Perhaps never before in our lifetimes has such disruption affected the functioning of the legal system and society at large. In an effort to combat the spread of the new corona virus and the disease COVID-19, courts across Texas have postponed trials, moved to teleconference bond hearings, and even reconsidered inmate arrangements in dense population areas. Many Texans are left wondering how these changes in the legal system might impact their legal case.
Courts Closed in Person, But Business Goes on From Home
More and more companies have enacted work from home policies, which until now have been foreign in the criminal legal world. Whereas some corporate and in house attorneys can research the law, email or call clients, and draft filings from anywhere, criminal practitioners have always appeared in court to negotiate in person and check in with the court on case progress. In Dallas, the courts have sought to balance public safety concerns with the important matters already on the docket. To that end, judges and clerk staff are working on a reduced basis, focusing on essential matters; non-essential matters have been postponed until at least May 31. This includes most criminal trials, as well as most settings. In some cases, arrangements can be made to make movement on cases, including finalizing pleas, through video conference.
Bail Tightened and Travel Restrictions Imposed
Some more liberal counties have loosened bail conditions in an attempt to keep potential inmates at home in quarantine, like everyone else. As the shut-down went into place, Attorney Walker Fults attended a bond hearing in person for a felony client, as the judge appeared on television screen from the courthouse. Luckily, Attorney Fults’s client was released on his personal recognizance, the best possible result in a bond hearing.
Elsewhere, however, conservative counties are cracking down on bail matters. In Texas, the governor signed an executive order making it harder for certain defendants to obtain bail on personal recognizance. In an effort to keep outside communities shielded from danger, Texas tightened its grip on incarceration awaiting case outcomes. In uncertain times, people often double down on their instinctual tendencies, and uncertainty reigns.
Court Goes on Through Virtual Connectivity
Despite closures, courts in the Dallas metroplex have instituted some video conferencing to allow some matters to go forward by agreement of all parties. In 98% of criminal cases in Texas, the State and the defendant’s attorney reach an agreement that makes trying the facts of the case unnecessary. This is why hiring an attorney who is a strong trial lawyer is so important: with prosecutors accustomed to settling cases on their terms, a strong trial attorney is able to secure a better plea deal in many cases. Plea deals like this, which often allow a defendant to avoid a conviction or any jail time for his or her charge, are still able to be memorialized by all parties through a teleconference.
Wills
In the 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker shows how human behavior is influenced to a great degree by the fear of death. Taking Freud’s psychological framework, Becker recasts it in a new direction, demonstrating how people are in search of legacy or some sort of immortality in a cosmos that threatens to wipe them into the void. In a follow up book decades later, researchers were able to show that death reminders actually reinforced people’s sense of work duty: judges in experiments gave much harsher sentences to defendants after hearing such reminders, seeking ostensibly to show they had made a difference.
In a time when the news is constantly putting death reminders front and center, more people are returning to whatever they view as essential in their lives. Some are finding the time to get their wills in order, worried that a global pandemic might take them unprepared and leave financial and family affairs in a mess. For those who (1) have assets and (2) will die one day, hiring an attorney to draft a final will is an attractive item to get checked off.
Contact the Law Office of Walker Fults
As many businesses have shuttered, Law Office of Walker Fults remains open to serve the Dallas area during this time. If you have a criminal defense or other legal need, contact us today at (214) 838-0557 to see how our legal team can help resolve your issue with a winning result.
