Just heard a recorded message from Senator Dewhurst sp? who is going to help us with our Agg Sex cases involving kids.I am doing just fine without the legislature taking away my ability to protect other children from predators who pick extrememly young victims or retarded victims who can't testify. The law is fine as it stands. If I can try a sexual assault of a child case I will because I know that it is a life sentence. There are times however when the victim is too fragile to handle in a jury trialwe can all come up with a perfect case that we have had to plea rather than risk a pervert from walking away after a not gulity verdict.Anyone agree?

Let's wait until the dust settles. That means things can change after the election, when calmer minds can perhaps find better ways to help catch people who hurt kids. Meanwhile, it never hurts to have a statewide politician raise the public's concern for the safety of children. It has been a few years since prosecutors had a highly visible supporter in the legislature.

Instead of getting all excited about the proposed legislation, why don't we try to work with Dewhurst to reach a compromise that gives us the best of both worlds? I figure we all agree that putting child molestors away for good is a great idea. However, as prosecutors, we also know that some cases are not good trial material. So, this new legislation raises concerns because it cuts our discretion in marginal cases that need to be pled. As a result, it could either force us not to file such cases or force us to trial on them when we are likely to lose. On the other hand, having had a child molestor receive probation from a jury because one of his coffee drinking buddies got onto the jury, I can certainly see the benefit of legislation requiring a minimum 25 year sentence for such offenses. It seems to me that one way to solve this issue would to be a statute requiring a 25 year minimum sentence for such offenses but also providing an exception that allows for a lesser sentence and probation as part of a plea bargain with the prosecuting attorney. With such an exception, we could still plead marginal cases when necessary. However, for good cases that we decide to take to trial, we would be guaranteed to put the guy away for at least 25 years. I would think that legislation that increases protection for children and is supported by the state's prosecuting attorneys would be attractive to Dewhurst or any other politician.

Most legislators know little about the criminal law or how it can be improved, so this rising tide of interest in preventing sexual abuse is an excellent opportunity for you to educate your local legislators on the issue.

Anyone interested in this topic is welcome to contact me for more information. Several of your peers are already working with the Legislature on solutions that won't just sound good, they will actually do some good, too. But they will need your help to get them passed. So come join the fun!