JOHN T.
FLOYD LAW
FIRM
Federal Criminal Defense
Lawyer
EXPERIENCED FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAWYER
TRIALS, SENTENCINGS, AND APPEALS
SERIOUS FEDERAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Phone (713) 224-0101
E-mail jfloyd@JohnTFloyd.com
"Serious Federal Criminal
Defense Throughout Texas
"
Federal Criminal Lawyer
Houston Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer John T. Floyd is an experienced attorney whose practice is dedicated exclusively to protecting the rights of individuals and businesses suspected or accused of committing serious federal crimes before federal courts in Houston, throughout Texas and the United States of America.
Comments on Current Events In Criminal Law from the Federal Criminal Courts in the United State
August 31, 2010
ARSON MURDER: TOO MANY MISTAKES DEMANDS SCRUTINY
Flawed Forensics in Arson Cases: One Executed, One on Death Row, Four in Prison
By: Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair
The question hangs like ugly morning moss from a large swamp oak tree: Did the State of Texas execute an innocent man when it put Cameron Todd Willingham to death on February 17, 2004? Just last month the Texas Forensic Science Commission ruled that Willingham’s August 1992 murder conviction was based on flawed forensic evidence. The Willingham case—and the way it has been handled by state officials and in particular Tex. Gov. Rick Perry and especially by Willingham’s former defense attorney—has proven to be a national and international embarrassment to the state’s criminal justice system.
And just as the Texas Forensic Science Commission is trying to undo some of the damage caused by the wrongful conviction and execution of Willingham, we learn that the State of Pennsylvania now finds itself in the peculiar position of having to deal with a death penalty case that mirrors the Willingham case. Like Willingham, Daniel Dougherty was an excessive drinker who abused his wife but loved his children—and like Willingham, Dougherty was forced to watch his two children (Danny 4 and Johnny 3) die in a fire that destroyed his home in 1985, according to a recent CNN report.
Today the 50-year-old Dougherty sits in a prison in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania—a prison that state officials told CNN’s Stephanie Chen houses “the worst of the worst”—awaiting execution. Although Willingham was arrested and indicted a little over a month after the December 1991 residential fire that took the lives of his three children, Dougherty was not arrested until 14 years after the fire that killed his two children and only after his estranged wife told the authorities he had “confessed” to her that he deliberately set the fatal fire.
Like Willingham, Daniel Dougherty has also maintained his innocence from the day of his arrest. His attorney claims that Dougherty, like Willingham, was convicted on the same kind of “flawed arson science” that sent the Texas inmate to the state’s death chamber. “We have an innocent man on death row who has been languishing there, and there is absolutely no evidence that a crime occurred,” Dougherty’s attorney, David Fryman, told CNN. “We’ve been trying our best to right that wrong.”
Dougherty’s case is currently pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Two forensic fire experts, John Lentini and Angelo Pisani, have re-examined the forensic evidence in the case and found no indications of arson. These two arson experts have “conducted thousands of fire scene investigations,” reported CNN. They were contacted five years ago by Dougherty’s attorneys asking that the two experts review the evidence in their client’s case. The request came shortly after the Chicago Tribune reported in December 2004 that Lentini had been hired by the newspaper as one of the experts who re-examined the evidence in Willingham’s case and determined it was flawed. Lentini’s findings in the Dougherty case were almost identical to those in Willingham’s case: that state arson investigators had utilized “outdated arson investigation techniques” to conclude that the Dougherty fire had been intentionally set.
In 1992 the National Fire Protection Association (“NFPA”), a fire safety organization, adopted new arson investigation techniques that were slow to be embraced by many state fire marshals, including the ones in the Willingham and Dougherty cases. The NFPA has pointed out that the 1992 investigation techniques have had either a dramatic impact on the number of structure fires classified as “intentional” or the number of intentional fires have simply dwindled—down from 200,000 in 1980 to 55,000 in 2007.
Houston Federal Lawyer John T. Floyd is a true patriot who believes in the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights and the fundamental importance of a fair and impartial court system.
In this day and time where the government knows no bounds to its power in pursuit of the accused and where the citizenry has voluntarily abdicated their freedoms to seek shelter from what they have been told is an ever increasingly dangerous world, it is vital that the accused be represented by a knowledgeable and zealous federal criminal defense lawyer.
Criminal Defense Lawyer John T. Floyd understands that the defense of the accused is the front line in the fight to preserve the vitality of the Constitution and the freedoms derived from its protections.
If You Have Been Contacted By The FBI Or Any Other Federal Law Enforcement Agent Stand Firm in Your Constitutional Right to Remain Silent:
It is normal to become overwhelmed when confronted by the FBI, or any other federal law enforcement investigator, and threatened with prosecution in federal courts. This shock becomes more so when threatened with the serious range of imprisonment dictated by federal statutes, where there is no real parole and most individuals convicted serve at least 85% of their sentence.
It is also normal for people to feel they must try to talk there way out of the situation or to immediately confess and begin to “cooperate” with federal investigators who have promised leniency.
However, it is vitally important for an individual suspected of committing a crime and approached by federal law enforcement investigators to immediately remain silent until they have had an opportunity to consult an experienced federal criminal defense lawyer.
First, it is a serious federal crime to make false statements to a federal investigator, a crime which alone can lead to prison time. Second, law enforcement investigators have no authority to make promises about plea agreements, deals or leniency. Unfortunately, law enforcement agents often tell suspects they do have such authority in order to get confessions and cooperation. This is a successful and court approved police interrogation tactic. However, this means that suspects often confess with little or no leniency and receive no value for there cooperation.
Therefore, if you believe you are the target or suspect in a criminal investigation, or may face any exposure to criminal prosecution, contact an experienced federal criminal defense lawyer immediately. This will most likely be the most important decision you make during this potentially devastating time of your life.
Look at what you’re up against.
There are over a hundred federal agencies and offices with agents who have authority to carry firearms, investigate crimes and make arrests. The most popularly known federal law enforcement agents are from the FBI, the DEA or IRS. However other federal agencies are increasingly conducting criminal investigations, especially prominent in the post 9/11 environment is ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose primary mission has become to prevent acts of terrorism by targeting the people, money and materials that support terrorist and criminal activities. Other agents working on criminal prosecutions in federal courts are from the United States Postal Service, Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marshall, ATF and many other federal agencies. If you are questioned by any of these agencies you must remember that false statements made to federal law enforcement agents is a federal crime and that the agents have no authority to make you a “deal” in exchange for cooperating. Therefore, do not speak to a federal law enforcement agent without a lawyer.
If you are arrested by a federal law enforcement agent you will be taken to a federal magistrate to determine if there is probable cause to believe that you committed a crime and whether or not you should be released on bail or detained pending resolution of the criminal case. The Preliminary Hearing and Detention Hearing are both significant events which will allow your lawyer to get an early look at some of the important evidence in your case. Therefore, if you are arrested and taken into federal custody, contact a lawyer with experience before the federal courts immediately.
After a federal defendant is arrested and released on bond, or detained, pending trial the federal court will enter a scheduling order which will often include deadlines for pre-trial motions and discovery, plea agreements and trial dates. The federal courts are controlled by the Federal Speedy Trial Act which requires that an indictment be filed within 30 days of arrest and that trial must commence within 70 days from date the indictment was filed.
Sentencing in the federal courts is done solely by the judges, as opposed to the judge or jury in state court, who still must consider the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. While recent Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases have made the Guidelines advisory, because sentences that fall within the guidelines are presumed reasonable and most likely protected from successful appeal, most judge’s still rely on guidelines and depart only in unusual circumstances or by agreement of the parties.
The recent cases affecting the sentencing guideline do not affect mandatory minimum sentencing laws that impose harsh minimum sentences on certain crimes involving drugs, weapons and crimes of violence.
The guidelines can be cruel and often fail to take into account the individual circumstances of the defendant. Therefore, because of harsh sentences, coupled with the fact that there is no parole in the federal system, it is important that a defendant’s sentence be fought just as vigorously as the guilt/innocence phase of the trial.
Therefore, if you are charged with a criminal offense before the federal courts, it is important to retain an experienced federal criminal defense lawyer to help you wade thru its complicated codes, rules and procedures. The federal courts and their unique set of priorities are significantly different than state courts. It is vital that a defendant charged in federal courts have a lawyer that appreciates these differences and can use them to the defendant’s advantage. All too often, defendants are represented by good intentioned lawyers who only practice in state courts and miss valuable opportunities for the most positive outcome of their client’s case.
John T. Floyd is an experienced Federal Criminal defense Lawyer who has fought against prosecutors in state and federal courts for over 10 years. Mr. Floyd has significant contacts throughout the United States and can tailor a defense to the unique needs and abilities of any client. He can quickly assemble a team of lawyers and experts together to present a vigorous defense any government prosecutor would find formidable.
If you have any further questions, or would like to discuss your case further, please contact a dedicated Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer by phone at 713-224-0101 or by e-mail at jfloyd@JohnTFloyd.com
Houston Federal Criminal Lawyer John T. Floyd represents individuals and businesses in Federal Courts in Houston and throughout the United States.
Serious Federal Criminal Defense Throughout the United States
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