State of Texas vs. Robert Bulloch Pope

State of Texas vs. Robert Bulloch Pope, 635 S.W.2d 815 (1982).

Mr. Pope was arrested inside a residence on Greenville Avenue during the “dynamic” execution of a narcotics search warrant. However, the evidence in the affidavit in support of the search warrant had been illegally obtained by the Dallas Police while executing an arrest warrant for attempted murder several hours earlier, at the same residence. Mr. Sasso started working on this case a month after he joined the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, in June of 1980, between his second and third year of law school. He was hired by Charles G. “Chuck” Clay. Mr. Sasso did all of the legal work, including, the legal research and the motion to suppress hearing, which was denied. He did the appellate brief, with help from one of his mentors, the venerable and Honorable Judge Jan Hemphill. He is not listed as the attorney of record because he was not an attorney when either the case or the appeal commenced, and was appearing in Court under the authority of his “Student” bar card (in lieu of SMU Criminal Clinic) He argued the case before the Dallas Court of Appeals against Karen Beverly, appellate specialist with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.

The case was reversed in a published opinion on May 5, 1992, by a three judge panel, which included Justice Jon Sparling, the purported author of the notorious “Jury Selection Handbook”, used by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office in the 1970’s and 1980’s to systematically exclude blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Catholics, and even Italians from serving on Dallas County juries, including and especially their capital cases in which they sought and nearly always obtained, the death penalty.

Mr. Pope got in some more trouble several years later in federal court and was represented by the legendary Richard Alan Anderson, now the Public Defender for the Northern District of Texas. Mr. Pope was very intelligent, and had actually studied chemisty as a student at Baylor, although he did not graduate. The day before he was to self report to Federal Prison, he came to 500 North Griffin at Ross to thank Mr. Clay and Mr. Sasso for their help. That night, he died of a self-inflicted shotgun blast to the head.