Habeas Corpus

Blizzard & Zimmerman Attorneys specialize in helping people who have been convicted of a crime and want to appeal their conviction. We work with clients from all over Texas and the United States. Our team is dedicated to researching and writing legal briefs to support our clients’ appeals.

Appealing a conviction is tough, especially in Texas state or US federal courts. Our clients face many obstacles as they try to overturn their convictions.

One important tool we use in Texas criminal cases is called habeas corpus, specifically the 11.07 writ of habeas corpus. This allows people who have already been convicted (post-conviction) and imprisoned for state crimes to challenge the legality of the laws used in their legal proceedings.

It’s a way to seek justice after a direct appeal has been unsuccessful.

In Texas, if someone has been found guilty of a crime and believes there were mistakes made during their trial, they can use the 11.07 writ of habeas corpus” to challenge their conviction. This allows them to bring up issues involving fairness in the trial or any other constitutional errors that might have affected their guilty verdict.

Blizzard and Zimmerman Attorneys representing individuals tailor their arguments based on the unique aspects of the case and the applicable laws and precedents.

The entire Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 11 Habeas Corpus information is here.

What is the Habeas Corpus Process?

Our post-conviction attorneys will investigate your or your loved one’s entire trial and pre-trial record/transcripts and evidence to find every legal basis to support your Writ of Habeas Corpus.

They comb through all of the court records, looking for what happened during their prosecution and, in many cases looking for what didn’t happen in their case.

That information is then taken to draft a persuasive and compelling petition to the appropriate court of criminal appeals for a writ of habeas corpus.

Common Grounds in Writ Cases

The grounds will vary, they are uncovered during that investigation. In our experience these are the most common grounds we’ve found:

• Law enforcement illegally obtained evidence.
• There were Brady Violations – evidence was suppressed. This happens when the prosecution of your case or your loved one’s case did not reveal evidence they had that would have been helpful to your case.
• Denial of effective assistance of counsel-  your attorney didn’t do a good job representing you in your case.
• Denial of your right to confront witnesses which involves allegations that you were denied the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses against you.
• Witnesses have recanted their testimony at your trial in the time following the trial.
• Conflict of interest issue on the part of the prosecutor (See information on the Clinton Young case where a death row inmate conviction is vacated due to an attorney in the district attorney’s office also working for the judge who heard the Young case).
• Conviction by a jury that was improperly selected or impaneled. This is referred to as inadequate or misleading jury instructions involving claims that the jury instructions were inadequate or misleading, leading to an unfair trial.
• Jury misconduct that involves claims that the jury engaged in misconduct during your trial, such as considering evidence not presented in court or discussing the case outside of deliberations, which violated your right to a fair trial.

Brady Violations Are Important

In regards to Brady Violations, a 2020 study and report by the National Registry of Exonerations indicated that prosecutors break this rule so often that these violations have actually become the leading cause of overturned convictions.

The report says it is limited to misconduct by government officials that contributed to the false convictions of defendants who were later exonerated—misconduct that distorts the evidence used to determine guilt or innocence.  So, misconduct that produces unreliable, misleading, or false evidence of guilt, or that conceals, distorts, or undercuts true evidence of innocence.

Unfortunately, the fact that Brady violations result in so many reversed convictions also shows that the Government usually doesn’t get caught violating Brady until well after the defendant has been convicted.

Believe it or not, individuals who are charged with crimes are often completely unaware that the helpful evidence even exists, so when the Government violates Brady, the convicted persons usually don’t know that their Constitutional rights have been violated.

The 11.07 writ may be also used in civil matters to challenge a person’s custody of a child or the institutionalization of a person declared incompetent.

Due to the large number of 11.07 writ of habeas corpus petitions that state and federal judges receive there are firm procedures that govern which are denied and which are allowed to move forward.

It takes knowledge and experience like that of Blizzard & Zimmerman Attorneys to prepare briefs that convince a state or federal appellate court to overturn these convictions.

Clients who face this uphill battle can have confidence in the skills and abilities of Jacob Blizzard, Matt Zimmerman, Sarah Durham, and Morgan Walker when it comes to post-conviction writs of habeas corpus.

We’re proud to serve the state of Texas in representing clients in state and United States District Courts.

Contact us today for a confidential one-on-one consultation to review your or your loved one’s case.

Consider joining our YouTube channel with informational videos on the 11.07 Writ of Habeas Corpus Process.

Texas and Federal Criminal Appeal Attorneys

Blizzard and Zimmerman Attorneys handle Texas state and United States federal criminal appeals and post conviction writs of habeas corpus.

Our law firm’s legal services in this area include:

State of Texas Appellate Courts

• Direct appeal to the Court of Appeals of Texas
• Petition for Discretionary Review to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
• 11.07 Writ of Habeas Corpus Petition to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
• Actual Innocence Petitions for Writ of Habeas Corpus
• Motion for Post Conviction DNA Testing
• New Evidence Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
• Direct Appeals to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
• Vacate a Previous Conviction
• Federal and State Clemency
• Motions for New Trial
• Motions to Reduce Sentence
• Motion to Overturn Judgment
• Federal Commutations
• State Commutations
• Habeas Corpus Relief
• Pardons
• State Clemency

United States Federal Courts

• 2254 Federal Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
• 2255 Federal Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
• Petitions for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States
• Federal Clemency
• Federal Commutations

Call today and contact the experienced criminal law and criminal appellate attorneys at Blizzard and Zimmerman for an 11.07 Writ of Habeas Corpus confidential case review.

Winning Freedom From Prison Download

Post Conviction Writ Attorneys Jacob Blizzard and Sarah Durham have written a free guide to the Texas post conviction 11.07 writ of habeas corpus process.

“Winning Freedom from Prison: 5 Critical Things to Know to Pursue Overturning a Conviction” is a free guide that provides you with insight into the writ of habeas corpus process here in Texas.