Criminal defense lawyer extraordinaire Mark Bennett has done his fair share of good deeds. As he can tell you, no good deed goes unpunished.
A true defender, Mark often comes to the aide and defense of his brethren in and around Harris County. He is head of the HCCLA Strike Force and responds to a “bat signal” whenever distress rears its ugly head.
Fairly recently (recent being a relative term when waiting on the State Commission on Judicial Conduct), a local judge was issued a private sanction after improperly detaining a colleague who was simply wanting to communicate with her client. Mark, and many others, rapidly appeared to assist. Mark took the lead, assessed the situation, and worked out an appropriate settlement. The judge withdrew her order of custody and released our colleague.
In the aftermath, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct completed an investigation and issued a private sanction. During that investigation, the Commission took statements from those who witnessed the incident in whole or in part. (I know because I spoke to executive director, Seana Willing, who asked for my statement. I also spoke to the private investigator working for the judge’s attorney regarding the judicial complaint.) At the conclusion, the Commission determined a private sanction was appropriate.
Fast forward: good deed done, now comes the punishment. Just last week, Mark had a case in said judge’s court. He took on this case last minute (yet another good deed) after the death of a colleague. He had a legitimate reason to request a very short continuance to cover a legal matter that could substantially affect his new client. His request was met with hadn’t he “just asked her for another day yesterday” and he “was losing credibility.” In Mark’s explanation about just taking over the case in an unforeseen tragic circumstance, the judge responded, “well, no good deed goes unpunished.”
And there you have it. Mark performed a series of good deeds only to have his credibility attacked. Retaliation for his assisting colleagues and providing a truthful statement to the Commission. Oh, and did I mention, when he wrote about all this, he learned just a little bit more about the judge and retaliation.