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OCTOBER D87 - Voice For The Defense Online

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CLE: Last month this space was devotedto the Criminal <strong>Defense</strong> Lawyers Project,TCDLA's funded CLE program. As thiscolumn was being written, the Governor'sCrlminal Justice Division notified us thatwe received funding for fiscal year 1988in the amount of $153,906. <strong>The</strong> continuinglegal education continues for anotheryear.CDLP's entire course schedule will bepublished in the <strong>Voice</strong> on a regular basis,but the next three courses are as follows:state law practice skills courses in SanAntonio, October 15-16; in Odessa, November19-20 and a trial advocacy institutedevoted entirely to jury selection onDecember 10, I1 and 12 in Austin. <strong>The</strong>San Antonio skills course will be followedby CDLP and TCDLA executive committeemeetings and a TCDLA Board of Directors'meeting on Saturday, the 17th;course and meetings will be at the FourSeasons Hotel. Plan to attend the courseand the board meeting. All members ofTCDLA are welcome and encouraged toattend the Board of Directors' meeting.Right Stuff: <strong>For</strong> the past few years JackZimnlermann and Jim Lavine, Zimmermann& Lavine, P.C., have defeuded afactually innocent capital murder defendantin Oklahoma, who was originally defendedby an Oklahoma lawyer, found guilty andseutenced to death. Zinunermann's applicationfor writ of habeas corpus wasgranted in Federal District Court and thecase went up through the federal courts tothe US. Supreme Court and hack to theOklahoma courts with the defendant beingstyled as "appellee"; an unusual if notunique situation in a capital murder case.On July 30, 1987 the Oklahonla CountyDistrict Attorney moved to dismiss thecharge and recall the warrant. Althoughthe dismissal was without prejudice, itseems unlikely that the state of Oklahomaw~ll be able to bring the case again, in factthe Oklahoma County District Attorney'soffice probably hopes they've seen the lastof Jack Zimmermann and Jim Lavine.Good lawyering.Meantime, Gerry Goldstein and RalphLopez have had some success of their ownin obtaining an acquittal in a murder casein August; details next month.and Around Texasby John BostonRecently, Dain Whitworth wrote aresponse to an editorial in the GalvestonDaily News, which was entitled, "Justicedenied in an Appeals Court Ruling?"(Saturday, August 15, 1987 edition). Ms.Betsy Webber, business editor of theDaily News wrote, commenting on the reversalof David Port's conviction obtainedby Jack Zimmermann, " . . . once more, itseems justice has been denied to protect therights of a confessed killer." Dain Whitworthwrote some worthwhile responsesto Ms. Webber's, and a condensed andedited version follows: <strong>The</strong> court reverseda case involving a confessed killer to protectthe rights of all Americans, includingMs. Webber, the innocent as well as theguilty. Our system has rules to protect innocentpeople from abuses by governmentagents, and to insure compliance withthose rules, the courts reverse cases whenone, or more, of those rules is violated.Without reversals there Would be no incentivefor government agents to comply withthe rules. Countries without such rules, orwhere the rules are not, or were not, enforcedwere, and are, Nazi Germany,Facist Italy; currently U.S.S.R., Iran, andother totalitarian or authoritarian nations.<strong>The</strong> real meaning, then, of a reversal isthat the police or prosecutor did not act inaccordance with the rules and the law.With a few exceptions, the accused can betried again. If we adopt the attitude thatviolations of the rules are mere technicalitieswhich should be disregarded, wegive up the protection of the rules whichare what guarantee our individual libertiesand distinguishes our government fromothers. Only a small percentage of casesare reversed w~th the defendant set free,so when we are confronted with a reversal,we should view it as a necessary elementof individual freedom.Might Stuff: Recently, a non-lawyerfriend of mine asked my opinion of Lt.Col. Oliver North. My friend was awarethat I am, and have been for some years,a Marine reserve officer and spent time onactiveduty as well. To his surprise, I think,I was somewhat negative about Lt. Col.North's role in Iran-Contra affair, but I hadtrouble articulating why I don't like FawnHall's former boss; except, I said some-thing about making the military look worsethan it deserves and that he appeared to bea "loosecannoo" in the National SecurityCouncil. But since that conversation, I'vethought about the problems officials likeOllie North and John Poindexter create,listened to radio and TV commentators,read a few articles on the subject and arrivedat the conclusion that Lt. Col. Northis subversive, not "a subversive", as anoun, but as an adjective. <strong>The</strong> reason isthat he and his ilk; Poindexter, Secord, elal; subvert the purposes of the US. Constitutionby their actions in obtaining questionablefunding for the Contras. <strong>The</strong> Presidentand his administration have the powerof the sword, the Congress has the powerof the purse, thus-checks and balances.When members of the administration raisefunds from private and foreign sources tocarry out a foreign policy that Congresshas refused to fund, those administrationofficials subvert the checks and balancesbuilt into our constitutional form government.Ollie North for private-citizen.Appointed Colmsel: During the regularsession, the Texas Legislature passedSenate Bill 1108 which added Article1.05 1, Right to Representation by Counsel,and amended Chapter 26, Arraignment,of the Code of Criminal Procedure.Specifically, Article 26.04 now provides,inter alia, that the appointed lawyer shallrepresent the defendant until charges aredismissed, the defendant is acquitted, appealsare exhausted or the lawyer is relievedby the court or replaced by anotherlawyer. Article 26.05 now provides, interalia, that non-public defender appointedcounsel shall be reimbursed for reasonableexpenses approved by the court for investigationand expert testimony and shallbe paid a reasonable fee for in courtrepresentation of the defendant and someout-of-court preparation with documentationwhen required by the court. Appellatebriefs to the Courts of Appeals or the Courtof Criminal Appeals are now covered. <strong>The</strong>new provisions of Chapter 26 impose a requirementthat the county and districtjudges in each county and the administrativejudge in counties with only one criminaljurisdiction judge adopt a fee scheduleby formal action. <strong>The</strong> fee schedules must38 VOICE for the <strong>Defense</strong> I October 1987

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