Appeal Filed for 60-Year-Old Client Sentenced to 30 Years for Minor Violations

Four months after a 60-year-old man, Curtis Cook, was placed on felony probation in Henderson County, Texas for sexually assaulting a young girl, state prosecutors sought to revoke his probation, alleging that he committed minor sex offender registration violations.

The District Court revoked his probation and sentenced him to 30 years in prison, effectively a life sentence.

On January 4, 2010, Tyler criminal defense attorney James W. Volberding filed a 50-page brief in the Tyler Court of Appeals asserting that the court revoked Mr. Cook’s probation based on inadmissible information, some of which the court received outside the trial process.

Mr. Volberding’s brief challenges the court’s revocation of Mr. Cook’s probation and seeks to have his client placed back on probation. The Tyler Court of Appeals ruled against the client.  Mr. Volberding filed a motion for rehearing, which is currently pending.