If an attorney forgets to do part of his job, is the trial still considered fair? 

If your attorney forgets to call witnesses to testify of your Good character and everyone agrees that you are a good person... should you get a new sentence?

In Texas, a judge/jury determines your sentence by comparing your positive contributions to society to your negative contributions to society in light of the offense you are convicted of committing.

But what if this doesn't happen?

What if your lawyer decides to call no one to mention your contributions to society... would your sentence be considered "fair" & "just" since the only thing considered was your offense and your negative contributions to society?

What about your positive contributions? How would you feel to recieve a sentence that didn't take into account that you are a contributing member of society and had received a long sentence? Wouldn't you want to hear the good as well?

What if you were attacked by a group of criminal gangsters and had to do something you would never ordinarily do in order to defend yourself and someone ends up dying? Would you wish for people to hear that you were a law abiding citizen with positive character... or for people to only hear about the incident when deciding how to analyze what occurred?

Would it be fair for a prosecutor to say you are a bad person and for you not to be able to present anything and demonstrate that you are good?

FOR EXAMPLE: What if you were a mentor to young kids, and spent your time encouraging them in school, were responsible for their well being on a daily basis and were not only trusted, but paid to be as well because you were good at it? 

Is this something you would want considered when determining how good of a person you are?

What if you were also a good neighbor, left positive impressions on others, were only a teenager and the only thing people had to say about you was that you were a good kid with a lot of potential and in their experiences and opinion of you that you would never hurt anyone without feeling that you had no other option than to defend yourself?

What if you had helped raise and mold your siblings to be responsible adults as well? Would it be worse if these were only some of the things that would have been said about you that no one got to hear?

What if there were ten people who went to court and tried and wanted to testify for you - BUT your attorney refused to speak to them or even learn what they wanted to say and then allowed the court to decide your character and contributions to society without this information?

And then a prosecutor used this to twist things and said that if a psychologist or priest on Earth existed to say one positive thing about you that they would have been at court to do so but no one came because at the end of it... you are a bad person! And the fact that no one could or would say anything good about you is what your sentence should be based upon? But, you know all these people were there for you the whole time, but your lawyer never let them speak.

Would that be fair or just for you? And what if you were then told to spend the rest of your life in prison because you have proven yourself not to be a good or redeemable person based on what or wasn't presented based on your character?

Wouldn't you be upset? Would that be fair? Is that justice where your attorney can get away with negligence of his duty to defend you and you alone are the one who suffers for it?

This is what happened to nineteen year old Keith M. St. Aubin, when he went to trial for defending himself from what witnesses described as  "a gang of Mexicans surrounding one white boy". When his attorney, Paul Nugent of Houston, Texas, failed to investigate and call favorable eye witnesses and denied Keith the opportunity to explain what happened, the Jury convicted him on a high count of Murder.

After calling no witnesses to vouch for Keith St. Aubin's character and later explaining that he (attorney Paul Nugent) didn't think anyone who would do so existed. Mr. Aubin was put in prison to spend the rest of his life that had barely just begun.

*To see the 9 affidavits of witnesses who were willing to testify during the trial of Keith St. Aubin when he defended himself from a gang attack, go back to the ''Keiths Story'' Page and click number 12.*

Should Keith M. St. Aubin receive a new sentence hearing when a Jury can consider all of his good accomplishments to see how it would impact his sentence?

Mr. Aubin has been trying to get the court to consider this injustice, but the Texas court said that he should have done so when he was nineteen, already on his way to one of the most violent prisons in the State of Texas.

Other questions for consideration: if you were nineteen years old and headed to a maximum security prison in Texas, could you figure out Texas law and know what to file all within a year?

Is this reasonable to expect that from a teenager on his way to prison? Would it be reasonable to expect this ability to understand the law from ANY teenager? What if we gave a teen a whole year and all the books he needed in a "comfortable environment", would it be reasonable then for him to achieve this?

BUT, the Texas courts refused to consider this or any of the issues regarding the negligent conduct of attorney Paul Nugent, not because the court disagrees with his ineptitude and abhorrent representation of his client , but because the rules of the court say if you couldn't figure it out in one year by the time you are twenty years old and should now know the law (with the knowledge that lawyers have 8 years to figure it out,) but if you don't know, then the rules are more important than Justice.

Is this the American way? Or another example of injustice in our courts?

Does Mr. Aubin deserve a new sentence? If you have a comment, suggestion, or a story to tell, please leave your comments and info at the email listed below and we will be in contact. If you wish to support or if you are an attorney and wish to consult on your services, please see the front page in the 'What You Can Do To Help' section. Thank you for your time, and please share Mr. AUbins story with others as well.