A missed loan payment, a failed business deal, a soured partnership, or a bitter divorce may start as a civil dispute. In Texas, however, the same facts that support a civil lawsuit can sometimes lead to a criminal investigation.
That …
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I’m Robert Fickman, a criminal defense attorney in Houston, Texas. Over the past [bizstart] years, I have defended many people charged with homicide, ranging from people charged with murder to people charged with manslaughter or negligent homicide.
In 2007 I won a highly publicized case involving a bus driver, State v. Cook. In this case, a school bus driver accidentally hit and killed a young girl when she got in a blind spot. He was charged with murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide at various times. After a year of fighting, we went to trial on the manslaughter charge and obtained a not-guilty verdict from the jury.
Many of the homicide cases I handle involve clients who have been charged with manslaughter or negligent homicide. The Harris County District Attorney’s office now has a section that specifically investigates deaths caused by vehicular accidents. Too often, the state takes a tragic accident and charges someone with a crime. You may find yourself in this awful situation.
The people who seem most likely to be charged with negligent or vehicular homicide as a result of an accident are commercial drivers, including truck drivers and bus drivers. Everyday drivers are also not safe from such charges.
In my opinion, to develop a strong defense, you must first recognize the realities of our criminal justice system. In my opinion, in reality, the presumption of innocence does not exist. In this country, anyone accused of a serious crime is presumed guilty by the public. You must be prepared to prove your innocence to stand a chance. As your lawyer, my job is to do my best to develop a strong defense to prove your innocence. As your lawyer, my job is to do my best to win your case by proving your innocence.
To develop a successful defense, I may hire experts to reconstruct the accident and fully evaluate how it happened. The state’s evaluation is often one-sided and incorrect. They start with the conclusion that the accused was negligent or reckless and try to make the facts fit that conclusion. As your lawyer, I will do everything in my power to keep you from being convicted of a crime for what was, in reality, an honest accident.
A missed loan payment, a failed business deal, a soured partnership, or a bitter divorce may start as a civil dispute. In Texas, however, the same facts that support a civil lawsuit can sometimes lead to a criminal investigation.
That …
When a person is charged with a federal crime in Texas, prior criminal history can become one of the most important issues in the case. A prior state conviction may affect the advisory guideline range, the defendant’s criminal history category, …
Federal identity theft and synthetic fraud cases often begin long before a person is arrested or formally charged. These investigations may grow out of data trails, financial records, device logs, account activity, IP addresses, and patterns that investigators believe connect …