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The 14th Court of Appeals confronts the Smith County DA

On behalf of Patrick Kelly and Jamie Pittman, Mr. Volberding and talented appellate lawyer Jim Huggler argued their appeals to Houston's 14th Court of Appeals on March 23.

In a cramped basement room of the courthouse, packed with lawyers, family members and reporters, Smith County Asst. DA Michael West encountered Justices skeptical of the prosecutors' denials that they never knew of the exculpatory evidence withheld from Kelly's and Pittman's attorneys. The judicial panel, comprised of Chief Justice Adele Hedges, Justice John Anderson and Justice Tracy Christopher, all experienced judges, asked the uncomfortable Mr. West to explain what legal justification permitted prosecutors to tell Kelly's jurors that two juries in his co-defendants' trials assigned life sentences, allowed police and CPS to tell jurors the hearsay then learned during their investigation, and permitted prosecutors to pack the trials with other alleged offenses against children which fell outside the indictments for which the men were on trial. West and his fellow prosecutor were unable to offer the Justices any rational legal analyses.

Worse for Mr. West, he failed to check his inbox before oral arguments. Had he done so, he would have seen the Amicus brief faxed to the Court of Appeals that morning by the elected District Attorney of Wood County. Concerned that Mr. West and his boss, elected Smith Co. DA Matt Bingham, were misleading the Court of Appeals, the Wood County DA drew the unpleasant task of providing the Court of Appeals with an accurate chronology of events and internal government documents contradicting what Mr. West had been telling the Court of Appeals for more than a year. When the Chief Justice asked Mr. West to respond, he was forced to explain that he had not read Wood County's shattering brief.

The Court of Appeals will decide Patrick Kelly's and Jamie Pittman's appeals within 60 to 90 days.

For more information:

CBS 19 - Mineola Swingers' Convictions - Interview with James Volberding (Video)

CBS 19 - Mineola Swingers' Convictions - Interview with Patrick Kelly's family (Video)

CBS 19 - Smith County DA Says Show Me... (Video)

CBS 19 - Smith County DA Responds... (Video)

KETK NBC 56 - Wood County Bombshell

KETK NBC 56 Binghams Office Under Fire

KETK NBC 56 The DA Fights Back

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Tyler, TX attorney James Volberding grew up in Houston and graduated from Texas A&M University in 1984 with a degree in accounting and finance.

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