Houston, TX Attorneys, Lawyers and Law Firms

The bail application of Conrad Barret, who is charged with a hate crime, was denied, something that Barret's lawyer said they have been expecting.

Houston criminal attorney George Parnham said that according to the judge, his 27-year-old client might avoid a criminal conviction. He also poses as a danger to the public.

Barret was charged after he attacked an old, black man; filmed the act and showed it to someone, who turned out to be an arson investigator.

Barrett is looking at more than a 10-year prison term and a fine of more than $200,000 should he get convicted.

Lonnie Jones Jr. will be imprisoned for 40 years after a jury convicted him for hitting his girlfriend several times in the face when she refused to hand him money for drugs.

Willis Smith, a defense attorney with an office in Houston, asked for the minimum—a 25-year sentence for Jones but the judge thought otherwise.

Jones was eligible to be sentenced to life imprisonment because of his previous convictions which also included assault.

Brett Ligon, the district attorney, said that the sentence has made the community a safer place as Jones has been violently violating the laws of Texas.

Franceso Colorado Cessa, convicted of laundering money for the Zetas, is facing new charges for trying to bribe the judge who had sentenced him.

Charged along with Cessa are his son, Francisco Colorado Cessa Jr. and Ramon Segura Flores, his associate in the business.

The three allegedly conspired to hand more than a million dollars in an attempt for Judge Sam Sparks to give Cessa a lesser sentence.

Just hours before the bribery charges were filed, Sparks had handed Cessa the maximum prison term for laundering money for the drug cartel, which had him buying and selling racehorses.

Mike DeGeurin, a defense attorney from Houston who is representing the three, did not comment regarding the bribery charges.

The three accused have yet to enter a plea.

A life in prison will be the next step for Mona Nelson who was convicted of abducting and murdering Jonathan Foster, 12, a day before Christmas in 2010.

Foster's body was found in a burned state, enfolded by a carpet and dumped on a ditch.

Nelson admitted having emptied the contents of a thrash can on the ditch but that she had not known that it had also contained Foster's remains.

According to Allen Tanner, Houston defense attorney, Nelson had told the judge she was innocent after the verdict was read.

The prosecutors took no chances in building a solid case against Nelson but they stop short of asking for a death penalty.

Aisling Brady McCarthy, a nanny from Ireland, will have to await her murder trial in jail after she was denied bail.

McCarthy is accused of the death of Remah Sabir, a one-year-old girl who had suffered a head trauma while under her care. She was brought in to the hospital and died two days later.

However, McCarthy may get a reprieve after the judge got frustrated with the prosecutors' delay in handing over medical proof which could prove critical for her defense.

David Meier, a criminal attorney in Boston defending for McCarthy, said that the evidence they were asking for is necessary to the case.

McCarthy's defense said they are not ready to go to trial in April because of the delay.

A plea deal had Richard Aquilone pleading to lesser charges and getting just a probation for the death of Jijo Puthuvamkunnath.

Puthuvamkunnath was to be married in a few weeks but he never got to tie the knot as he got killed when a drunk Aquilone rammed his boat with his yacht.

The impact was so great that Puthuvamkunnath's boat was split in two.

Aside from the probation, Aquilone will also be made to serve the community for 250 hours.

Marc Agnifilo, New York criminal attorney defending for Aquilone, said his client has expressed regret for the loss that he has caused the Puthuvamkunnaths.

William Walker was handed a minimum of 24 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison after admitting to rape charges.

Walker submitted a guilty plea to allegations that he raped four women who are disabled in a span of 12 days in 2012.

The judge said Walker is a danger to society and rehabilitating him may not help.

Philadelphia criminal defense lawyer Catherine Berryman said Walker was abused while growing up.

Larry Brinkin, who used to work for the Human Rights Commission of San Francisco, entered into a plea deal agreement on his child pornography charges.

The plea deal saw a second charge of child pornography distribution dropped against the 67-year-old Brinkin.

Under the plea deal, Brinkin will spend six months behind bars and another six months of house arrest. Afterwhich, he will undergo probation for four years.

Brinkin, who is a staunch supporter of the LGBT advocacy, will also be entered in the list of sexual offender and is ordered to go through therapy.

Randall Knox, an attorney in San Francisco, said that Brinkin has been deeply sorry for what he has done and has fully understood the damage that child pornography can inflict on victims.

Theft charges against Subhanna Beyah were dropped after her victim, New York Giants' Shaun Rogers, refused to cooperate with the authorities.

Jonathan Meltz, Beyah's lawyer in Miami, could not be contacted to comment on the issue.

Miami prosecutors believed that Beyah did to Rogers what she did to two other men, wherein she drugged them before stealing their valuables.

According to the police, Rogers had met Beyah at the nightclub of the hotel where he was staying.

Together with another couple, they had gone up to his room where he went to sleep while the others were partying. Before he went to sleep, he put his jewelry inside a safe in the room. When he woke up, Beyah was already gone and so was his jewelry worth almost $500,000.

Rogers had told the prosecution that he was not willing to cooperate during the one time he spoke with them.

Despite the failure of the theft charges to prosper, the prosecution instead will go ahead with charging Beyah for violating her probation wherein she is looking at a 20-year prison sentence if convicted.