Clinton Broden Law Blog

We received a call the other day from a potential client.  Her son was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.  The woman spoke at length about the child’s credibility problems and the possible motivations that child might have to make false accusations against her son.  Her son faced life in prison if convicted.  Nevertheless, from the things I was hearing, it sound like her son could have a strong defense at trial.  Then the woman dropped the... Read More

It is difficult to say how important character letters are to judges.  Moreover, the importance of character letters differs from judge to judge and from case to case.  Nevertheless, what we generally tell our clients is that well written character letters never hurt.

We believe that letters from various sources can prove helpful, such as letters from... Read More

We have previously bogged on Defending Child Pornography Offenses in Federal Court.  As we explained, federal prosecutors are prosecuting child pornography offenses at an astounding rate both here in the Northern District of Texas and throughout the country.  We also discussed the dramatic changes over the years in the federal sentencing guidelines for child pornography guidelines.  The guidelines have gotten so ridiculous that many... Read More

         On October 13th, after five days of trial, a jury in federal court in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas returned a “not guilty” verdict for my client who had been charged with defrauding the IRS.  The client, along with his two brothers, were charged with conspiring to file false corporate tax returns.  The government alleged the tax returns were false because they claimed... Read More

There was an excellent investigative article the appeared last week in USA Today. The article is entitled “Prosecutors’ Conduct Can Tip Justice Scales”  Click here for the article.                                                ... Read More

    In state court in Texas, plea agreements almost always involve a plea to a certain sentence whether it be a particular term of probation or a particular number of days or months in jail or prison.  Like most contracts, each side knows what it is getting and what it is giving up when a defendant enters a plea agreement.


    Pleas and plea agreements in federal court are entirely different.  Indeed, unless a defendant has a skilled... Read More

President Obama recently signed legislation reducing, but not eliminating, the disparate ways in which federal criminal law penalizes those involved with crack cocaine and those involved with powder cocaine.  This becomes the second small step in an attempt to eliminate the unjust fashion in which the federal drug laws distinguish between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, but there is  still a long way to go. Following the death of University of Maryland... Read More

Since the United States Supreme Court decided  United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), judges in the federal trial courts have had discretion as to whether to impose the harsh sentences that are sometimes called for by the United States Sentencing Guidelines.  Although Booker still requires District Court judges to consider the guidelines in imposing sentences, the judges are no longer bound by the guidelines.  Put another way, the guidelines are now considered... Read More

In rare cases in federal court it is possible to make the government pay for a wrongful prosecution.  On November 26, 1997, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment which provides that if a defendant prevails in a prosecution brought in federal court and the court finds that the prosecution was “vexatious,... Read More

A potential client came to see me the other day.  The potential client was charged in federal court with possession and distribution of child pornography.  When the potential client called me to set up the appointment, it was clear that he did not have much money.  He was being represented by a Federal Public Defender (FPD) and was not working.  I do not charge for initial consultations and was happy to meet with the gentleman even though I recognized that it was... Read More