July/August 2004 VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE 1

then hearing a prosecutor call the defense lawyers despicable
for trying to save the man from an unjustified death.
For the next 12 months we all have the opportunity to work
together to make our state and its system of justice better. I
would love to see if we could all work together for the common
good. It would be a remarkable thing for all of us to point the
TCDLA barge in the same direction and move forward.
To attempt to do that, I have set our goal for the next twelve
months on the non-controversial subject of a membership drive.
Our goal will be to increase our current membership of 2500 to
a membership of 3000 strong. Our first quarterly meeting in
September in Houston will be directed at organizing a membership
drive that will begin in the month of November. We
will solicit new members the old-fashioned way — by having
our current members visit in the offices of potential members
and stay there until they get a check for membership dues.
Every penny we collect in new memberships in the month of
November will be dedicated to our legislative effort beginning
in the 2005 legislative session. In January of 2005, each of our
new members will be confident that their money is being spent
in a very worthy cause — a successful legislative session for
TDCLA and the citizens of our great state. We hope to report
a successful membership drive at our quarterly meeting in
Austin, where we will have a great Christmas party and seminar
jointly hosted by TCDLA and the Austin Criminal Defense
Lawyers Association. Our spring meeting will be conducted
at the Ballpark in Arlington, to coincide with the opening of
the Texas Ranger baseball season. We are currently planning
a DWI seminar with the nation’s very brightest and best DWI
lawyers. At our annual meeting next June, we hope to report
that we have increased membership for TCDLA, concluded a
successful legislative session, and most importantly, protected
the rights of our citizens for years to come.
I can think of nothing I would rather do than spend my time
with criminal defense lawyers. To feel the victory and the pain,
to drink whiskey and cry over the battles we lost while fighting
valiantly. Our profession is truly a noble profession, and maybe
the most important profession in today’s day and time. If it
is not a criminal defense lawyer who applies the brakes to the
runaway train running over our citizens, then who will it be?
Who will stand up and say every time you diminish or take away
the rights of a few, you take away the rights of all of us? We can
clearly see that there are too few politicians to stand up and say
“No!” We can also see there are too few judges who will stand
up in the face of this political pressure to make sure that our
citizens’ individual rights are protected. Brothers and Sisters,
the job falls on us. I can tell you that it makes me very proud
to be the son of a criminal defense lawyer. It makes me proud
to have battled for the last 27 years for the rights of the citizen
accused. It makes me extremely proud to have the high honor
of manning the rudder of TCDLA for the next 12 months. G
July/August 2004 VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE 7