I've received a motion from an attorney handling one of my 11.07 cases (yes, it's in itself unusual for an attorney to be involved), saying something along the lines of it's not fair that it's standard practice in our courts for the trial court to just look over whatever it has in the way of documents, testimony, etc., decide what it wants to do, and usually then and there sign off on the proposed findings of its choice, and have the clerk ship it off to the CCA. This guy basically wants the trial court to instead sign the findings, send them to the parties only, and then wait 10 days to allow the filing of written objections to the findings before sending the file to the CCA.

I'm not sure I really feel like gearing myself up to oppose this, but on the other hand, I don't see that there's any valid basis for allowing it, and I'd really rather not have this guy start some new precedent here. His implication is that this is the way Harris County does it. Any input from anyone who's dealt with this issue there or anywhere else would be greatly appreciated.

Elizabeth Foley
Ass't Crim. D.A.
Galveston County

So long as the defense has an opportunity to submit their own FOF there has been compliance with the law. If the defense wants to file objections, let them figure out the way to do it and provide some compelling justification for the additional procedure. You don't have to agree to proceedings that are outside the statutory framework. BTW, have you checked with Harris County?