Law Office of Catherine Evans

07/25/2024

Honored to return as a speaker for the State Bar of Texas Advanced Criminal Law CLE. It's always an incredible lineup. Thank you for the invitation to return Doug Murphy!

07/17/2024

Change of venue for work today....sometimes it's a courthouse, sometimes a jail, today the Texas Capitol.

04/23/2024

Very happy to continue serving on the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association Board!

02/27/2024

A lovely surprise from a grateful client after we secured a No Bill on her case. 5 years after her infant daughter's tragic death, the client was charged with first degree injury to a child by omission. We constructed a detailed packet showing how many times this mother attempted to seek care for her daughter and how her concerns were repeatedly dismissed by medical providers. Tragedy compounded by injustice to this grieving mother. Very happy to alleviate a portion of her suffering caused by a poor and uninformed charging decision.

02/26/2024

Honored to be asked to present about Important Issues in Sexual Assault Cases at 2024 Criminal Justice Conference hosted by the Texas Center for the Judiciary. Best part- getting to work with the incredible Justin Wood again!

02/02/2024

Thank you to TCDLA and organizers for asking me to speak at "Defending Vehicular Crimes" CLE. It was a fantastic line-up of professionals teaching throughout the day, and I always enjoy sharing information about accident investigations.

07/28/2023

Another fantastic year - 2023 Texas Bar Advanced Crim Law Seminar. Mammoth effort by Eric Davis & all of the planning members. Very pleased to present on Defending Fatality Crash. Also enjoyed visiting with faculty members at events throughout the week.

05/09/2023

For the past month, I've made a number of trips back and forth to Austin and been pretty mysterious about it out of necessity. I was appointed to be an Independent Investigator by the Texas House of Representatives General Investigating Committee. I spent several weeks interviewing all witnesses who were willing to meet with me and drafting a comprehensive report.

I appreciate the trust placed in me by the Committee and the opportunity to serve in a new way. The work culminated in a unanimous vote on the Texas House floor today to expel a State Representative.

https://www.tiktok.com//video/7230125040761605422

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/09/bryan-slaton-expel-house-vote/

The Royse City Republican became the first member of the Legislature to be cast out of office since 1927. Slaton had an inappropriate sexual relationship with an aide, an investigation determined.

03/28/2023

03/28/2023

I do love teaching - particularly about understanding & presenting crash fatality cases. It always feels good to know the efforts are appreciated!

03/23/2023

So I have had a dozen or so trolls come after me today. It started late last night, but I didn't know it until a 7am phone call that started with "you bitch." They've reached me via FB, phone, and email after hearing my name mentioned on a conservative news show and a conservative radio talk show. The messaging has been pretty consistent - I am a terrible person and deserve terrible things. I was called "a fu***ng bitch" by one, and another said he'd pray for me to be "humbled by God" via violence. Some of the language is overtly offensive and racist - yep, that's you "militia.movement.836."

It's reasonable for you to ask, "but what could have earned such venom and ire?" It's because I represent someone charged with a serious crime, and I had the audacity to advocate on his behalf by requesting a lower bond.

All of these hard-charging personalities do have a singular common theme. They do not understand the mandates of our State and Federal Constitutions. They do not understand that the fundamental role of the defense attorney is to act as a check and balance against the enormous power of the Government. They do not understand that our judicial system mandates that the rights of the accused be protected by the zealous advocacy of a defense attorney. Those rights are not abridged because you find the alleged offense to be particularly egregious.

For the folks who think that I shouldn't represent him... Is it your wish that we not afford people representation? Should we afford them representation in name only....as in, here's your lawyer, but the lawyer isn't going to act as a true advocate? Or is it, more simply, your wish that our system should abandon the concept of the presumption of innocence? Either way, the end result would equate a charge with a conviction. North Korea may provide some instruction as to how that system works....

Look, I understand that constitutional law can be a dry topic, but at least glance at it before you come at me on legal issues.

02/16/2023

What a lovely surprise from an appreciative client and his family! The prosecutors listened to the significant mental health issues that were involved as well as understood the substantive legal problems and dismissed the felony case.