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Obtaining justice in court is a never-ending process of learning; self-development; blood, sweat and tears; self discovery; inter-discovery; often deep pain that can transform into strength and growth, but often with more pain along the way; banding together with birds of a feather; and giving back what we have learned. Texas criminal defense lawyer -- moved recently from Houston to Maryland -- Eric J. Davis (until he has a website, reachable at eric.davis@gmx.us and 713-227-2727) believes strongly in giving back what he has learned, and in integrating what he learns into what he already knows, rather than shedding valuable experience and ability with the latest teachings.
Fairfax, Virginia criminal defense lawyer Jon Katz met Eric at the spring 2026 National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers program, and learned that Eric, like Jon, is a Trial Lawyers College alum, where Eric is on the TLC board and staff. Eric is also a member of the NACDL board of directors. He states straight out that the criminal justice system evolved out of racism, and finds positive ways to deal with that, including bringing race to the attention of jurors so that they will help criminal defendants when they spot racial bias and unfairness.
Eric is full of optimistic energy and fight, including in talking about his acquittal for a firearm defendant by focusing on how police rushed to judgment and narrowed themselves to finding evidence to prove him guilty, rather than considering other possible suspects after finding a firearm in an empty vehicle.
Eric talks about how his experience with the Trial Lawyers College and its focus on psychodrama and storytelling helped him feel freer in pursuing justice for his clients, including focusing on the emotions of the case, the emotions of the jurors and of the actors in the case and their motivations for how they acted.
Eric tells a great personal story during jury selection / voir dire to inspire them to be open about racial issues -- rather than expecting to transform their prejudices in the short timespan of a trial -- by recounting how he had his defenses up when walking to fill his empty gas tank when a truck with an older white driver slowed down, and how the driver -- after they learned how much they had in common -- told Eric how he at first thought Eric was up to no good, and Eric confessed to having first had the same view of the truck driver. And then Eric asks the jurors about any assumptions they are making about race, to start the discussion. Pure brilliance.
Rules that help for a fair trial for a criminal defendant are great, but often are few and far between, and are not always sufficiently enforced. That is why I prominently display a Gladiator film clip board in my office, as a reminder of how Russell Crowe's Maximus Decimus Meridius and his teammates win despite the absence of any rules protecting them, and despite the lowest and basest violence from their opponents. Eric Davis reminds us that we can win justice for criminal defendants even when the rules do not appear to be in our favor nor to be sufficiently enforced when those rules are favorable to criminal defendants. He starts by diving deep into the jury selection process, with conversations in which he steers guilty verdict-leaning jurors closer to his side, sometimes by adding one variation to the conversation at a time. (See minute 29 in his presentation here.) We can open and widen avenues to acquittal.
This Beat the Prosecution episode is also available on YouTube and Apple podcasts.
This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).
If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675
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