You need to know about cutting a prison sentence with a writ if you have a loved one in prison.
One of the most frequent questions we get asked is, “How can I get a sentence time reduction or get my (or my loved one’s) sentencing cut?”
Is there a way for cutting a prison sentence?
The fact is, there’s no magic bullet for such a thing.
The way to get your sentencing reduced is to get a do-over of your sentence.
And that can only be accomplished through the 11.07 writ of habeas corpus process.
Many people believe that filing an 11.07 writ of habeas corpus is an attack on conviction only. However, you can attack a sentence as well.
Sometimes you may plead guilty in the district court and be sentenced according to a plea bargain.
And so you effectively had a trial on sentencing. But some errors still occur in that trial.
There can still be ineffective assistance of counsel issues, prosecutorial misconduct issues, due process issues occurring during your sentencing trial.
Whether you only had a sentencing trial or whether you had a guilt-innocence and a sentencing trial, those issues still affect that portion of your trial.
You are looking at factors that influenced the sentence, which led to you receiving a higher sentence.
You know, one of the burdens you have to show, for example, in ineffective assistance of counsel claim, is that the verdict likely would have been different, meaning you probably would have been found not guilty but for the errors of your trial counsel.
In sentencing, this is totally different. It can be, the sentence you received was ten years when it could have been five years.
You received a ten-year sentence instead of a probation sentence.
So, filing an 11.07 writ of habeas corpus is the best way to attack a sentence.
Seeking a sentencing reduction is effectively asking for the courts to do a do-over of your sentencing trial.
An attorney will help you do it right and present the right mitigating evidence.
They will implore professional experience to influence the jury or the judge in your case to achieve the result that will lead to less time or probation.
About The Attorney
Jacob Blizzard is board certified in both criminal law and criminal appellate law.
He regularly practices in the areas of state and federal criminal defense, criminal appeals, post conviction writs of habeas corpus.
In Texas, there are more than 100,000 attorneys licensed to practice, but only 7,450 are board certified.
In the entire State of Texas, as of the 2019 certification year, there were only 87 attorneys board certified in both criminal law and criminal appellate law, making Mr. Blizzard one of 0.087% of attorneys in Texas to hold both of those certifications.
