How We Exposed Federal Prosecutor Lies During Trial | Houston Criminal Defense
Introduction
I want to share with you a situation that happened several years ago where a prosecutor quite literally lied and cheated during a federal trial and we were able to expose him. Hi, my name is Dan Cogdell. I’m a lawyer here in Houston. I have been for 30+ years. I’ve tried cases to verdict in sixteen different states and I’ve spent a lifetime, my professional lifetime, defending people accused of crime.
Exposing a Federal Prosecutor
Several years ago, there was a case called Operation Lightening Strike. My client was a fellow by the name of Dan Stinger. Mr. Stinger was a contractor out at NASA, and this particular case accused Mr. Stinger and his co-defendant of contracting fraud. Oversimplified, the government represented that Mr. Stinger took millions of dollars from NASA. And he represented that he was going to build these automated robots, and he had no intentions, no desire, no plans to build the robots. He just took the money and ran.
Throughout the course of this trial, the prosecutor over and over and over, suggested, referred, stated in fact, repeatedly, that there were never any blueprints. There were never even any blueprints made for these robots. Never existed, didn’t happen, never occurred, on and on. We heard that everyday for weeks.
About six weeks into the trial, we found out that not only did the blueprints exist, they were sitting at the prosecutor’s very table at the time that the case was being prosecuted. In other words, while this prosecutor was maintaining with a straight face, that blueprints didn’t exist. He was literally sitting at a table that had the blueprints on it.
Why am I telling you this? Because, sometimes with the right hard work, with the right diligence, with the right capacity, with the right intensity, with the right fearlessness, the facts come out, even if they are negative to the government.
Criminal Trial Experience
It wasn’t a pretty situation, I assure you, when the prosecution got found out by the judge. But here’s the point. Hire a lawyer that has the capacity. Hire a lawyer that has the experience. Hire a lawyer that has the tenacity to make sure what the government is saying, claiming, and representing is actually the truth, as opposed to what the government wants it to be.
If you have questions about your case. If you have issues about your case. If you have concerns about your case. Give me a call. I’m here to help. I have literally been there and done that. Thank you for listening.