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How Cross-Examination Can Destroy Government Claims | Houston Criminal Trials

Dan Cogdell | 937 Views | 09/10/2015

Dan Cogdell – Introduction

Today I want to share with you how cross-examination of a key government witness in a major federal fraud case absolutely destroyed the government’s case.  Hello. My name is Dan Cogdell. I’m a lawyer here in Houston. I’ve been practicing criminal defense work for about 32 years.

Cross-Examination of Key Prosecution Witness

A few years ago I was representing an individual. There were nine individuals charged. I was representing the lead defendant in a case where the allegations were conspiracy, mail fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud. It was the government’s theory that our clients who owned – it was a company called Oxford Funding – basically, a private lending company and they made all kinds of false representations to financial institutions, to banks, to borrowers, and the like.

On cross-examination we were able to show not only that the key prosecution witness committed perjury – I mean lied under oath about a number of significant statements – but further, that the lead prosecutor in the case had made false statements and misrepresentations to this federal judge, so bad that the judge ended up dismissing the case based on prosecutorial misconduct.

In fact, this federal judge told this particular prosecutor that he was concerned that her remarks to him were not subject to a review for perjury because they weren’t sworn to. The prosecutor told the judge, “Judge, I don’t know how to respond to you.” And he said, “I do. Raise your right hand,” and swore that prosecutor in as a witness and ultimately dismissed the case.

Hiring a Good Cross-Examiner

Here’s the point, we would not have gotten that result unless we had tirelessly worked to show not only that the defensive theory was a proper theory, but indeed in that case, that the prosecutors were lying and cheating to get a wrongful conviction. It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then it happens. So when you hire a lawyer, you make sure you hire a lawyer who has the tenacity, the capacity, the experience, and the skill set to stay on top of not only your case, but attack and destroy the prosecutions case, as well.

If you have questions, if you have comments, if you need some assistance, or if you simply want to talk about your situation if you’re charged with a crime call us. My name is Dan Cogdell. I’m a lawyer here in Houston. Thank you.

How Cross-Examination Can Destroy Government Claims | Houston Criminal Trials

Dan Cogdell – Introduction

Today I want to share with you how cross-examination of a key government witness in a major federal fraud case absolutely destroyed the government’s case.  Hello. My name is Dan Cogdell. I’m a lawyer here in Houston. I’ve been practicing criminal defense work for about 32 years.

Cross-Examination of Key Prosecution Witness

A few years ago I was representing an individual. There were nine individuals charged. I was representing the lead defendant in a case where the allegations were conspiracy, mail fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud. It was the government’s theory that our clients who owned – it was a company called Oxford Funding – basically, a private lending company and they made all kinds of false representations to financial institutions, to banks, to borrowers, and the like.

On cross-examination we were able to show not only that the key prosecution witness committed perjury – I mean lied under oath about a number of significant statements – but further, that the lead prosecutor in the case had made false statements and misrepresentations to this federal judge, so bad that the judge ended up dismissing the case based on prosecutorial misconduct.

In fact, this federal judge told this particular prosecutor that he was concerned that her remarks to him were not subject to a review for perjury because they weren’t sworn to. The prosecutor told the judge, “Judge, I don’t know how to respond to you.” And he said, “I do. Raise your right hand,” and swore that prosecutor in as a witness and ultimately dismissed the case.

Hiring a Good Cross-Examiner

Here’s the point, we would not have gotten that result unless we had tirelessly worked to show not only that the defensive theory was a proper theory, but indeed in that case, that the prosecutors were lying and cheating to get a wrongful conviction. It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then it happens. So when you hire a lawyer, you make sure you hire a lawyer who has the tenacity, the capacity, the experience, and the skill set to stay on top of not only your case, but attack and destroy the prosecutions case, as well.

If you have questions, if you have comments, if you need some assistance, or if you simply want to talk about your situation if you’re charged with a crime call us. My name is Dan Cogdell. I’m a lawyer here in Houston. Thank you.