As I have said before, Montgomery County, Texas is fortunate to have Judge K. Michael Mayes on the bench. Judge Mayes was an excellent trial lawyer and is one of the highest ranking judges in the judicial poll which was recently taken by my office. Being a judge is not easy, in fact it can place your beliefs and training at odds with each other. Only a top caliber person, and then someone with extensive trial skills and qualifications should apply for the job. Unfortunately, too many times a judicial race turns into a popularity contest.

But not with Judge Mayes. In an emotionally charged case, Judge Mayes based his decision strictly on the law and his interpretation of the law. He did not try to create new law, he did not try to find a way around existing law, he merely followed the law. Isn't that what we expect from our judges?

Read about this in the Conroe Courier, here.

How can a criminal justice system stand when an accused is convicted on the basis of perjury? When an "expert" takes the stand and swears to tell the truth, and then lies about their findings to help the prosecution secure a conviction, regardless of the truth, what should a judge do? Should we all turn a blind eye and say, well he must have done something wrong?

Of course not! Our founding fathers wrote the Constitution so that trials would be fair to the ACCUSED, and not for anyone else. The only person in a court of law that has a right to a fair trial is the ACCUSED!

If criminal convictions are won through perjury, then we cannot have confidence in the system at all. Why would a prosecutor want to secure a conviction through perjury? While it may not sound so bad as long as you aren't the person being accused, what happens when it's your turn to be in the hot seat? What happens when you are falsely accused of a crime, and the prosecution is trying to convict you, no matter what the truth is and no matter whether you are in fact guilty? Think it can't happen?

Think again!

Very scary!

Thankfully, in Montgomery County we can be sure that convictions will only be obtained through a fair and neutral process where the judge follows the law - at least in one of our courts!

Montgomery County is fortunate to have Judge Mayes on the bench. A judge that is not afraid to follow the law, even if that is the unpopular thing to do.

After all, since when did doing the right thing become popular?

After a week of fielding interviews and talking about their new policy of posting the names of those accused (not yet convicted) of recently filed DWI cases, the Montgomery County DA's Office continues to post the names and accusations of those person's charged with DWI and vehicular crimes.

Without any supporting data or studies to prove their statement, the DA has said that Montgomery County has too many DWI drivers and accidents. They claim that they are not trying to embarrass anyone, but that is in fact exactly what they are doing.

As the coming weeks go by and more than half of those listed are found to be not guilty or have their cases dismissed (my average numbers), the DA has stated they will not issue a retraction or even update the site.

This begs the question, if they are not trying to embarrass people, then why not update the site when those same people are found not guilty or their case is dismissed?

Because it's easier to throw baseless allegations around than it is to seek the truth. Too many innocent people will suffer through this shameful action and eventually one of them will stand up and say, "ENOUGH!"

When that happens, expect to see the Montgomery County District Attorney's office sanctioned or sued in Federal Court for violating an innocent person's civil liberties.

Strangely, the number of arrests actually increase during periods of increased police presence. In other words, the fact that police are out looking for DWI drivers and their future funding and federal grant money is directly dependant on making arrests leads to an increased number of arrests.

This is why it is so important that an arrested person is PRESUMED to be innocent. Many times the police are unsure, but will arrest and charge someone with a crime, and claim that they will leave it up to a jury. The jury then gets the case and thinks, "Well, if the police officer arrested them, they had to be guilty." WRONG!

If the government is not FORCED to be honest, they won't. Call us if you need help keeping the government honest.

Be safe during this holiday season!