Some Houston criminal defense lawyers are balking at a new policy that prohibits Harris County prosecutors from making deals or accepting pleas in felony drug cases until crime lab results come back.
Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson recently implemented a new policy that a prosecutor must wait until a crime lab has confirmed the identity and amount of the controlled substance in a felony drug case, rather than relying upon field tests or other preliminary methods when making a plea recommendation or accepting a plea. There is one exception allowing a prosecutor to make a deal without lab results: when she thinks an inmate should get community supervision without jail time. Even then, prosecutors can’t offer one-day-only plea deals.
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