A very close friend of mine was arrested for Class A Assault in Denton County about a year and half ago. I am sure allot of those arrested for assault actual did it, but I can speak with clear conviction that this guy did not. Not that my opinion really matters and I am not writing this to convenience any one that he didn't either.
A very close friend of mine was arrested for Class A Assault in Denton County about a year and half ago. I am sure allot of those arrested for assault actual did it, but I can speak with clear conviction that this guy did not. Not that my opinion really matters and I am not writing this to convenience any one that he didn't either. This whole charge would have probably already been thrown out due to its lack of evidence and the circumstances involved, but because he had gotten into some trouble 12 years ago or so and was convicted they are not letting go and they are confident they can get a conviction regardless if hes guilty or not just on the grounds that "if hes been in trouble before then had to have done this"....This is the way the legal system is. There should be some sort of statue or something clearing a person from their priors being used after so many years. They in a jury trial, and the prosecutor cannot mention them, but still everyone knows about them all the same and everyone from the judge to the prosecutor has already deduced an opinion on the person. They make up their mind right from the start that he must be guilty because if the priors and he must be scum of the earth.
My friend had been going to court for the charge for close to a year and of course it was getting reset each time, and there were a few time when he need some time to find an attorney at the beginning. He originally hire and attorney out of Denton county name Randy S. Brooks. Not Brooks was known to be a decent attorney and had every represented my friend in a misdemeanor case 10 years before this so my friend thought he was a good choice for council, plus he was affordable and that was probably the most important factor. So Mr. Randy Brooks talks to the District Attorney and they mention all of his priors and make an offer to settle. Because of his priors the offer him 5 months in Denton County Jail. Now remember this is for a misdemeanor. Unfortunately my friend is a single father with 2 little girls so he does not have the luxury of taking a 5 month vacation just because an ex girl friend which was his live in girl friend at the time called the cops, had him arrested then emptyed his house out before he was able to bond out the next day.
See what has happened here is that the attorney my friend hired has not done his homework, or did not listen the his client and make all of these circumstances and facts clear to the district attorney. All the district attorney has is her statement saying the my friend assaulted her, and a picture showing the inside if her lip where is appears she bit it. She has no bruises on here, not detectable marks, no broke bones, no cuts, no scrapes, nothing at all except her saying he did it and a picture of what looks like a bit lip on the inside of her month on the bottom side. Now what Mr. Brooks told his client was that in domestic cases, or family violence cases you are not innocent until proven guilty, that the defendant has the burden of proof. Which is complete opposite of what our constitution states " innocent until proven guilty" when what it should say is " innocent until proven guilty if you kill, rob, rape, torture, stab, burn or pillage and guilty until proven innocent if you are charged with family violence" Now I am not an attorney and do not practice law, but it just seems to me that something is wrong with this entire picture.
Anyway to date my friend spent somewhere around $1000 to get bonded out the day the charge was filed against him. Then he paid an attorney by the name of Gabriel Massey to file some paper work and start the case. She has since left Denton County and now practices law in Beaumont or something. Since he left he then reatined Randy Brooks which he paid a total amount of $2500.00. I believe he paid Gabriel around $1000 to so. So at this point he has spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $4500 plus whatever money was lost due to work, and not the mention the one that called the police on him to begin with taking every single thing he owned down to his daughters beds. The total price tag on all of his furnishings, and belongs would probably be in the tens of thousands of dollars. She took everything the man owned down to his children's cloths and beds. Things that he had kept from his divorce 5 years prior to this and all the things him and his children had accumulated over this period as well. He was awarded not only the children but everything accumulated over the marriage, only to have a girl he barley new a year walk off with it all. th sad part is there was nothing he could do about because she took the time to place a restraining order on him preventing him from being able to go to the only home him and his children had at the time. he could not go to the house to so much as get a change of cloths for his girls. Not that it would have mattered because if he had, he would have found the house empty. Instead he did not know the home was empty for another week when he sent his sister there to retrieve some clothes and personal items. I assure she was hesitant to report back that when she got there the house was gutted.
