Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Reports That a Wrongfully Convicted Man is Finally Free After a Lengthy yet Eventually Successful Appeal

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Justice is not always swift. Sometimes the road to victory is long and treacherous, and for people who get wrongfully convicted and sent to death row, the success of their appeals can make the difference between life and death. A death row inmate finally got freed after a lengthy appeal revealed that the prosecutor withheld evidence during his trial and, while under oath, denied having information that supported the defendant’s alibi.

Alfred Dewayne Brown, along with two others, got convicted of killing a police officer and a clerk during a 2003 robbery at a check cashing store. Throughout his trial and subsequent incarceration on death row, Brown maintained his innocence and said that there are phone records which could prove that he was at home at the time that the robbery and murders happened.

The phone records that Brown said would support his alibi show that he had called his girlfriend from his home at the time that the crimes were in progress. The records got found in 2013 by a detective who was searching Brown’s home. They were in his garage. After the records got found, a court overturned Brown’s conviction, and prosecutors chose not to bring the case back to trial.

In 2008, Dan Rizzo said under oath that he didn’t withhold information that could have aided Alfred Dewayne Brown’s defense. The prosecutor claims that not mentioning that the phone records got found was a mistake, that the failure to disclose the records was unintentional. However, that assertion and how sworn statement directly contradicts a recently recovered email that just got released by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. The email shows that in 2003, before Brown’s trial, the prosecutor got told about phone records that could have been used to support Brown’s defense. The prosecutor never told Brown’s defense attorney about the phone records, despite the “Brady Rule” that requires that any materials that could possibly exculpate a defendant get provided to that defendant’s attorneys by the prosecution.

Alfred Dewayne Brown is now free, and in light of what had happened in his case, there is an effort underway to examine the prosecutor’s conduct in other cases, some of which resulted in convictions just as serious as Brown’s capital murder conviction. The cases that will get reviewed are cases in which the defense alleges violations of the Brady rule. It has not yet gotten decided how many cases could potentially get affected by the review.

Unfortunately, the statute of limitations for a possible perjury case against Rizzo has already run. It is still possible that he could face disciplinary action, but it is uncertain what result that would have because he is retired. Brown had been pursuing a civil suit against Harris County for compensation for the ten years that he spent wrongfully incarcerated on death row. The state rejected his request for compensation, saying that it cannot pay him since he has not been declared innocent. It is unclear whether Brown or anyone else will continue to pursue compensation.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – An Ally for Texas Defendants

If you recently got charged with a crime, know you do not have to fight your Texas criminal charges alone. A Texas Criminal Defense Attorney can walk with you through your criminal case towards a successful resolution. Call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499, or fill out a contact form on our website.

 

Texas Family Law Attorney Shares Three Tips for Preserving Your Financial Security During Your Divorce

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Divorce can be costly for both spouses. Even couples who were doing relatively well financially can come out on the other side of their divorce bankrupt, or uncomfortably close to it. Fortunately, you can do things during your divorce that can protect your financial security.

Hiring a divorce attorney might seem like a counterintuitive move when you’re aiming to reduce the cost of your divorce, but it is one of the most financially sensible things that you can do. Your Texas divorce attorney understands how all things financial work in divorce cases, and they can help you understand the potential cost of just about every decision that you’ll have to make during your divorce, so you can avoid making costly mistakes. That knowledge alone is worth the investment, but there’s more. Individuals who get represented by attorneys in their divorce cases have a higher likelihood of settling their divorce by agreement rather than by trial. When spouses settle a divorce, each of them is likely to be more satisfied with the result than they would be if their case went to trial and a judge decided the outcome.

Another mistake that some people make, whether they get represented by an attorney or not, is supplying incomplete or incorrect financial information. When you divorce, all of your financial information must be made available to your attorney, your spouse’s attorney, and the court. If you purposefully or accidentally withhold information about anything, the court might penalize you.

Having unreasonable or unrealistic expectations is a third mistake that could cost you in your Texas divorce. Whether you are working with an attorney or representing yourself, make sure that you’re asking for a reasonable amount of the marital property, a reasonable parenting schedule, and so on. Your attorney can help you understand what types of requests and proposals are reasonable when you present them with accurate information about your marriage and family life as well as your assets and when you keep the conversation focused more on practical things than on how you are feeling (angry, betrayed, etc.) Seek support for your feelings from friends, family, or through counseling, and use your attorney’s expertise to get the details of your divorce sorted out so that you can move forward with your life. Keeping your expectations and any proposals or requests that you make during your divorce reasonable can save you money in multiple ways. Firstly, your soon to be former spouse and their attorney are more likely to accept your ideas with few modifications. Also, if the two of you can reach agreement on how to settle each element of your divorce case, then you can present your solution to the court as an uncontested divorce, which avoids the costs of litigation and results in an outcome designed by the two of you instead of by a judge.

An experienced Texas Family Law Attorney can help you work through the legal details of your divorce towards a positive result. Call (903) 753-7499, to schedule a consultation with Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra, or visit our web page anytime to submit an online contact form.