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HOUSTON CAPITAL MURDER DEFENSE

Our investigators pride themselves on helping to free the innocent by assisting counsel.

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Attorneys who defend clients charged with Capital Murder must meet a high standard of experience and competency in order to be appointed to represent someone charged with the most serious offense in the Texas Penal Code.

Consequences of Conviction: Dire

If a person is found guilty of Capital Murder they can only be given Life without parole or the Death Penalty. The prosecuting attorney can seek the Death Penalty or try the Defendant with the Death Penalty taken off the table, leaving only Life without parole as a penalty if the Defendant is convicted.

Capital Murder Investigations are Complex

Generally speaking, Capital cases can be very complicated. Many times, there is a “confession” from the Defendant. Co-Defendants posture themselves to testify to enhance the State’s case against the most egregious party in the offense in order to obtain a lesser sentence. Cases usually involve identification of suspects by witnesses, physical evidence left at the scene, reliable or conjectured motives, alibi witnesses, mistaken identity, legitimacy of the State’s evidence evaluation and a number of other factors.

The “Exhausting Defense” Mandate

The American Bar Association guidelines mandate that attorneys representing defendants charged with Capital Murder provide an exhausting defense. A competent Criminal Defense attorney must possess the ability to analyze the State’s case, be able to engage in a professional dialogue with the Prosecutors, and be a savvy trial lawyer.

Why Private Investigators Get Involved

In order for a defense attorney to defend his client properly they rely on a separate investigation conducted on the Defendant’s behalf by trained professional Private Investigators. The Investigators perform numerous tasks during the lengthy process which ensues before the case is disposed. The Investigators must have the ability to gain the Defendant’s trust and elicit truthful information that will assist the Defendant’s defense.

Gradoni & Associates - Private Eyes of HoustonInvestigators must conduct background investigations on all of the State’s witnesses along with engaging those witnesses in an interview to evaluate what they told the police investigators regarding their observations.

After the contact with the witness the investigators provide an evaluation of the witnesses credibility for the defense attorney(s) representing the defendant. Investigators also develop alibi witnesses when applicable and canvass crime scene areas to identify the witnesses the police missed, or talked to, but did not document in their reports.

A Defense Attorney cannot adequately represent his client, or provide an “exhausting defense” without this assistance. In the opinion of Gradoni & Associates, a team of Investigators with law enforcement experience and diverse backgrounds would be the logical choice to perform the investigative effort.

Experience Counts!

Gradoni & Associates has been involved in over 450 Capital Murder cases during our 24 years of service to Criminal Defense Attorneys.

Our Newsletter

Houston Capital Murder Investigation Results

Below are random entries from our various newsletters which are related to capital murder investigations.

Closed Murder Investigation Cases

Recent Posts

  • Gradoni and Associates - Private Eyes of TexasThe Auto-Robbery Murder Investigation
    Houston, TX based Attorney James Stafford represented an individual charged, along with a co-Defendant, in the killing death of a victim while they were robbing his car. The State did not have any eyewitnesses to the murder, which we verified through our investigation. The charged Co-Defendant had accepted a plea bargain on his case. The
  • Licensed Houston Private InvestigatorsMarijuana Leads to Death, Gradoni Investigates
    Attorney Katherine Scardino represented a young man who allowed an acquaintance to use his apartment to buy marijuana in Houston, TX. During the transaction, the acquaintance shot and killed one of the weed sellers in an attempt to rip them off. Our client was not present when this occurred, but the State of Texas alleged
  • Licensed Houston Private InvestigatorsThe Case of The Murdered Pasadena PD Officer
    Attorney Katherine Scardino represented the individual charged with killing a Pasadena, TX Policeman the day after he was released from the Harris County Jail. The Officer responded to a domestic disturbance at the defendant’s mother’s house when he was shot on the porch. Katherine and Co-Counsel, Kelly Case reached an agreement with the State
  • Licensed Houston Private InvestigatorsThe Wrong Man Killed in Dope Rip-Off Case
    Attorney Skip Cornelius represented a teenager charged with Capital Murder. The teenager was selling dope for a dealer and had been ripped off by a customer. When our Defendant informed the dope dealer about what happened she also gave him a description of the actor along with his purple colored vehicle. The dope dealer and
  • capital-trial-investigationA Case of Capital Mistrial
    Capital Mistrial Attorney Katherine Scardino and Attorney Jimmy Phillips Jr. were appointed to a high profile capital murder case in the 184th Criminal District Court in Harris County. Scardino’s client and his cousin were charged with Capital Murder in the September 4th shooting deaths of two employees at the Hollywood Video Store. Scardino’s
  • Licensed Houston Private InvestigatorsCapital Murder Case Abandoned By State of Texas
    Houston, TX lawyer Laine Lindsey represented a defendant who was charged with killing two Hispanic males after what was believed to be a verbal altercation. Detective Benito Segura Investigates Benito Segura, and experienced private eye, interviewed the eyewitness to the shooting who said the two victims were armed and pointing guns. The State had
  • The Case of the Jail House Witness, Seeing Vocals
    Attorney Robert Loper and Attorney Lori Gooch were in the midst of preparing for a capital trial that was going to start on February 8th. On Monday, February 4th, the Prosecutor informed the Defense that a jail house “snitch” had a conversation with the Defendant who made the comment in a hold-over cell, “All they got
  • The Capital Murder by Fire Investigation
    Houston, TX based attorney Skip Cornelius represented a defendant who was charged with causing a fire that resulted in his brother’s death. The defendant had previously been sent to prison for murder, having burned the victim to death. Gradoni Detectives Establish Reasonable Doubt Investigators interviewed a number of family members who were
  • Swearingen Case: Forensic Testing Creates Doubts
    Attorney James Rytting and Attorney Phillip Hilder represented James Swearingen in a highly publicized Montgomery County Capital Murder. Forensic Test Casts Doubts on Murder Allegation Based on forensic tests not done at the time of trial, a valid question was raised about how long the victim had been dead before the body was found. The
  • Gradoni and Associates - Private Eyes of TexasThe Ft. Bend County Double Murder Investigation
    Attorney Katherine Scardino and Attorney Stephen Doggett tried a Death Penalty case in Ft. Bend County which lasted three months, ending in June. The Defendant, Cornelius Harper, was charged with the shooting death of his cousin and the stabbing death of his cousin’s fiancée, who was pregnant, a short time later at a second crime
  • Licensed Houston Private InvestigatorsUpcoming Trials
    Security Guard Faces Death Penalty In June we will start jury selection on a security guard facing the Death Penalty, being charged with the murder of two prostitutes and the aggravated robbery of 6 other prostitutes, all from the Channelview area. Investigator Keith Kucifer has interviewed the State’s 6 prostitute witnesses, who did not report
  • Private Investigators of TexasThe Case of the Nightclub Gangland Killing
    Attorney Skip Cornelius represented a young defendant who was charged, with another defendant, with the shooting death of a rival gang member at a club in Houston, TX. Gradoni & Associates Investigates We were able to identify and interview two wit­nesses who stated that the defendant was with them at the club when the shots
  • Gun Bullets GavelCapital Murder Charge Dismissed in Cell Phone Scheme
    Attorney Katherine Scardino represented one of two brothers charged with Capital Murder in Montgomery County, along with two other co-defendants. The State of Texas alleged that the two brothers set the complainant up to purchase a phone and during the meeting at a public park he was shot to death during the robbery attempt. The
  • Licensed Houston Private InvestigatorsUpdate: Bellville Family Murders
    Attorney Katherine Scardino and Attorney James Rivera represented an individual charged with killing five of his family members in Bellville, Texas. The case received a great deal of publicity, due to the horrific crime scene. (See our previous coverage of the Bellville Family Murders.) Prior to the State of Texas seeking the Death Penalty,
  • Licensed Houston Private InvestigatorsConvicted Murderers “High-Five” 45Y Verdict
    CAPITAL MURDER: FAVORABLE OUTCOME Attorney Robert Loper and Attorney John P. “Casey” Keirnan represented two defendants who had been charged with two separate Capital Murders. The first case had been dismissed by the Judge at trial as noted in our previous newsletter. The second case came to trial recently. The case involved fighting

Client References

Over the years we’ve had the privilege of working with the lawyers listed below on capital murder and other criminal justice cases.

  • Michael Ramsey
  • Stanley Schneider
  • George Tyson
  • Katherine Scardino
  • Jimmy Phillips
  • Richard “Racehorse” Haynes
  • Philip Hilder
  • Robert Fickman
  • Wendell Odom
  • George Parnham
  • Gerald Bourque
  • Skip Cornelius
  • L.T. “Butch” Bradt
  • Robert Loper
  • Loretta Muldrow
  • Robert Scardino
  • Casey Kiernan
  • Joseph Salhab
  • Danny Easterling
  • Robert Morrow
  • Kyle Johnson
  • Lydia Clay-Jackson
  • Roberto Hinojosa
  • James Rytting
  • Laine Lindsey
  • Wayne Hill
  • Jerald Graber
  • Thomas Martin
  • Pat McCann
  • Stephen Jackson
  • Tom Moran
  • Stephen Doggett
  • Kurt Wentz

Contact Us

Please use the information below to reach us, or send us a written message.

GRADONI & ASSOCIATES

2611 Cypress Creek Parkway #C100
Houston, TX 77068
MAP TO OFFICE
Toll Free: 800-803-9186
Local: 281-440-0800 • Fax: 281-440-0208

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