Professor Patrick Metze

Director, Criminal Defense Clinic Director, Capital Punishment Clinic Professor of Law, 2008 (806) 742-3787 x225 Email: patrick.metze@ttu.edu

Admitted to practice in the State of Texas

Degrees

B.A., Texas Tech University, 1970

J.D., University of Houston, 1973

Professor Metze initially worked for a real estate developer and investor in Houston, Texas. In January 1976, he established a solo general practice of law in Levelland, Texas, county seat of Hockley County, thirty miles West of Lubbock, Texas. Prior to 1986 and the collapse of the oil industry in West Texas, his general practice included periodic banking, collections, corporate, employee relations, worker's compensation, personal injury, oil and gas leases and contracts, real estate, criminal and family law. Since that time, his practice emphasized criminal and family law, with less focus on commercial, industrial, and labor related problems. In 2000, he moved his primary office to Lubbock and maintained a client base and close ties to Hockley and Cochran County.

Professor Metze's practice of criminal law involves representing clients at all levels within the State, including Municipal, Justice, County, District (both State and Federal), Court of Appeals, and Court of Criminal Appeals, with travel throughout all regions of the State. He was solicited and appointed by the Court of Criminal Appeals to represent two individuals on death row on their then-pending State Writs of Habeas Corpus, and remained qualified to accept Art. 11.071 C.C.P., appointments until he recently withdrew from appointment consideration. He was one of only 14 attorneys qualified for appointment as first chair in Capital Murder cases in the 45 counties of the 9th Administrative Judicial Region. In private practice, he was the only attorney in Lubbock who was qualified and solicited appointments to indigent clients for misdemeanors, juveniles, felonies, death penalty cases, and appeals in all courts. He has been dedicated to the representation of the poor and as such, maintains membership in The Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas.

Courses

Texas Juvenile Law and a seminar on Capital Punishment

Selected Publications and Presentations

• Course Director, 2005 and 2006, of the Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association annual advanced criminal law seminar (second largest seminar of its type in Texas);
• September 8, 2005, Houston, Texas, speaker on the topic of punishment enhancements at the Criminal Defense Lawyers Project's Nuts and Bolts Seminar, a project of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association funded by a grant from the Court of Criminal Appeals;
• April 28, 2006, Lubbock, Texas, spoke on the topic of When CPS Parents and Children Are Also in the Criminal System: Do's and Don'ts at the South Plains Foster Care Court and Lubbock County Bar Association seminar on Representing Parents and Children in CPS Cases Seminar;
• May 5, 2006, in Dallas, Texas, presented a paper on the topic of CPS Issues and Criminal Defense at a seminar presented by the Criminal Defense Lawyers Project on Indigent Defense;
• June 2006, received, for the organization, at the State Bar Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas, the State Bar's Star of Achievement Award for the Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association 2005 advanced criminal law seminar;
• May 1, 2007, El Paso, Texas, guest lecturer on the topic of Trial Preparation and File Organization at a seminar on Indigent Defense presented by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association;
• September 28, 2007, lectured on the topic of Trial Preparation and File Organization, 2nd Annual Texas Tech Law School Faculty Update for Legal Services Attorneys, Public Interest Practitioners and Pro Bono Attorneys;
• September 26, 2007, Red Mass Ethics Seminar, Lubbock, Texas, presented paper on Professional Responsibility From a Criminal Defense Perspective;
• Paper published in the Voice for the Defense, in three parts March, April and May, 2008;
• September 26, 2008, lectured on the topic of Direct and Cross-Examination Skills in A Family Law Case, 3rd Annual Texas Tech Law School Faculty Update for Legal Services Attorneys, Public Interest Practitioners and Pro Bono Attorneys
• Plenary speaker at the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Criminal Defense Lawyers Project 6th Annual Forensics Seminar, Dallas, Texas, October 24, 2008 on the topic The Current State of the Law in Texas in Qualifying and Challenging Experts under Kelly/Daubert
• November 20-21, 2008, gave an update of recent cases from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the United States Supreme Court at a Capital Murder Seminar at S. Padre Island, Texas, produced by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
• December 4-5, 2008, group leader at a seminar on Cross Examination and Impeachment at the Center for American and International Law, Plano, Texas
• February 5-6, 2009, provided update of recent capital cases from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the United States Supreme Court at a Capital Murder Seminar in Houston, Texas, produced by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
• August 2, 2009, panelist on The School-to-Prison Pipeline, at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools annual meeting, Palm Beach, Florida, providing a critical analysis of disciplinary techniques used in Texas public school alternate educational programs, attempts at changes in implementation, and examples of successful outcomes
• August 11-14, 2009, group leader, Criminal Defense Trial Skills and Trial Law Program at the Center for American and International Law, Plano, Texas
• August 28, 2009, lectured on Recent Developments in the Law of Expert Witnesses and Judicial Gatekeeping at The Center for American and International Law in Plano, Texas at a conference on Expert Witnesses for the Defense
• December 10-11, 2009, group leader at a seminar on Cross Examination and Impeachment at the Center for American and International Law, Plano, Texas
• December 18 , 2009, lectured on the topic of Criminal Enhancements, Prairie Dog Lite Seminar produced by Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the Criminal Defense Lawyers Project
• July 27, 2010, lectured on an Overview of § 19.03 Texas Penal Code, Capital Murder, 36th Annual Advanced Criminal Law Course, San Antonio, Texas, produced by the State Bar of Texas
• August 4, 2010, presented work in progress at the New Scholar Workshop, Southeastern Association of Law Schools annual meeting, Palm Beach, Florida. Paper entitled Time to Stop Kicking the Can Down the Road: Removing Disciplinary Alternate Education Programs from the Pipeline, continuing study of the Texas public school alternate educational programs.
• September 22, 2010, presented to the faculty at Wesleyan School of Law, Ft. Worth, Texas, paper "Death and Texas: The Unevolved Model of Decency."
• Death and Texas: The Unevolved Model of Decency" accepted for publication in Volume 90:1 of the Nebraska Law Review.
• Invited to speak at the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Criminal Defense Lawyers Project and Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association 30th Annual Prairie Dog Lawyers Seminar at the Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock, Texas, October 29, 2010, on the topic of Criminal Enhancements.

Affiliations

• August 2007, to May 2008, Visiting Professor of Law and Director of the Texas Tech University School of Law Criminal Justice Clinic.
• Member of the State Bar of Texas, United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, Hockley-Cochran County Bar Association, Lubbock County Bar Association (formerly serving as Secretary and Board Member, currently served as Bail Bond Board representative for the Bar)
• Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (Former President, Vice-President for Education, Vice-President for Membership and Board member)
• Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (Board member and former Associate Board member and Chairman of the CPS Committee)
• The Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas
• The College of the State Bar of Texas
• Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation

Hobbies include gardening, his dog Bertha, and trying to understand a seven year old Cockatoo named Rosie, and a most human attempt at being a patient, loving, firm, supportive, and ever present father to his children, Eric, 32, and Jennifer, 29, the most important job he has ever had.