By Zain Shauk
Houston Chronicle
September 29, 2011
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-lawyer-who-represented-Jeffs-charged-with-2195516.php
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| TONY GUTIERREZ : ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARGED: Criminal defense lawyer Emily Munoz Detoto, left, who represented polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, has been charged with cocaine possession. Photo: Tony Gutierrez / AP |
A criminal defense lawyer who represented polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, convicted killer Clara Harris and clients accused of drug crimes has been charged with possession of cocaine, according to court records.
A court hearing scheduled Thursday for Emily Munoz Detoto, 40, was canceled as she had not been indicted, said her attorney, Mac Secrest.
Detoto was charged with felony possession of less than 1 gram of cocaine on June 20. The charges came about three weeks before Jeffs hired her to replace prominent Fort Worth attorney Jeff Kearney.
Detoto's website highlights a series of recent successful cases she has fought for her clients, including two dismissals of charges related to possession of cocaine.
Court records include subpoenas for surveillance camera footage on the night of the incident from businesses near the intersection of Washington and Durham.
The requests asked for video taken between 11 p.m. June 19 and 3 a.m. June 20.
County prosecutor
Secrest would not comment on specifics of the case. He denied the charges against Detoto and said he believed a grand jury would find her innocent.
"I'm not going to talk about the case with the newspaper," Secrest said. "I'll talk about it in a court of law."
Detoto did not return calls seeking comment on the case.
Her website details her experience as a former Harris County prosecutor and as a co-counsel in the 2003 case that resulted in the conviction of Clara Harris, a Friendswood dentist sentenced to 20 years in prison for running over and killing her orthodontist husband with her Mercedes-Benz in a hotel parking lot.
Detoto has served as treasurer and vice president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association.
She has appeared on TV on Inside Edition, Primetime Live and Celebrity Justice, according to her website.
Jeffs sentenced
Jeffs, 55, was sentenced last month to life in prison for sexually assaulting one of 24 underage wives while he was head of a fundamentalist sect that built a compound in west Texas.
He was transported to a prison hospital after he fell ill from fasting following his life sentence.
Jeffs will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 100 years old and is to serve his prison term in the state's most restrictive form of confinement.
Contact: zain.shauk@chron.com
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