JUDGE MANNY ALVAREZ
"I'm not sure if the alleged 'victim' in Sharif's case is using the state of Texas, county of Dallas, or if they are using her. However it stands, this epic adventure is costing you taxpayers a fortune and if Sharif is convicted, the containment of another innocent man will continue to cost you for years to come. All I know is, if the performance of Judge Alvarez et al is an example of Texas style 'justice', you all better move somewhere else or begin to scrutinize your police, lawyers, prosecutors, and courts much more carefully before you all end up in jail or 'justice'-poor!" Kay Lee
December 11, 2005
Attn: Dist. Judge Manny Alvarez
Criminal District Court No. 05
c/o Clerk of Court Jim Hamlin
133 North Industrial Blvd.
Frank Crowley Courthouse
Dallas, TX 75207
RE: State of Texas vs. Lakeith Amir-Sharif
Cause No: F05-25061
Judge Alvarez:
Please formally acknowledge that I am being held unlawfully on a felony stalking when the prerequisites of the law for such a charge are not a part of my case.
According to Texas laws, I should be charged with a "Class A" misdemeanor, if at all. My lawyer, (John H. Read II), knows this, the prosecutors know this and this letter shall serve as evidence that you also know.
Aside from my being innocent of this charge, I have "NEVER" previously been charged nor convicted of stalking anyone. I have ""NEVER"" previously been convicted of violating any valid protective order involving the alleged "victim" Cathy Jonette Hawkins.
I ask that upon this court's receipt of this correspondence you order the prosecution to produce proof that the felony stalking is the appropriate charge (Texas Penal Code Sec. 42.072 requires more than one incident where a person follows another in order to legally constitute the crime of "Felony Stalking")and, until that proof is presented, you take the liberty to ensure the letter of the law is followed and my case is reassigned to the misdemeanor court and my bond reflects this change.
Respectfully,
Lakeith Amir-Sharif
Dallas County Jail
Dallas, TX 75202-4729
LAS/
cc: Justice Watch Inc., M.T.W.T. Director Kay Lee; The Innocent Project Director Joyce Brown (Dallas); Commission on Judicial Conduct; (TX.) Criminal Justice Advisory Council (TX.); County Commissioner John Wiley Price; Texas Supreme Court Chief of Justice
More about Judge Manny D. Alvarez | |
Firm: | State of Texas, Criminal District Court Number 5, Dallas County |
Address: | Frank Crowley Courts Bldg. 133 N. Industrial Blvd., 4th Floor Dallas, TX 75207-4313 |
Phone: | (214) 653-5942 |
Fax: | (214) 653-5777 |
E-mail: |
Contact Us |
Web site: | http://www.dallascourts.com/forms/lstCrimDist.htm |
March 21, 2006: This just in today on fox four news a man was released from jail after serving an 18year term. His release was contingent upon the fact that he was found innocent. Per Sharif this is the 3rd case this year concerning Judge Alvarez wrongfully convicting innocent people.
DALLAS: WRONGLY CONVICTED MAN FREED
http://www.kdfwfox4.com/dynamic/story.asp?category=2
(DALLAS, March 21) -- After spending nearly half his life in prison, a man wrongly convicted of rape is now free, and yesterday, he walked out of a Dallas courtroom. 46-year-old Greg Wallis served 18 years of a 50-year sentence for rape. A DNA test revealed he did not commit the crime. Judge John Creuzot apologized to Wallis in court. District Judge Manny Alvarez prosecuted the case in 1989 and privately met with Wallis to apologize. The Dallas District Attorney's office released a statement, saying it will do everything in its power to see that Wallis gets a full pardon.
From the Dallas Bar Association Website at http://www.dallasbar.org/, here is the url for Manny Alvarez' and other judges' profile http://www.dallasbar.org/judiciary/profilelinks.asp
Judicial Profiles
Judge Manny Alvarez
Criminal District Court No. 5
by Al Ellis
Judge Manny Alvarez | Criminal District Court No. 5 | June 2000 |
As one approaches the Frank Crowley Courts Building, it is impossible not to be struck by the distance, symbolic or otherwise, to be traveled to obtain justice in the criminal system. Step by step, as one climbs the 40 steps to the front doors, you begin to notice more and more people as a mass of humanity, their lawyers, court personnel, and the judges enter the structure, all seeking a just and fair resolution of their problems.
Riding the escalators from the lobby to the fifth floor slowly takes us closer to Criminal District Court where Judge Manny Alvarez dispenses justice on a daily basis. Let’s take a peek at the proceedings on this particular morning.
A young 22-year old prisoner having just returned from the penitentiary pursuant to the "shock probation" program is receiving a stern but compassionate lecture from Judge Alvarez:
"The penitentiary was no fun, was it young man?" "No, sir. There was no sleep, no peace, and I was continually having to watch my back."
"Well, you’re about to go on probation, but I am going to hammer you if you do drugs while on probation. I won’t take any excuses. Do you have any questions?" "No, sir."
"You need to get a job as quickly as possible. I want you reporting here every Friday until you have found work. Do you understand? In addition, you need to get your G.E.D. I want you to report when you have obtained your G.E.D. Any questions?"
The young prisoner leaves, hopefully never to return for probation violation, for although Judge Alvarez’s judicial philosophy includes providing a second chance whenever possible, he will not hesitate to imprison those who refuse to take advantage of the opportunity.
Moving into Judge Alvarez’s office for the interview, we catch a glimpse of other sides of the judge’s personality. There we find an office with a few of the antique watches he collects and restores, a replica of the 1963 Thunderbird which he and a friend have restored to mint condition, several glass encased baseballs and boxing photographs demonstrating his interest in those sports, and a bright turquoise Elvis lamp. (Unfortunately he didn’t turn his back on your mild mannered reporter who would have been tempted to escape with the lamp.)
Also scattered throughout the office are several family photographs of his wife, Betty, and their 3-year old son, Nicholas "Nino" Alvarez. Judge Alvarez is fond of saying, "the apple does not fall far from the tree," which probably explains the work ethic that has served him well from his days growing up in Florida to the present where he not only serves as a Judge, but teaches evening classes on criminal justice at El Centro Community College.
Judge Alvarez’s father was a career employee for the Department of Revenue with the State of Florida, but was also a CPA who did tax work at night. His mother was a homemaker charged with raising him and his sister. At age 13, he had to obtain a special work permit to begin his first job as a stocker in a local shoe store. He rose from that position to manager of the shoe store. Then he entered the University of Florida and continued his work as a store manager while he obtained his education.
He moved to Houston to attend South Texas College of Law, while at the same time teaching math in the Houston Independent School District. Following his graduation from law school, he entered the practice of law, specializing in real estate and oil and gas.
The corporate practice of law was not what Judge Alvarez envisioned for his career as a lawyer. Having been inspired by his father to be a lawyer by spending his summers in a Florida courthouse watching criminal trials, he approached Henry Wade in 1985 and told him he wanted out of the corporate legal business to become a trial lawyer.
Taking a substantial reduction in pay, he worked his way through the District Attorney’s office, prosecuting every type of case imaginable. In 1989, he entered private practice as a criminal defense attorney where he remained until his appointment to the bench in 1995.
By becoming a judge, he was not only fulfilling a dream of his, but a dream of his father’s. The measure of this Criminal District Judge is best shown as he reflects on some of his experiences since taking the bench. His funniest case involved a man who violated probation by leaving Texas to gamble on a Mississippi riverboat. The probationer turned $15 into $175,000 in less than 30 minutes, becoming an instant celebrity and having himself photographed for posterity with all of his winnings!
Unfortunately, the probationer fell in love with a less than honorable waitress on the riverboat who promised to hold his money for him if he would take $1,000 and return to Texas to clear his criminal record. Well, you can imagine what happened.
The probationer returned to Dallas on a bus with his $1,000, the waitress filed criminal charges against him for harassment and he returned to Judge Alvarez’s court to be returned to the penitentiary with less than a $1,000 to his name.
The toughest cases for Judge Alvarez to preside over and manage were the infamous Michael Irvin cases and the American Airlines ticket scam case, along with the recent Dorsey trial regarding the famed Blockbuster murders, which resulted in a hung jury. The Dorsey case was particularly tough for Judge Alvarez as the murders were captured on videotape and the families of the two young men killed will be forced to watch the videotapes again when the case is retried.
Judge Alvarez’s hardest decision involved the sentencing of a 17-year old girl to the penitentiary for 10 years because of repeated drug use probation violations. This young lady was the daughter of two good parents who were professionals, yet she had fallen into a lifestyle of gangs and drugs and was unable to turn her life around in spite of having been given a second chance. As Judge Alvarez stated, his judicial philosophy is to make every attempt to be consistent and fair, to find people who deserve a second chance and give it to them, but to never hesitate to severely punish when warranted.
In addition to his work as a Judge, teaching at El Centro, being a dedicated husband to his wife Betty, and father to his son, Nino, Judge Alvarez has found time to involve himself in the community, especially in activities involving young people where he works trying to prevent them from ever entering the criminal justice system. Specifically, he is an active member of the Board of Directors of the Curtis Cokes Foundation, which provides young kids the opportunity to discipline themselves through amateur boxing and the Golden Gloves program. Judge Alvarez is not merely a board member in name, but actually works out in the Curtis Cokes gym and helps with training the participants.
In summary, perhaps the true profile of this energetic, dedicated judge is best revealed by those who he would invite to his fantasy dinner: his father, Abraham Lincoln, Francis Ford Coppola, Dizzy Dean, and his grandmother Rose.
Al Ellis, a past president of the Dallas Bar Association
and a member of the DBA's Publication Committee, is with Howie and Sweeney,
L.L.C.
Copyright © 2000-2006
Dallas Bar Association
Onsite Search results for: Judge Manny Alvarez
1.
AP SPORTS DESK | June 19, 1996 - August
20, 1998
Michael Irvin Drug Case Summary
AP - Indictments for cocaine and marijuana possession
against Irvin and two women were thrown out last week when it was
discovered that a member of the grand jury lived outside the county.
Criminal District Court Judge MANNY ALVAREZ ruled on the defense motions.
...Judge Manny Alvarez, who is overseeing Dallas Cowboys football player Michael
Irvin's probation, says Irvin accidentally cut Everett McIver's neck
with scissors during playful tussle. Alvarez had threatened to send Irvin to
prison if he violated terms of the four-year probation Alvarez gave him after
the player pleaded no contest in 1996 to felony cocaine possession. But this
incident provided no grounds, Alvarez said Wednesday..
2. Exclusive:
Judge defends attorney-like actions
10/20/2005
After jurors in his court convicted Ms. Hurtado two weeks ago and
sentenced her to eight years in prison, he told them they had made a
mistake because the prosecution and defense failed to present necessary
testimony. The defiant
said
Wednesday that he did nothing wrong by performing defense attorney-like
research during trial and, after a jury convicted the defendant of child
abuse, pledging to help her avoid prison. He said he would "fix it" by freeing the defendant without cash
bail until he could arrange for a new trial and said the illegal immigrant
might return to her native Mexico.
3. The
Daily Judge
Comment. In my 28+ years as an aide (law clerk and then deputy commissioner) at the Minnesota Supreme Court I prepared advisory memoranda on thousands of appeals, many of them criminal ones, and I always read the complete trial transcript, no matter how seemingly easy the case. Occasionally when one does that work, one comes upon issues the defense attorney arguably should have raised but didn't raise or, to give another example, comes upon facts suggesting ways of properly disposing of the case without reaching the issues raised. And in every case one must independently research the issues raised. To do less would have been to fail to give the judges (and indirectly the public) good weight. Whether the trial
in question did something inappropriately beyond the normal and proper is something some believe merits further inquiry. Whether the D.A.'s e-mail solicitation was proper is also something that now may merit further inquiry. We express no opinion.
4.
Toby Shook: In the News May 26,
2000
Mr. Dorsey showed no emotion as the
sentence was announced by state
. The defendant told the
he would appeal. Judge Alvarez noted the reference
to the $60,000 after announcing the jury's verdict. He said he will hold a
hearing next month on Mr. Dorsey's professed indigence before appointing
any attorney to handle his appeals.
5. Dallas Observer March 23, 2006
6. Concealed
Carry Database 2003-11-05
I was called for Jury Duty in Dallas County recently. I had the
priviildge of being called to the court of Judge Manny Alvarez in the 5th
District Criminal Court. As I walked in for the Voir Dire, I noticed the
standard silhouette target used in the Texas CCW qualifications taped to the
wall behind the Judge's bench. The head portion was folded down behind the
torso portion, but it was unmistakeable. It displayed a VERY nice tight
center-mass grouping. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to
congratulate the Judge on his marksmanship.
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