Welcome to my legal page. As my bio indicates, I write from my prison cell from within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. I've been fighting my case now for a dozen years to no avail and I'll continue to fight, albeit with a shifted strategy - no more lawyers. In addition to my continued fight in the courts, I plan to take my case to the public and the media. Thus, the purpose of this new page and the content that I will be making available to all those that might be interested. It will include briefs and exhibits and citations to the records and evidence. Yes, I proclaim to be innocent. I know, don't they all? And it's true that many claim to be innocent when they're not, but the fact remains, many are and remain wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. An interesting opinion piece recently in the Wall Street Journal by Clark Nelly and Somil Trivedi highlights the many instances in which this can happen.
Okay, for the record, I'm no angel. I've had my run ins with the law. Also for the record, I've never committed or been accused of committing a crime of moral turpitude. I am mostly guilty of living in the fast lane, drinking too much, and playing too hard. Here is my current case in a nutshell: I was accused of DWI, evading arrest in a motor vehicle, assault on a police officer resulting in bodily injury (I allegedly bumped his arm leaving the scene) and resisting arrest. The reality is that I was only guilty of leaving the scene, a state jail felony that carried a maximum sentence of two years in jail, and possibly the DWI even though I did refuse the breathalyzer test. I did not however, in any form or fashion touch the officer nor was he injured. See affidavit of Julie Hartranft, an eyewitness on the scene. So, you might wonder, rightfully, exactly how did the assault and injury allegations come into play? The short of it is that I moved out to the family ranch in Lexington, Texas and got involved with a local woman, Angelia Strong Tyler (Rene), who unbeknown to me, had quit seeing (sexually) the then Chief of Police, Randy Davenport, to pursue me. Davenport ruled the town and his rough police force. "Rouge" police department, hell of an accusation huh? You need not take my word for it. The police department had a short run. All the officers were fired for misconduct in the community with allegations for stalking, profiling, and sexual harassment. Randy Davenport was forced to resign and lost his law certification for the State of Texas for his officer's online training. See article reporting on allegations and Austin's KXAN summary of their own reporting. So why am I still in prison? It is a complex situation, mostly concerning today's state of post-conviction Jurisprudence, which I will explain in detail in additional posts. And here is at least one attorney's opinion as to what I faced at the local level.
So, I hope you take an interest and follow along as I add content that will fill in the many gaps and answer many of the questions this short introduction raises. I hope this introduction piques your interest and as you learn more about my case and my plight, I will garner your support and you will sign my online petition in support and you will share my URL with others. For notification of new posts and content, please sign up now. Thank you for your time and interest. In appreciation, please download a FREE copy of Cash-and-Carry from my store by entering prom code FREEfb at checkout.
Sincerely,
Steven Paul
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