ENDANGERING A CHILD
Nos. 16-DCR-074986 & 074984
– Kelly N. & Thuan T
FORT BEND CO. DISMISSED March, 2017
Kelly and Thuan’s 11 yr old daughter was manipulative and would threaten to kill herself whenever facing punishment for acting out at school or home. In frustration they called her bluff one day by grabbing a knife and an unloaded gun & telling her – “Here’s how you can do it” before putting the gun back in the safe. CPS removed the children from the home for the several months it took us to prove the parents’ actions were imprudent but based on logistics and facts did not actually endanger Complainant’s life.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
ENDANGERING A CHILDCase No. 1508856 – Noble M.
DISMISSED September 29th, 2016
A neighbor called police after she heard a 3 year old child crying for several hours in the back yard next to hers. Police found the child in a neglected state with his father, who works nights, upstairs asleep. The boy woke up and left without waking up his father and managed to lock himself out. We hammered home a Dismissal at the point of setting it for Trial by using CPS records, parenting classes, proof of a new day care routine, better home security and a strong argument for how it happened that day due to their teen’s carelessness in not following the proper procedures before he left for school.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
ENDANGERING A CHILDCase No. 1502437, 1502438 – Montrey & Consuelo T.
DISMISSED May 16, 2016
This was the 2nd time in a week police had been called after clients’ 3-yr-old was found wandering around the parking lot barefoot and dirty. Although a child protective services case was filed and custody was given temporarily to a relative, we were able to get the criminal case endangering a child in Houston dismissed by carefully and forcefully presenting our case and evidence – that these are parents who love their son but who need instruction in better parenting techniques and in making their home safe against adventurous young children.
ENDANGERING A CHILD W/ CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE
Case No. 1486274 – Jamario B.
DISMISSED March 8, 2016
Client and his wife went to meet her ex-husband at a CVS parking lot to pick up her 6 year old son after visitation. In a planned assault on client, her ex brought his brother – a former pro football player. Her ex put the child inside client’s car and began assaulting client at the door of the car then held him in a choke hold while his brother continued. Pushed into his car by the blows, client managed to grab his gun from the console. The 3 were struggling over it when client fired a shot in self defense. The 2 men lied to police about everything including that the child had been inside the car when the shot was fired. (His mother had taken him out before that point.) A CVS employee also alleged the child had been inside the car. We proved there was no way the witness could have seen where the child was from his vantage point and argued against the many errors and lies in the Offense Report, based as it was on the statements of a jealous ex-husband. We interviewed the child Complainant and prepared him for giving a statement to the DA. Finally, we argued the law on the criminal negligence statute to prove client was not criminally negligent even if the child had been inside the car when the shot was fired.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
Case No. 1271814 – Brandt J.
NO-BILLED BY GRAND JURY
When our client went to buy his wife her second wedding anniversary present, she asked if he would take their infant daughter along so she could have some free time. A very loving dad, he happily agreed. He was supremely grateful for the shopper who noticed his daughter left alone in the car at the toney shopping center – but not for the welcome the police gave him when he frantically returned to his car after remembering her some thirty minutes later. The windows were rolled up, the engine was off, and worse – the door beside the baby had been left unlocked. He had unwittingly exposed his precious baby to both heat stroke and kidnapping. Fortunately she was unharmed but was fair-skinned; her red color after being in the heat was alarming. She was transported to Texas Children’s Hospital while her distraught father was arrested. CPS came to the hospital and again to the home to decide whether this was an instance of a truly abusive parent or an almost unbelievable memory lapse. We proved the latter by demonstrating evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Brandt was a good father but unaccustomed to child care because he works all the time. We provided testimony from such witnesses as a Sr. Captain with the Houston Fire Dept, a licensed social worker, and his pastor. ironically, the HFD captain testified that Brandt had attended a certified class to learn the safest way for his daughter to be protected when in a vehicle. He also testified of the number of times this happens each day in Houston and that based on his experience and knowledge, this incident was not an act of culpable neglect. We were able to obtain a No-Bill without the requirement of a parenting class as we sufficiently demonstrated that Brandt was an excellent father who simply got distracted.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
Case No. 1258530 – Bill L.
DISMISSED
Bill was accused of endangering his young son due to reckless driving. He was spinning his four-wheel drive vehicle in an off-road area when it flipped over. Police and ambulance arrived at a confused accident scene to find several people in various stages of injury and intoxication exiting the vehicle and a young boy standing near the vehicle. There was confusion among the witnesses as to whether the child had been inside the vehicle. The child was found to have sustained minor injuries to the chest. Our defense included proving that the child could not have been inside the vehicle when it actually rolled but injured himself in another manner in the aftermath.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
Case No. 1240698 – Carlton N.
DISMISSED
Carlton’s rambunctious two-year old boy crawled under a hole in the fence dug by the dog twice in two days. The first time neighbors found him without incident but the second time the police were called. The story looks bad on the face of it but there were reasonable explanations for everything. CPS recommended safety measures which were implemented but the case was indicted and the State prosecuted. We made recommendations which based on our experience with such cases we felt would enhance our chances of a Dismissal. Carlton did everything perfectly including paying for several private Christian parenting classes. We presented evidence from friends, day-care owners, and doctors of Carlton’s history as an exemplary, involved parent, as well as showing the unlikely series of events that converged on the day of the incident to allow two escapes to happen in as many days.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
Case No. 1207931 – Aarich M.
NO-BILLED BY GRAND JURY
CPS got involved after Aarich’s precocious two-year-old son was found wandering in the middle of a busy street after unlocking his front door and getting out without his father’s knowledge. A comedy of errors was behind the escape, which we carefully documented by several Affidavits. However, police and prosecutors made their case for neglect, the endangerment of the child’s life, and lack of concern on the part of Aarich for his son’s welfare. CPS made several family members move out while they did a full-scale investigation – although the child’s mother herself is a CPS caseworker. We successfully dealt with CPS, ensured safety modifications were made to the home and prepared our side of the story and evidence to be presented to the Grand Jury.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
Case No. 1198382 – Michael L.
NO-BILLED BY GRAND JURY
Michael was living with an aunt whose mental and physical illnesses caused her to allow her house to fall into a dangerous and unhealthy condition. When one of her children called 911 after she had a seizure, Michael was charged with responsibility for the conditions in the home which had endangered the children since he had been living there and had paychecks coming to him at that address. We presented extensive documentation, including the testimony of several relatives, that Michael’s stay could not be considered permanent under the law – despite the paychecks – and proved there was no legal or other binding documentation making him responsible for his cousins’ well-being.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
Case No. 1160133 – Dorian H.
DISMISSED
Dorian left her young daughter alone before her brother, who was to babysit, had arrived, in order to be on time for work. A hostile neighbor, who overheard Dorian tell her daughter goodbye and not to answer the door, called police, who noted several factors in the home which required explanation. The daughter was taken by CPS and placed with relatives during the pendency of the case while we overcame objections to Dorian’s parenting skills and the living conditions she provided for her daughter. Dorian was resigned and on the verge of pleading guilty but Mr. Haggard urged her to hang in there, that he knew how to work these cases and defuse CPS and the prosecution.
I was ready to plead guilty but with his wisdom and experience Mr. Haggard was able to return my child to me without a conviction. I got my daughter back. God bless Mr. Haggard.
ENDANGERING A CHILD
Case No. 928717 – Manjit S.
DISMISSED
Manjit was discovered by the police in an intoxicated state while the sole caretaker for an infant in the crawling stage. The infant was found on a sofa which was near a glass table upon which was a sharp knife. Mr. Haggard obtained a Dismissal after using his extensive experience dealing with CPS to successfully defuse them and the prosecution.
