The most important issue when arrested is your freedom.

My first job in representing your interests it to do everything we can to get you out of jail. Any other sentiment is a failure to provide client-centered advocacy. We will be proactive, holistic, and efficient when addressing bond issues for new clients. We value freedom for our clients first at Drew Willey Law.

If arrested on a felony charge, in order for the case to continue, the prosecutors must present the case to a grand jury, who reviews the justification for the police officers’ written probable cause for the arrest.

If the Grand Jury justifies the arrest, a formal indictment will be issued, meaning you have been formally charged with a felony and the case will move forward. If the Grand Jury finds probable cause does not exist for the arrest, the charge will be “No-Billed,” meaning the case ends almost before it began. If a case is “No-Billed,” the case is over and you will not have any accusations still pending against you. In Texas, defense attorneys are not allowed to be present for Grand Jury proceedings. This means typically a prosecutor reads an officer’s report, the Grand Jury takes that word at face value, and the charge is rubber-stamped and becomes a formal indictment. However, the defense can submit a “Grand Jury packet” for the Grand Jury members to review. This packet can highlight important issues that would otherwise be glossed over. Many times, if done right, a Grand Jury packet can be the difference between freedom and facing an oppressive felony charge. Drew Willey Law's work exemplifies the best Grand Jury packets. We stay proactive about submitting one at every realistic possibility. Your case likely deserves a comprehensive Grand Jury packet, and if you hire Drew Willey Law, we will handle it as a part of your defense.

The Michael Morton Act affords Texans more expansive prosecutorial disclosure requirements than many other places. However, it has not fixed all problems with prosecutors withholding evidence.

Civil cases are still afforded much broader discovery, when financial interests are at stake. When liberty interests are at stake, and with all the examples of wrongful convictions, you would think prosecutors would divulge as much information as possible, but that is still not the case. For example, many prosecutors still think of disclosure under solely constitutional Brady requirements, which is less broad. Others try to claim certain disclosure requirements are work-product. By not writing formal statements, they think notes taken during witness interviews about factual information should not be disclosed. And worse still, many judges who have come straight from the prosecutor offices tend to agree with them – and there is no recourse under the statute if prosecutors violate the disclosure rules, other than resetting a case, which does nothing to reverse the potential harm failing to disclose causes. Prosecutors are still allowed to stick their head in the ground and wrongfully claim ignorance. Meanwhile, an accused has to face pending criminal charges even longer with all the collateral consequences that come with it. It takes a lot of initial work and standing up to animosity, but our discovery requests are broad, proactive, and holds prosecutors to not only their constitutional requirements, but their statutory and ethical requirements as well. In every case, you’ll receive the benefit of Drew Willey Law's reform initiatives.

While we stress the importance of holding the state to their disclosure requirements, we do not merely rely on the information given to us by the state. Police reports are written in the light most favorable to a conviction, often with pertinent details left out and shortcomings hidden.

At Drew Willey Law, we proactively obtain information and evidence from the source through subpoenas and Public Information Act requests. In addition, we can utilize the best investigators in town in our network; and if you cannot afford an investigator, we will proactively request those funds from the court – because an adequate defense is not a luxury to only those who can afford it, it is your right.

Many times, evidence is obtained illegally. Other times, it is not clear how evidence is obtained. Officers, despite their supposed training, often completely leave out how they obtained the right to search a person, car, or house.

Illegally obtained evidence may not be used at trial, and should be suppressed. To reach this result, Drew Willey Law is proactive in filing motions to suppress and holding hearings requiring the state to justify their searches and acquisition of evidence. When evidence is obtained illegally, it is not a “technicality,” but a constitutional right that has been violated. Our nation and freedom are based on these rights, and if we allow them to be deteriorated, we lose all fundamental values of freedom and democracy. Police and prosecutors may not break the law when trying to enforce the law. If you hire Drew Willey Law, we will uphold your rights to the fullest at any and every opportunity. Our comprehensively researched and enacted motions to suppress is just one vital way we fight for you and for freedom.

One often overlooked key area of defense is checking the background of every officer involved in your criminal accusation investigation and arrest. Particular officers often have ongoing issues, and the police “code of silence” results in their conduct being minimized in future cases, even if similar harmful conduct occurs.

An example is if an officer has previously been disciplined for lying on offense reports and abusing inmates, and on a new charge where he was the arresting officer, the agency has another officer write up the report, many details are left out, and an injury to the arrested is claimed as “self-inflicted” without any further details. If an officer’s background is not checked in this circumstance, a defendant does not have a clear picture of the oppressive forces against them, which must be called out as a part of any adequate defense. Therefore, at Drew Willey Law, we comprehensively research every officer involved in your investigation and arrest if you choose to hire us.

The most important part of any case is who you, the client, are as your unique, humane person. We want to know you – not just for the case, but so all of our lives can be enriched by knowing each other.

The two most important aspects of any attorney-client relationship is: 1) trust, and 2) open communication. You will see those values from us if you hire us. Therefore, we will get to know your social history, education background, service in the community, professional path, etc. We view our staff and clients as family, loving all. We hope you will feel welcome and would be happy to have you become a part of the family – just call us!

From the first interaction through case resolution, negotiation tactics are being used, whether you realize it or not. You want a defense attorney who understands and employs more developed and professional negotiations than the opposition.

Drew Willey Law assesses appropriate case resolutions by focusing on preventing oppression, wrongful incarceration, and improper convictions, in an effort to compel a justice defined by making us whole. We give the State every opportunity to meet us with a case resolution that realizes that justice. From day one of hearing about any case, however, we are preparing for the State to not understand the same level of justice for our clients by staying proactive and trial ready. Taking cases to trial is not happening enough in our system, but it happens more with Drew Willey Law. Trial is our biggest bargaining chip and a foundational right of everyone in the American system. We stand ready for trial for every client until they realize a satisfactory case resolution, especially if that means a dismissal or a “not guilty” jury verdict. Unfortunately, most lawyers in the criminal industry have no training in professional business negotiations. Drew Willey Law has that training and employs it in every case we handle.

Your story is your life. It is sacred and personal. Accusers attempt to infiltrate your story, minimize it, thwart it, and dehumanize it. At Drew Willey Law, extensive storytelling training allows us to fully understand and communicate the value of your story.

We will honor it with every aspect of your case and beyond. Further, your story, from your perspective, needs to be understood by all. We will take the time to know your full story, honor it, protect it when necessary, and importantly, tell it when necessary. And we do not just mean at trial – your story is to be preserved and pursued from day one of our representation. Every interaction with your accusers (complaining witnesses, police, prosecutors, and unfortunately, sometimes judges) will involve some level of storytelling. We have been extensively trained in storytelling and will apply it to your benefit throughout every case, from the first moment you retain us and for the duration of any trial or other disposition.

Drew Willey Law has had the best litigation training available for your disposal. The complexities and work surrounding any trial is beyond measure. Every rock must be overturned and every opportunity explored.

At the same time, every chance to counter the state should be utilized. Defending a criminal trial can be an extremely complicated and grueling endeavor – you need only the best on your side when going against the state! You also need an attorney who is willing to always be trial-ready and dive into that endeavor without hesitation and be prepared for every angle. If you’re looking for the best trial attorney, you will find them at Drew Willey Law.

Jury selection is arguably the most important part of any trial. The ability to read someone based on quick facts and responses to questions is a difficult skill to master. Drew Willey Law has spent the time to master these skills.

Especially in Texas, where those who serve on juries are usually not an accurate representation of society, it is vital to eliminate those jurors that will be unfavorable to you. Too many “state always win” society members exist (they fail to understand the importance of Constitutional protections for us all!). You need an attorney who can disqualify those jurors that will be unfair to you. More often than not in Texas, the majority of potential jurors fall into that category. Prior clients have found that we can successfully ensure you get a fair trial by busting the panel and dismissing a jury pool when necessary. (More often than not, we have excused the majority of potential jurors for uncovering their partial and unfair biases!). If we cannot get a fair jury for a trial, we will keep forcing the government to bring in more people until they find the fair citizens. And if we bust a panel, that means the state is more compelled to give you fair, equal justice.

Testifying at trial can be nerve-racking. Police are professionally trained to do so, meaning the scales of justice are again tipped in their favor in a typical trial – unless you have an attorney prepared and trained to comprehensively cross examine any witness the state presents, like Drew Willey Law.

For any witness the state presents, we provide comprehensive background checks, police policy and manual research (to hold them accountable for their actions), fact checking, research for prior inconsistencies in testimony, information gathering long before they take the stand, and skilled questioning – all to comprehensively tell your story for a jury.

Unfortunately, in today’s America, innocent unless proven guilty really means guilty until proven innocent.

Even though it’s not the standard, juries will often require you to not only show the state cannot prove its case, they will require you to disprove their case; in other words, prove your innocence. The only way to combat this mindset is to present your own witnesses at trial. Drew Willey Law will do everything we can to have our own witnesses and present them in a skilled manner so your story is told. We will also comprehensively cover facts and aspects for any potential witness to protect them from the state’s cross examination. Client Testimony – the decision to testify is always yours and yours alone. At Drew Willey Law, we often break from the traditional norm of advising clients against telling their story. It is your story. If you want to tell it, and if it might help your case, we will do everything we can to prepare you and enable you to testify.

Knowing your full story is vital for anyone making decisions affecting your life, especially when your liberty interests are at stake. In order to prevent wrongful prolonged incarceration, every relevant fact in your background should be researched and effectively communicated.

Mitigation can and should be utilized during negotiations or during sentencing to either the judge or the jury. Drew Willey Law takes the time necessary to sensitively and comprehensively gather and present all mitigation evidence possible.

Client-centered representation means putting my clients at the center of all decisions.

As part of being client-centered, Drew Willey Law opens and utilizes our network to connect you to anything that might enable your continued success into the future. We spend ample time networking in our community, and proactively engage and explore organizations that might aid our clients. When you hire us, you can expect willing and joyful acceptance into our family. We want to see you succeed in everything you desire, and will aid you in any way possible for us.

The State will name every witness possible as an expert to try to expand their ability to testify. At Drew Willey Law, we not only fully question the State’s experts’ qualifications, we explore every possibility to utilize our own experts.

If the scales of justice are to be equal, the defense must bring our own experts. Often, defense experts can provide better analysis and opinion. The State often relies on junk science, as indisputably proven again and again. We will prevent any junk science from being used against you, and input any real science possible to help your case. Even if you cannot afford the costs of necessary experts, we will do the extra work required to get the court to fund your expert, because again, an adequate defense is not a luxury to only those who can afford it, it is your right.

Implicit bias cannot be avoided when addressing the issues that you will hire us to resolve. Take the implicit bias tests to more fully understand your own and the deeply infectious nature of bias.

Often, we are dealing with heavy human emotions and gut reactions to life events, whether it is a jury, prosecutor, judge, victim, or witness. Explicit bias, even racism, is easier to deal with because it is an outwardly recognizable flaw that society is getting better at decrying. Implicit bias, on the other hand, allows very reasonable level-minded individuals to believe they can see past their own biases. But American society has engrained some biases in all of us so deeply that people often do not recognize it themselves. Drew Willey Law knows it is vitally important to address such biases, or else our clients are harmed and further detriment occurs due to these biases. It is an uphill, complex battle, but when you hire us, know that we will do all we can to recognize and quash the prejudices of anyone who may decide your fate.