A Tyler couple was scammed by a local man who took a deposit from them for a house he did not own.  After months of negotiation with several parties and litigation in two courts, Mr. Volberding arranged for the couple to receive free rent, reimbursement of the deposit, and payment of legal fees.

In April 2010, Mr. Volberding convinced the local prosecutors to dismiss a misdemeanor public intoxication and theft charges against a U.K. citizen, which threatened to derail his immigration application.

Mr. Volberding won a 4-year sentence reduction for a federal inmate.  Client was convicted in federal court in 2001 of drug conspiracy and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.  Mr. Volberding convinced the federal prosecutor to recognize the substantial assistance to investigators provided by the client and on April 26, 2010, the federal judge reduced the client's sentence to 10 years, so he will soon be released.

In an opinion stunning for its retrained language, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston reversed the convictions and life sentences of Patrick Kelly and Dennis Pittman June 17, 2010 and ordered new trials for both, after concluding that the Hon. Judge Jack Skeen, Jr. mishandled the case and allowed the Kelly to be convicted on hearsay while denying his right to defend himself.  As Kelly's case is scheduled for retrial, it is not possible to comment further on the reasons for the reversal.  Copies of both decisions can be downloaded here (Pittman, Kelly).

At the same time, the Court of Appeals decided that it was unable to reverse the convictions of Shauntel Mayo, the mother of two of the children.  Although the Court ordered her life sentences served concurrently rather than consecutively, it wrote that she would have to seek a new trial through a difficult process called a application for writ of habeas corpus, and largely explained grounds for doing so.  See opinion.

On June 21, Mr. Volberding filed with the Court of Appeals a motion for sanctions against the Smith County District Attorney's appellate lawyer for improper personal attack.  See motion.*

On June 24, the Smith County DA filed in the trial court a motion to consolidate Kelly's two remaining indictments with those of the remaining defendants, including Jamie Pittman, into a large trial.  That motion is pending.

Neither Kelly's original trial lawyer, Thad Davidson, nor Mr. Volberding will represent Kelly in his retrial.  The trial judge will appoint a new lawyer for Kelly this summer.

* That motion was denied July 15th, 2010.