Principal attorney
I am a local criminal defense and civil rights attorney and I have done nothing but
represent people throughout my career.
In my pre-law school life, I was a musician. I traveled all over playing guitar in several metal bands. The life was not as glamourous as you would think, but I got to travel to and play in nearly every state in the country. I also played a number of shows in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica, meeting a lot of great people along the
way.
I continued playing in a few bands while I was in college at Trinity University in San
Antonio. In law school, at Texas Tech I tutored several subjects, was a research
assistant for my Constitutional Law professor, and earned grades high enough to be
admitted to Phi Delta Phi legal honor society.
It was while I was at law school that my path changed. I took the Innocence Project
Clinic my third year. I excelled in the class, earning a CALI award my first semester,
and a Jurisprudence award my second semester for being the top student in the
clinic. While in law school, I co-authored a report to debunk Fort Bend County
Sherriff Deputy Keith Pikett’s extensive history of perjured court testimony. The
report proved that Pikett lied about his education, training, background, and just
about any other topic that came out of his mouth. This report resulted in Texas
courts declaring his testimony unreliable, resulting in many reversed cases, and
eventually his “early retirement.” I also was part of the team that got Timothy Cole
successfully pardoned, the first posthumous pardon in Texas history, by then
governor Rick Perry.
After Law School, I moved to Houston to become a staff lawyer with the Innocence
Project of Texas. While a staff lawyer at the Innocence Project of Texas, I organized
groups of students at the University of Houston at Clear Lake, South Texas College of
Law, and Texas Southern University to investigate and litigate wrongful convictions
throughout the state. During this time, I also worked at a firm specializing in
disability hearings and appeals in Houston.
While with the Innocence Project of Texas, I headed up a statewide arson review in
2011 and 2012. This project involved an investigation of every person serving time
for any arson-related offense in TDCJ, and those on parole, eventually resulting in
several exonerations and the passage of the Junk Science Writ law, Code of Criminal
Procedure 11.073. This new law allows for people convicted based on junk science
to get a new trial. This is still the only law of its kind in the nation.
At the end of 2012, I moved to Amarillo to fight for the rights of citizens of Amarillo.
While making partner at Blackburn & Brown in 2015 and after, I handled hundreds
of state and federal criminal cases ranging from Class C misdemeanors to DWIs, to murder cases, to multi-defendant federal drug conspiracies, and complex white
collar fraud cases. I am always fighting and always getting good results.
While partner at Blackburn & Brown, I represented Robert Johnson, a mentally
challenged young man who was charged with possession of marijuana and resisting
arrest in 2015. All charges were dropped after I was able to prove that Amarillo
Police Officers dog piled Mr. Johnson, beat him severely, and planted marijuana on
him. This case led to a series of community meetings speaking out on the abuses of
Amarillo police officers and the resignation of the Amarillo Chief of Police.
I handled the first civil commitment case early in 2016. These cases are tough to
win, but I was able to secure a non-suit, saving our client from a life of involuntary
civil commitment.
Earlier in 2016, I also represented a man accused of theft of materials out of the
Cargill plant in Friona, Texas. I agreed to help represent our client pro bono on his
labor law case, and teamed up with the union lawyer. I uncovered lots of documents
and testimony proving that our client did not steal the materials he was accused of
stealing. Cargill had to offer our client his job back, and the state had to dismiss all
charges.
I am a big believer in the first amendment right to freedom of speech and defending
people’s rights under the First Amendment. In 2019, I represented local protestors
in multiple charges connected to protests against the city of Amarillo’s cruel
homeless policies. My clients got dismissals, case refusals, and acquittals in all
charges ranging from Class C camping charges to felony theft of utilities.
I have also represented the United Steelworkers and International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers members, defending their rights under the First Amendment to
strike against unfair working conditions by the international conglomerate Asarco.
From 2017 through 2019, I was part of the legal team that filed a class action
lawsuit against Ruby Tequilas for unfair labor and wage practices. After several
years of litigation, the workers, who went unpaid and without a job after an abrupt
closure of the restaurants got their back pay and expenses.
To me, practicing law is about more than fighting and winning against the
government and big companies, though. Criminal defense in particular is about
getting to know the client and always tailoring a defense goal and defense strategy
that is unique and fit for each client. At its core, the work of criminal defense is
caring about people. This approach has led to many dismissals and reductions and
hearing “not guilty” in most cases I’ve tried to a jury.
Caring about people goes deeper and broader than our client-centered approach.
Locally, I am engaged very politically, helping to form a local NORML chapter and staying involved with local political groups and organizations. I am also a frequent
contributor to local, regional, and national news channels on a variety of legal topics.
Outside of the local community, I am an active member of the Texas Criminal
Defense Lawyer’s Association, The Panhandle Criminal Defense Lawyer’s
Association, the National Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Association, the DUI Defense
Lawyer’s Association, the National College For DUI Defense, the National Association
of Public Defenders, and the College of the State Bar.
