Skip to main content

Modern Day Hero: Judge Julia Hayes

In the hustle and bustle of life often great deeds go unmentioned, particularly at the courthouse. It is uplifting and inspiring to hear and share stories of heroic deeds that all too often go unnoticed and deserve mention. Two Fridays ago on March 2, 2012 I popped into Dallas County Criminal Court no.2 to say Hi to the judge & report on the status of an upcoming trial when I witnessed her in the middle of busting a plea. A skinny 17 year old African American high school kid in his orange jail jumpersuit handcuffed behind his back was addressing the judge from behind the counsel table. With her quick wit, she quickly sized up the kid and asked him when he was going to graduate. He meekly stated “in the summer.” She asked him what his criminal trespass case was. He replied that he got caught playing basketball after allowed hours and was warned before not to play past dark (per the apt rules). She asked why he had a theft charge. He explained that he took the school drum home (the one assigned to him in band) to practice that night and was going to bring it back the next day and never had a chance to explain that to anyone at the school. She asked him who lived at home with him (a single mom) and wanted to know what level of supervision there was (practically none). His court appointed lawyer had already had him sign the plea papers for credit for time served (he had been in jail for 2 weeks with no money to bond out) which would have been a quick fix but a lifetime of job rejection due to a theft conviction (crime of moral turpitude) on his permanent record. She busted the plea and gave him deferred probations as the kid had no record and told him if he straightened up he would have both cases dismissed and a chance at having a fair shot at life. Serious emotion overwhelmed me as I witnessed her kindness and compassion and quick intelligence render justice to a situation that otherwise would have ruined the young kid’s life forever. Young people make mistakes. Their frontal lobes are not fully developed until they are 21. Young kids make stupid decisions, that’s why Tarrant County has a dismissal DPP program for kids under 21 that commit similar offenses. Although it appeared no one in the school, or even his mom cared, Julia stepped in and gave the kid a chance. That kid will probably spend the rest of his life thinking about how she addressed him, cared and placed confidence and hope in him. Judge Julia Hayes is a modern day hero. Dallas County is blessed to have such a smart, great judge who truly makes the world a better place.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can A DWI Affect My Eligibility For Global Entry?

In general, all United States citizens and lawful permanent residents possess eligibility to apply for Global Entry. This is a program through Customs and Border Protection that allows for expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. That said, Customs my deny eligibility for a variety of reasons such as providing false information on the application and a finding of customs violation for *any* country (not just US Customs violations). However, there are 3 important reasons related to criminal defense that everyone should know. First, Customs may deny eligibility if you have been denied for the purchase of a firearm. This restriction is important because firearm restrictions may, on occasion, be a condition of a criminal charge, even if the charge is dismissed. Further, a denial of a firearm purchase may show Customs that you are not a “low-risk” traveler based on the reason for denial. Second, Customs may deny eligibility if you are the subject of an *ongoing investiga...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Biggest Misconception in a DWI

The biggest misconception in a DWI is to correlate a single bad driving behavior with guilt in a DWI. Whether it be a jerk (failure to maintain a single lane), accident (losing control and hitting something like a curb, pole, or another car), or stopping too long at a stop light, this may very well be evidence of driver inattention unrelated to intoxication. I have analyzed thousands of DWI cases and have tried over 300. What I typically find is a prosecutor who argues that the driving behavior which so often happens due to driver inattention be argued as clear evidence that a person is intoxicated. This is simply not fact. The facts are that every day drivers commit these violations due to distraction, inattention, fatigue or a host of other factors. Accidents are so common that the law mandates a driver operate a motor vehicle on our public roads with liability insurance. The mere fact that a driver commits these with alcohol or a substance (medication, drugs, caffeine, etc.) in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Common Sense

Arthur Anderson goes down. Enron goes down. Big CEOs in jail. The nation woke up one day and said enough is enough. Don't tell us that just because you hire the best accounting firm you can create your own tax breaks by creating sham companies; just because the SEC in the past has winked at insider trading we are going to continue to allow the big CEOs to get rich because they know when to trade or sell (even going after small trades like the Martha Stewart case). Whether or not all those involved in the crackdown were deserving (in the Anderson case apparently one nose bleed CPA type brought the whole firm down due to bad ethics) I cannot say but what it obvious is that the press through the nation got the legislators and judges concerned and the rest is history. The same needs to happen for DWI. Bad ass lawyers have a job to do but we don't serve as the press. Some of the 1.4 million DWI arrestees (this statistic in contrast to NHTSAs approx. 17k alcohol related deaths) need ...
2 comments
Read more