of the child’s custody has been filed, and takes the child out of the geographic area of the counties composing the judicial district if the court is a district court or the county if the court is a statutory county court, without the permission of the court and with the intent to deprive the court of authority over the child.

(b) A noncustodial parent commits an offense if, with the intent to interfere with the lawful custody of a child younger than 18 years, the noncustodial parent knowingly entices or persuades the child to leave the custody of the custodial parent, guardian, or person standing in the stead of the custodial parent or guardian of the child.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(2) that the actor returned the child to the geographic area of the counties composing the judicial district if the court is a district court or the county if the court is a statutory county court, within three days after the date of the commission of the offense.

(d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.

The legal and factual scenarios and defenses are seemingly endless. Take, just as one example, a case prosecuted under 25.03(a)(1)… A prosecution under that section would probably include a complete order from the Divorce Judge which may or may not be written clearly enough to provide a party with sufficient guidance as to what is or is not permitted for times of custody (at least in the context of criminal liability.)

Also, Section (C) provides what is known as a “safe harbor,” where the offense was committed under 25.03(a)(2)… Which is to say that if the violating person returns the child within 3 days to the area or county controlled by the Court they have a defense to prosecution. This is to facilitate the return of children and to a lesser degree (I suspect) because the criminal justice system has a some biases against getting involved in the micromanagement of custody disputes and orders.

If you are being accused of interference with a child custody order, you should involve competent and qualified criminal representation at once. It’s not something to fool with.

*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 consult an attorney directly.

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Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

People Giving Legal Advice — That Shouldn’t Be Giving Legal Advice

July 10, 2010

By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

As even keel as I try to be — nothing gets under my skin more than people giving legal advice that have no business giving legal advice in criminal cases.  Everyone has opinions, their own experiences, and what they believe to be common sense — but I’m not really even talking about that type of stuff.

The “legal advice” I’m talking about is when the very same police officer that arrests you for DWI — also tells you that you need to just talk with the prosecutor to see if you can get a good deal… or when court staff or personnel tell you it might be easier to just talk with the prosecutor rather than get a lawyer… or when a bail bondsman tells you that your case is hopeless and hiring a lawyer is a waste of money.

It unnerves me because these are people that carry a marginal amount of credibility — and because of that people tend to listen to their generally uninformed, narrow, and incomplete analysis of a particular situation — whether it’s drugs, theft, assault or DUI.  Now, in defense of these people — they are probably well meaning in their intentions.  It’s just extremely reckless.  You wouldn’t operate on yourself because they guy at the front desk in the hospital thinks it’s a good idea… and you shouldn’t take legal advice from anyone in the justice system except YOUR lawyer.

Maybe I also get upset because unlike the police officer, court staffer, or any other various know-it-all, I spent many nights in law school up until 1 or 2 a.m. studying about the layer after layer of the law and our legal system.  Unlike them, I’ve spent my entire career since law school dealing with people and learning that their personal situations also have layer after layer.  And unlike them, I get to hand a 42 year-old single mother kleenex across my conference room table when she can’t get a job from a conviction 17 years before when some know-it-all in a position of semi-trust told her she didn’t need a lawyer.

Being a lawyer is a hard job.  Doctors manage imperfect variables which involve the human body.  Lawyers manage imperfect variables which is how the humans which comprise our system of justice will treat any given scenario.  Lawyers are bound by very rigid rules of ethics which make clear that no lawyer can ever guarantee you any result — due in large part to how imperfect and how complicated legal matters can be.

Most police officers, court personnel, and various other people that tend to come into close contact with those accused of a crime are very respectful of the complexity of legal issues and of the Attorney/ Client Privilege and thus are properly deferential.  Other know-it-all’s, though are loaded with bad advice that is only based on their past experiences and training — and none of it is from YOUR perspective or from the perspective of someone that’s dealt with these situations from start to finish.

I’m sure there’s a possibility that some of the things they say might be right 40, 50, or even 60% of the time… And I don’t know about you — but my personal experience is that having 40, 50, or 60% of the right information is a great way to make a very bad and uninformed choice.

*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 directly consult an attorney.

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Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

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