Posted by: Ed Chernoff
October 12, 2006
Topic: Victory Guaranteed

The State is our emperor for better or worse. But so much worse off we would be without the protection of criminal defense attorney’s like my partner, Bill Stradley. Allow me to lend praise to Bill. The last post I spoke glowingly of my other partner, Matt Alford. (See, “Victory Guaranteed”) Bill, however, deserves no less than awe with what he has been able to accomplish in his specialty; defending those wrongfully accused of sexual assault or indecency of a child. You might have noticed that we have a Sexual Assault link attached to our website.  Bill wrote most of that material.

Bill is referred cases from lawyers, investigators and agencies all over the country. In the last year alone he has represented two people charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault referred to him by prosecutors! Another client was referred to him from a District Judge. Why? His preparation is legendary. His contacts in the expert community are extensive. And his results are eye-popping. I don’t know how many dozens of sexual assault cases he has handled since the inception of our partnership, but I can testify that only one person went to prison. Only one.

Go over to the courthouse in Houston, Harris County Texas and you will see that a huge proportion of the cases being tried are Child Sexual Assault cases. The filings are way up, and it doesn’t take a statistician to understand that along with increased complaints come more false complaints. If a child makes an allegation, no matter how ridiculous, the system is set up to keep the ball rolling. It’s understandable. What could be more important than protecting our children? The problem is that this better safe than sorry mentality of educators, police, CPS and prosecutors implicate the innocent. A large net always catches more than just prey.

A good example of this is Bill’s new case. The case was referred out of Atlanta, but it originates from Lubbock, Texas. Bill is so worked up about this injustice that he peppers most of his conversations with references to the case. (I feel sorry for his wife.) Bill is flying out tonight to do some preliminary investigation. It involves a ten-year-old boy. Both of his parents are doctors. The kid was in the advanced placement program at his school, with no history of discipline problems. He was accused by a six-year-old girl of touching her private parts while playing under the covers of her bed. Essentially, he is accused of playing doctor.  The parents were in the house socializing while this was allegedly going on.

After the allegation was made, the police and CPS jumped into action. They immediately arrested this little boy. The District Attorney argued for detention! This boy spent ten days in custody, away from his parents, away from his school, from his friends… his life! Sadly, I’m not making this up. I have a ten year old. I can’t imagine who would survive my anger if this occurred to my son. My blood boils as I type this.  This little boy was finally returned to his parents, but was kicked out of school. His parents are livid.

Unfortunately, all of this happened before Bill was hired. The parents knew they had to hire the very best, and they interviewed extensively before they decided on Bill. They made the right choice. Bill WILL win this case. This nightmare will end for this family. But… will it ever end for this little boy? What effect will this overzealous prosecution have on him? What effect did those ten days away from his parents, in a jail cell, have on him? Jesus… the people in Lubbock who did this to this boy deserve what Bill is about to do to them, but it will never repair this little boy. I promise you, there will be no celebrating when this case is won. But in those quiet moments we all have where we sometimes ask what the hell we are doing on this planet, I hope Bill remembers this case. He is a hero. That’s why he is my partner.

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