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In any event, the lawyer who lost in Judge Dear’s court said to the guy who had lost in Judge Thurman’scourt—me—that he had heard that certain judges didn’t like it one bit if they got overruled on appeal and tookit out on the lawyers. Come to find that it really wasn’t true, but it really put the fear of Mace Thurman in me.Although I was mostly doing workers comp, personal injury, and family law in those days, I had a hearing comingup in about a week or so in the 147th on a motion in a west campus marijuana bust. For the life of me, I can’trecall the name of the lawyer whom I told about my fear of reprisal, but it began with a “Z” and his office was nextto Paul Holt’s, where the constable’s office is now, across the street from the old courthouse on the east side ofGuadalupe. I suspect that either he or Paul Holt then told Judge Thurman, because he began calling me “Sir” inthe courthouse hallways, although I see by his obituary that he was 18 years old than I, and he didn’t pour meout on the motion to suppress but delayed ruling. That sent a signal to the DA’s office to offer probation. They just”don’t make ’em like Mace Thurman and Tom Blackwell anymore.Dave Shapiro“I am out of the country and can’t believe that I am going to miss Judge Thurman’s funeral. I have been contemplatingmy best Judge Thurman story. In the 1970s he would routinely bust plea deals. He often said that justbecause someone hadn’t been arrested before did not guarantee them probation. He would sternly tell my clientthat he was seriously thinking of putting him in prison. Then the judge would motion to his probation officer (Ican’t remember his name) and say, if client is one minute late to a probation meeting, you file a warrant for hisarrest. Then he would make the PO stand up so the defendant knew who he was. Then just as the PO sat down,the judge would say, client if you are one minute late with any payment, Mr. PO—again the judge would say—stand up, Mr. PO—I want you to file on him. The PO spent the whole sentencing jumping up and down.He would always end his tirade with, “If you work all day and sleep all night, you stay out of my court.”Then he would point at a lawyer sitting in the courtroom and say Mr. Brandes worked two jobs to get through lawschool. Didn’t you, Mr. Brandes? (Chosen lawyer would of course nod yes.)I learned years later that if I would go into his office before court, he would tell me whether he was goingto accept the plea agreement. Then the only one sweating in the courtroom during all the above drama was myclient—and not me.”He was an amazing man and he will be missed.Betty BlackwellSeminars spon sored by CDLP are funded by a state grant administered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.34 VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE October 2009
SurvivorTrialTacticsHow to Keepthe Tribe fromBanishing Your ClientOctober 29, 2009 ComstockOctober 30, 2009 UvaldeNovember 20, 2009 GranburyDecember 11, 2009 LongviewJanuary 15, 2010 LaredoJanuary 22, 2010 TempleFebruary 12, 2010 Wichita FallsApril 9, 2010 AmarilloJuly 8–9, 2010 South Padre(dates subject to change)October 2009 VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE 35Seminars spon sored by CDLP are funded by a state grant administered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
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Page 18 and 19: college to their clients’ benefit
Page 20 and 21: The “Stealth” Life SentenceHeal
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