Murder, Manslaughter, and Homicide Cases

Manslaughter, Homicide, Murder Lawyer in Dallas

If you are charged with an offense involving the death of another person, only a few elite defense attorneys have the experience that you will desperately need in your defense. I have never lost any of my 20 murder trials. I also am in a unique category of lawyers who has won a murder trial as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney. If you are trying to get a “Not Guilty” in a murder trial you should have a lawyer who has actually done that before! In the last 25 years, I have also handled over 100 murders, manslaughters, and criminal negligent homicides that did not go to trial which were won at the Grand Jury, or resolved with favorable plea bargains if appropriate.

If you are charge with taking the life of another human being, the stakes do not get higher. These cases carry harsh penalties and the Government is asking for the maximum punishment. In Texas, of course, Capital Murder can be punished by death or a Capital Life sentence which is life without parole. Murder is a first-degree felony, punished by 5-99 years, or Life in prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000. You cannot get probation for Murder after being convicted. Manslaughter and Intoxication Manslaughter are second degree felonies punishable by 2-20 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. These crimes are also “aggravated offenses” which have more strict parole eligibility requirements than normal felonies. A person convicted of and aggravated offense must do 1/2 of their sentence day for day before being eligible for parole for the first time. Spending the rest of your life in prison is a possibility in many violent crimes.

Emotions run high in cases where people are killed. Even when it is unintentionally, like an Intoxication Manslaughter case, autopsy photos are gruesome and many people want you to pay. Even if you are innocent, don’t count on the Government just rolling over or being easily convinced. Some juries have a hard time putting their emotions aside. If you are innocent, I will be out to prove it and clear your name.

Many times the most important phase for fighting these types of cases is the investigative phase before indictment. In murder cases, sometimes good people kill bad people in self-defense. The law says that you are INNOCENT, but you get charged anyway. Most police and prosecutors are trying to do right, but they just get it wrong. If a defense lawyer can get the ear of the prosecutor with key information in cases like these, some cases can get “No-Billed” by the Grand Jury. Or at a minimum, this key evidence must be preserved immediately with subpoenas and witness interviews to allow its presentation at a trial that may be a year or more away. In other cases, a trial is the only possible resolution and the victim’s bad character must be exploited, but the law is complicated on getting this type of evidence before a jury.

If evidence of guilt is overwhelming (or maybe you already confessed). You will not just be defending against the conduct with which you are charged but every bad thing that you have ever done your entire life. Old convictions and bad acts that were never even criminal cases can all be brought up in the punishment phase as the Government aims at securing the biggest possible punishment.