GET ME JOHN RITENOUR

 It took a while, but we finally found a defense attorney who will warm the hearts of DeSantis state judges and Trump federal judges. 

Meet John Ritenour Jr, defense attorney from Texas y'all!! How bout dem Cowboys!

Mr. Ritenour was appointed to represent on a federal collateral appeal from a death sentence Joseph Gamboa.  In 2007 Gamboa was convicted and sentenced to death for two murders and a robbery at a bar in San Antonio (pronounced San Antone for those of you not from Texas). 

Our hero

Ritenour visited his client once before filing the habeas. OK- some lawyers are efficient. But here's where things go off the rails a might bit. At that meeting Gamboa gave his lawyer documents that showed the prosecution withheld Brady material (Fifth Circuit Motto: "We gonna fix that damn pesky Brady case") showing another man had committed the murders. The client had evidence he was innocent. Not the sort of thing that Trump/DeSantis/Texas judges want to hear. That kind of claim is about as welcome as a bobcat in the henhouse as they say in Texas, or the Green Bay Packers. 

Ritenour didn't take the documents. But  when litigation over his ineptitude reached court, he did say he read the court file. Good for him! We can envision him on the back porch in a rocking chair, a few cold Pabst Blue Ribbons on ice, thumbing through the file. Life is good for court appointed death penalty lawyers in Texas. 

Then Ritenour got to work. He filed his habeas petition. Like all of us, a few typos slipped through. The first was including the name of another client he filed a habeas for - Obie Weathers. The second was raising the same claims, with remarkably the same typos that were filed in ol' Obie's case. The third was he didn't have Gamboa sign the petition. 

Now the Texas AGs went to work. Ritenour is a good old boy they like on the other side of the case. As they used to say in the segregated South,  "he don't cause no trouble."   We don't have the response, but we can guess it at least had a paragraph stating that the same petition (pretty much word for word) was denied for ol Obie, so it is sort of a res judicata incompetentia  kind of thing. 

But wait! There's more. Ritenour is a scribe. He likes to write. And in a response certain to warm the hearts of prosecutors and judges everywhere , he wrote (we are not making this up) "After considerable review and reflection, petitioner concedes that his argument for each of his claims has been foreclosed under existing, adversely decided precedent." 

Get me Edward Bennett Williams...get me Al Krieger....get me Roy Black...and now Get me John Ritenour! 

New lawyers took over Gamboa's case. Thankfully. The matter is now before the Supreme Court after the Fifth District denied the appeal of ineffective assistance of counsel with the oft repeated phrase "When the Brisket is burned, you're left with the corn and potatoes..." Or, that Mr. Gamboa had one chance on a habeas and his lawyer lost and that's what y'all get in Texas. Duh. 

Here's what Ritenour did not do. Hire an investigator; Research his client's claims of inncoence and Brady violations;  Consult with lawyers to act as expert witnesses. Ritenour is a busy man.  He did have a ten-minute call with Gamboa's trial counsel. "Hey Jeb, John here. I got that Gamboa fella. He looks guilty to me. You try that new BBQ place down on Fulton? They have some pretty girls serving cold beer...anyway, I'm gonna file ol' Obie's habeas and lets see what happens. Good speaking with ya." 

Gamboa's new lawyers obtained a written statement from Ritenour in which they asked him to admit his deficient performance. Here is what he wrote- we swear this is true:  

"Upon reflection, I concluded that I could not in good conscious do that."

As a blogger, our conscience prevents us from saying more. 

Check out Gamboa v. Lumpkin, 

The Supreme Court is considering this week whether to accept cert. We hope their conscience will be their guide. But don't hold your breath.