News

A client was charged with the burglary of 20 firearms from a pawn shop, as well as other serious crimes, including the theft of explosives from a commercial site.  Our Texas criminal defense law firm was able to reduce his prison sentence to a more reasonable level by cooperating with authorities and arranging for the return of some of the explosives.

In June 2011, following lengthy negotiations, the attorneys for Dennis Pittman, Shantell Mayo, Jamie Pittman, Patrick Kelly, Rebecca Pittman, Jimmie and Sheila Sones reached an agreement with Matt Bingham, the Smith County District Attorney.  The terms of the agreement required each defendant to sign an affidavit and admit in court that he or she had harmed the children. In return, the District Attorney allowed to the defendants to plead to a charge of injury of a child with a sentence of time served.  This agreement allowed the defendants to be released and does not require them to register as sex offenders.

Jamie Pittman, Patrick Kelly, Rebecca Pittman, Jimmie and Sheila Sones were released in June 2011.  Shantell Mayo was released in November 2011.  Dennis Pittman remains in prison, serving his life sentence, while awaiting the outcome of his appeal before the Tyler Court of Appeals.  

The release of Mr. Pittman will put an end to these regrettable cases. 

For those who might think that because the six individuals signed statements admitting to having caused injury to a child, consider their alternative.  Each of them faced retrial before the same judge, the Hon. Jack Skeen, Jr.  Each were forced to anticipate that Judge Skeen would continue to apply his own special "ad hoc rules," which the Houston Court of Appeals criticized as designed to help prosecutors secure convictions.  Each faced the same prosecutor, Matt Bingham, determined to convict each one of them, evidence of their innocence notwithstanding.  Each faced a certain conviction and life sentence from juries in a county saturated by local TV and newspaper coverage.  Three of the individuals had been caged in the Smith County Jail for four years without trial, and faced possibly years more before receiving one.  All six individuals realized that their appeals would not return to the Houston Court of Appeals, but would instead go to the Tyler Court of Appeals, which the local prosecutors love because the court so rarely reverses their cases.  The six individuals, therefore, realized that they faced a choice between: (1) going to trial on principal with near certainty that they would end their lives in a maximum security unit, or (2) signing their names to a two-page statement and walking out of jail and prison to the waiting arms of the families, as free men and women.  They correctly chose their freedom.

A car accident caused serious injuries to our client.  An inattentive driver rear-ended another car and turned sideways in the road.  Our client, on a motorcycle, was following traffic and was struck by the inattentive driver’s car.  Our client lost control of his motorcycle and crashed, resulting in serious injuries.  Mr. Volberding reached a settlement in a personal injury lawsuit for the insurance policy limits.

I ran a successful race in the 2011 Boston Marathon.  The weather was nearly perfect. At 3:27:42, my time was 22 seconds slower than my race in 2010, but I still qualify for the 2012 Marathon. As always, the Boston fans and race volunteers were wonderful.  I hope to see them again next year.

My next races are the 2011 Hotter than Hell 100 mile bicycle ride in Wichita Falls, Texas; the Tyler Marathon; the Dallas Marathon; the 2012 Houston Marathon; and, hopefully, the 2012 Boston Marathon.