The Matlock Blog


This blawg offers insights, updates and news on criminal law in Texas and the 5th Circuit ... and other stuff.

Author: Shawn Matlock is a practicing criminal defense attorney in Fort Worth, Texas. He practices exclusively in state and federal criminal courts in Texas, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Blawg Related Categories: Criminal Justice • Sentencing/Post Conviction • 5th Circuit Court • States • Texas • Solo / Small Firm • Private Defense

Recent Posts from The Matlock Blog


  • And they're off!

    Boy, that didn't take long, did it? Within only a couple of weeks of me writing this, we have news of a primary contest for the Republican candidate for the 432nd District Court. Local Fort…

  • An open letter to Mike Ilitch, Detroit Tigers owner

    No, this has nothing to do with law or elections or anything like that. This is being written because this blog receives an average of 1400 hits per week, and with any luck, someone somewhere…

  • If justice is blind, does she still poll the voters?

    To the judge or to the jury, that is the question. This is not so much a legalistic interpretation of Hamlet’s preeminent line, but rather the conundrum of the modern day criminal defense attorney. You…

  • No habla ingles

    It sounds too ridiculous to be true. If anyone should know what crimes the police can charge you with, it should be the police, right? I mean am I asking too much for the cops…

  • So you want to be a lawyer?

    You think you want to be a lawyer, huh? You don't. Trust me. I say that as someone that not only is a lawyer, but someone who hates lawyers. Do something else. Let me guess.…

  • Words matter

    Words matter. They do. Whether they are the simple ones we like to hear like, “You’re hot” or “I love you” or they are the ones we don’t want to hear, “It’s not you, it’s…

  • Where's the reset button on this thing?

    Perhaps we have become accustomed to picking up the morning newspaper and reading another story of a wrongfully convicted person freed because DNA proved the person did not commit the crime in question. As a…

  • I hate to say I told you so, but...

    I told you so. Call me Captain Clairvoyant. But just as I speculated about over a month ago will come to fruition. Tarrant County is getting its first Hispanic felony court judge. This afternoon Governor…

  • Is it time?

    Few things about judges capture the nation's attention the way a Supreme Court confirmation hearing does. After all, most people have no exposure to judges or the courts except through a hearing such as Judge…

  • My Docket is Bigger Than Your Docket

    There are more than five months before the deadline to file as a candidate for a judicial office here in Texas in advance of the 2010 election, and yet some are already in campaign mode.…