"Overturning Texas Sex-Crime Convictions: Trial or Plea" Now Available

Criminal appeals attorney Matt Daher has published a new guide titled "Overturning Texas Sex-Crime Convictions: Trial or Plea," a comprehensive resource for anyone convicted of a sex crime in Texas who believes their case was handled unfairly.

The guide tackles one of the most persistent and damaging myths in criminal law: that pleading guilty means you can never challenge your conviction. This is simply not true. 

Under Texas law, a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus (known as an Article 11.07 writ) allows courts to examine issues that were never addressed at trial or during the plea process, including whether a defense attorney failed to investigate the case, whether witnesses lied, and whether the prosecution engaged in misconduct. These remedies are available regardless of whether a conviction came from a jury trial or a guilty plea.

Download the full guide here:

Overturning Texas Sex Crime Convictions - Trial or Plea - MATTHEW DAHER.pdf

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Read a summary below:

Five Innocent Men. Exposed by the Same Broken System.

At the heart of the guide are the stories of five men, all listed on the National Registry of Exonerations, who were convicted of sex crimes in Texas for offenses they did not commit. Together, they lost more than 80 years to prison. Their cases reveal how unreliable testimony, flawed forensic interviews, inadequate defense attorneys, and prosecutorial failures can combine to convict an innocent person.

Tyrone Day pled guilty to sexual assault in Dallas County in 1990 after his defense attorney told him he would be paroled in four years. Instead, he served more than 26 years of a 40-year sentence. DNA testing eventually excluded him entirely and identified two other men. He was exonerated in 2023.

Adam Sanchez entered no-contest pleas to three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child in Bexar County in 2019 and was sentenced to 25 years. His court-appointed attorney visited him only three times and pressured him into the plea. Both children later recanted, explaining that their mother's abusive boyfriend had coerced them into making the false accusations. Mr. Sanchez was exonerated in 2024.

Calvin Reed pled guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child in Harris County in 2008 and was sentenced to 20 years. His attorney, who later died, had only one documented conversation with him between arrest and plea. The complainant recanted years later, revealing that the actual abuser was someone else in the household who had threatened her into silence. Mr. Reed was exonerated in 2023.

Marshall Moreno was convicted at trial in Travis County in 2003 and sentenced to 36 years. The prosecution's own expert witness never even interviewed the complainant, and correspondence showed the expert coordinated testimony with the prosecutor to explain away inconsistencies. The complainant came forward in 2020, now an adult, and stated that the accusations were fabricated under pressure from her adoptive family. Mr. Moreno was exonerated in 2025 after spending 24 years behind bars.

Brice Blankenship was convicted at trial in Waller County in 2021 and sentenced to 40 years. No physical evidence supported the charges. The forensic interview of the child failed to establish whether the child understood the difference between truth and a lie. The prosecution withheld a key witness's prior theft conviction from the defense. Mr. Blankenship was exonerated in 2025.

A Guilty Plea Is Not the End of the Road

Of these five innocent men, three had pled guilty. They did so for the reasons innocent people often plead guilty: fear of even longer sentences at trial, pressure from defense attorneys who failed to investigate their cases, and a legal system that treated their convictions as foregone conclusions.

Their exonerations prove that a guilty plea does not close the door to relief. If your attorney failed to investigate the evidence, failed to challenge the credibility of the accusations, or pressured you into a plea without fully explaining your options, those failures may form the basis of a viable post-conviction claim.

Who This Guide Is For

Overturning Texas Sex-Crime Convictions: Trial or Plea is written primarily for other attorneys, although it is accessible to members of the public. It explains the Article 11.07 writ of habeas corpus process, the types of claims that can be raised, and what sets these cases apart from other criminal convictions.

More information about Matt Daher is available on his bio page. For questions about the guide or to discuss whether post-conviction relief may be an option in a specific case, contact Criminal Appeals Advocates at (737) 338-3233.