Keep Your Mouth Shut

Watching the nightly news I came across a story of a man accused of shooting and killing his wife. It was reported that the couple had 3 children and the victim was 7 months pregnant. The incident was shocking, sad and tragic.

The man has been charged with Capital Murder. While he was in handcuffs the defendant was asked a question by the media and responded that, "She had it coming." Not a good response.

When an accused is charged with serious violent crimes like Murder and Capital Murder, cases are usually tried on punishment. Anyone accused with a crime is innocent until proven guilty, but many of these cases are tried because punishment cannot be resolved.

The defense has to prepare mitigation evidence for the punishment phase of trial in the event that part of trial is reached. A defendant does not help himself or his defense by making these type of statements. If I and many others saw this on the news you know that the Harris County District Attorney's Office is watching and can't wait to use this at trial. The simple and easy rule is: Keep your mouth shut.

If you need a Houston, Texas criminal defense attorney contact our law firm at (713) 225-1038.

Confessions, Good for the Soul, Not Your Houston Criminal Defense

Confessing one's sins can help a person feel renewed.  However if your charged with a crime, like take for instance, Capital Murder, it might not be a good idea to make that confession in the local newspaper.

Today the Houston Chronicle ran a front page story about the confession of a teenager. It wasn't about Lindsay Lohan in a Disney movie, rather if was the portrayal of an 18 year old charged with Capital Murder for allegedly killing a classmate's mother in a murder for hire killing. A few days ago the Chronicle ran a story of another accused Capital Murderer and his details of why he allegedly bludgeoned the mother of his children to death with a crowbar. A killing he claims was justified.

Memo to those accused of crimes, the Houston Chronicle isn't your friend and will not make things better for you. Read the Sports page, comics or whatever your interest is, but don't do interviews detailing your allegedly illegal acts. It might be a great read for everyone else but it will be detrimental to your defense.