“I get that question a lot. I get it from friends and family asking, well how can you be a criminal defense attorney? I also get it from people who are looking for help. The way I usually answer is I tell people that I help people out of the trouble that they have got themselves into. That can be as little as some sort of small traffic interaction all the way up to major felonies. As a prosecutor, the very first trial I ever had was, believe it or not, a speedboat case. On my third day on the job as a prosecutor, I’m out in a boat with the Texas department, out there on the water trying to figure out with Parks and Wildlife was this boat going unfairly too fast on Lake Granbury. I am thinking this is the greatest job ever. That was a fun case, and that really was just a couple of Class C tickets. That was my first jury trial, all the way up to several murder cases. For a while, that was almost exclusively what I did, murder and the most serious felonies.
For nearly ten years as a prosecutor, I handled everything from as little as you can get to as big as it gets, including working on a couple of death penalty cases. I don’t take death penalty cases. I think that there are times when the death penalty should be enforced, and I think that if you were facing that, you should have an attorney who ferociously believes against the death penalty. I don’t feel that it is right for me to do this because I think someone deserves, what I’m going to call, a true believer against the death penalty to represent them in a death penalty case. Other than that, I handle every kind of criminal case you can imagine, anywhere from interactions with the town council and questions about official oppression all the way to the worst kinds of cases.
The kind of charge, and we’re talking sexual abuse, we’re talking harming children, there are people that are accused of these charges that need my help. They need the help of someone who is capable, has tried these cases and knows how to put the case together, which, of course, helps you understand how to take the case apart. Make sure that the state is put to its standard; that it only convicts you if you deserve it. That only harms you and does these things to you and puts you in prison if you have committed the crime and can prove it. They can do it in a way that people can walk away knowing that it was the right thing to do to punish them.
The best way to do that is to have a lawyer who has put those cases together so they can take them apart. You know all the different elements of those kinds of cases and where the facts are going to turn and how the jury is going to flinch or not flinch, as they hear certain words that we don’t like to talk about in polite society. That kind of lawyer is who you need. You need someone who has tried these kinds of cases to a jury, from both sides, so that you have someone experienced enough to be able to say, he did not do this, she did not do this, not the way they’re saying, and certainly not with criminal intent the way it is described.
The majority of cases I take now are felony cases because I am board certified in criminal law. With that experience comes a level of commitment to a case. Sometimes you don’t want to hire an expert surgeon to do a traffic case, but sometimes you do. There are times when I’ll take a Class C misdemeanor. There are times when I’ll take several misdemeanors or this sort of case or that sort of case when it matters the most to you. When it’s your kid who’s in trouble for doing something grotesquely stupid, and you need someone to step in and say, do not punish my child unfairly. Punish my child in a way that makes sense and is appropriate and is measured for what he or she did. That is what I do.”
Speak to an Experienced Frisco Criminal Defense Attorney
Philip D. Ray is an experienced criminal attorney and former prosecutor who will provide you with a skilled and aggressive defense. He has years of experience defending individuals against intoxication crimes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Call The Law Offices of Philip D. Ray today at (469) 588-6770 for a consultation.