Annotations, South Texas College of Law (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 4, Ed. 1, September, 1990 Page: 3 of 8
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SEPTEMBER 1990
ANNOTATIONS
PAGE 3
BOA alters format
Being a lawyer is probably the highest calling, Haynes says
By Scott R Cordes
To encourage attendance at
Board of Advocates
meetings, which is no longer
mandatory, the BOA has
embarked on an ambitious
program to have lecturers
and important state officials
speak at their meetings. As
an indication that the lecture
series will be a great success,
criminal defense attorney
Richard "Racehorse" Haynes
was the guest speaker at the
first BOA meeting.
By emphasizing that being
a lawyer is probably the
highest calling a person can
undertake, Haynes captivated
the audience almost
immediately with his down-
to-earth principles and
human compassion. In fact,
Haynes noted that he looks
for these same characteristics
(inherent in any good
attorney "worth his salt")
when screening prospective
jurors during voir dire. To
do this Haynes poses the
question, "From what era of
your life does your best
friend come?" If the juror
hesitates and has a hard time
answering, Haynes wonders
whether or not this person
even has a best friend. He
goes on to reason that, "If
you don't have a best friend,
it's because you can't be a
best friend. And if you can't
be a best friend, then you
don't have the redeeming
character traits of a human
being that I want to serve on
my jury and sit in judgment
on my client."
Even in cases where the
death penalty is not
applicable, Haynes suggested
reference to the death
penalty. Studies show that
those people who believe in
the imposition of death for
the punishment of a crime
are more likely to convict in
any case, Haynes said. By
knowing the potential juror's
feelings, Haynes said that an
attorney can intelligently
exercise his peremptory
challenges.
Haynes stressed the
importance of the attorney's
association with the jury by
noting that during a trial,
the attorney should not be
confined to a podium, but
should occupy as much space
in the courtroom as possible.
He related a humorous
technique that he often used
back in the days when a
brass spittoon was placed
beside the rail between the
jury and the lawyers. After
accidentally stepping into the
spittoon during a trial,
Haynes became aware that
the jury was not laughing at
him, but rather with him and
his dilemma and
embarrassment. Haynes won
that case, and made sure in
the future that if there
wasn't a spittoon in the
courtroom, that one was put
there. He said that if the
judge will allow it, there is
nothing wrong with making
the jury laugh, so long as
you are always the butt of
the joke.
Haynes also gave practical
advice that attorneys should
remember when giving
opening and closing
statements. Haynes noted
that the first thing the jury
remembers when deliberating
is the last thing that was said
to them. The next thing
that they remember is the
first thing that was said to
them, and the next thing
they think of, if they
remember at all, is what was
said in the middle.
Therefore, Haynes suggested
that the speaker use some
sort of "grabber" at the first
part of the statement to help
persuade the jury to the
speaker's point of view. He
also made a special note that
timing is very important and
that the best attention getter
is the use of silence. "If you
ever get stuck," Haynes said,
"just ask yourself 'What
would a real lawyer do?'"
On cross-examination,
Haynes suggested asking the
witness, "When, where, and
for how long, was the last
time you met with the
prosecutor for the purpose
of getting prepared to
testify?" Sometimes, Haynes
said, the attorney can get
lucky if the witness either
says that they met in a motel
(which is sinister in and of
itself), or if the witness
resorts to looking at a note
to refresh his memory, which
could possibly turn out to be
something that the
prosecutor prepared for him.
Adding up the number of
hours that the prosecutor
spent in rehearsal meetings
with the witnesses is
something that Haynes
suggested to remind the jury
in a case where the facts and
the law are not in your
favor.
Although famous for his
criminal defense work,
Haynes admitted that as a
"puppy" attorney, he tried his
Reduced credit courses draw fire
from some students and faculty
By Steve Petrou
A review will be conducted
of all courses where credit
hours have been reduced
following criticism by some
students and professors.
Starting this summer many
four credit courses like
Evidence and Criminal
Procedure have been reduced
from four credit courses to
three credit courses.
"I don't like it," said Moses
Mercado, President of the
Student Bar Association.
"Students are not getting
what they bargained for."
Mercado said he took
Criminal Procedure because
it is a bar course and his
teacher has cut all Texas
criminal procedure in order
to fit the four credit course
into three credits.
"I don't think they thought
this out well when they did
it," said Mercado. "These
materials are still on the bar
and now they are not in the
courses."
A corporations professor
complained that he will have
to cut out large portions of
the corporations course in
order to squeeze it into
three credit hours. The
professor said no one
consulted him about the
changes.
Dean Bill Wilks said he's
heard some of the
complaints and the
Curriculum Committee will
be meeting this month to
review the changes.
Wilks said the committee
will include faculty members
and at least two students.
All of their suggestions will
be taken into consideration.
Wilks said the idea behind
the reduced credits was to
allow students to sample
more course and thus to
broaden their education.
"This way all their eggs will
not be in one basket," said
Wilks.
Wilks said that after the
Curriculum Committee
makes its evaluation, the
administration will decide
whether or not to continue
offering the courses with
reduced credit or to go back
to the expanded credits and
increased hours for the
courses.
share of "sore back" and "car
wreck" cases. His favorite
damages amount to request
from the jury was $37,500.
The reason, he explained,
was because the jury might
have a hard time trying to
figure out what his one-third
might be.
Haynes prefers criminal
defense work, and noted that
almost every lawyer or judge
says they wished they had
tried a criminal case. "This,"
he said, "is because the most
precious commodity on this
planet is at stake - liberty."
When defending an accused,
Haynes said that a criminal
defense attorney should take
pride in the fact that he has
not only forced the state to
indict, but has forced the
prosecution to select a jury,
put on evidence, make a
closing argument, and give
the defendant due process of
law.
Haynes noted that, despite
numerous hours of
preparation, an attorney will
never feel in his mind and
heart that he has done
absolutely everything that
can be done in order to
effectively represent his
client. This is because the
participants in a trial are all
human, and therefore
unpredictable. No matter
what happens, Haynes
warned, don't let the
opposition provoke you into
going outside the court rules
or exhibiting a rudeness or
lack of courtesy during trial.
"Scrupulously endeavor to, in
every way possible, play by
the rules."
Haynes concluded by
advising, "Never break your
Richard "Racehorse" Haynes
spoke to a captivated
audience at the BOA
meeting on August 23.
word in court or to another
lawyer. Let your word be
good as gold. Be the player
who reports himself as
accidentally touching the
ball. Take the penalty if you
are out of bounds. It pays
rewards that you will not
believe because you will have
a lightness in your step, a
giddiness in your head and a
feeling in your heart that
God has selected you to do
the right thing because you
are a lawyer and there is no
higher calling."
Joe Jamail is
scheduled to speak at
the BOA meeting
later in September.
Time and date will be
announced later.
Intellectual property group
forms at South Texas
The South Texas College
of Law's newest student
group is the Intellectual
Property and Technology
Law Society.
Almost 30 law students
have indicated interest in
joining the group, which is
dedicated to promotion of
matters pertaining to, not
surprisingly, intellectual
property and technology law,
said group President Joe
Lanza.
"We are really pleased with
the interest students have
shown," Lanza said. "We just
started up this summer."
The law society is the
progeny of a student who
just graduated and is being
nurtured by Lanza, Denise
Kettleburger, vice president;
and Russell Beastring;
secretary-treasurer.
Professors Phillip Page,
Buford Terrell and Matt
Mitten are faculty advisers.
Intellectual property
encompasses the legal areas
of trademarks, patents,
copyright, false advertising,
trade secrets, unfair
competition and
international ramifications of
each, according to the
group's literature.
Technology law encompasses
law dealing with bio-
technology, genetic
engineering, computers and
space, the group said.
Lanza said the group
intends to conduct monthly
meetings and to bring
speakers in the fields to the
college monthly.
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Daniel, Raymond. Annotations, South Texas College of Law (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 4, Ed. 1, September, 1990, newspaper, September 1990; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144470/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.