K. D. Fine

Mr. K.D. Fine is a former Criminal District Court Judge and is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. 

He received his B.A. from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1990.  From 1990 to 1991,Mr. Fine worked as a Congressional Aide for Congressman Craig Washington.  He attended Texas Tech University School of Law and was licensed to practice by the State Bar of Texas in 1994.

Mr. Fine is licenced to practice in the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas as well as the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.  He is the recipient of several awards.  Most recently, Mr. Fine was awarded the “Fragile Gavel Award” for his dedication to following the law in the face of unpopular opposition in a death penalty case.  He has been the topic of numerous new paper articles including articles in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, as well as several international news organizations.  He is also the author of several articles on the law and is a frequent speaker regarding criminal law.

Mr. Fine began his practice in Lubbock, Texas, with the law firm of Hurley, Sowder & Reyes, where he tried numerous cases with legendary, west Texas, trial lawyer, Dan Hurley.  In 2000, he moved to Houston and joined the law firm of Schneider & McKinney, P.C., a Tier 1 rated law firm, specializing in criminal trial and appellate work.  There, Mr. Fine tried and worked on a multitude of cases as lead counsel and as co-counsel with Stan Schneider, Troy McKinney and Tom Moran.  Mr. Schneider is a leading authority and trial lawyer in cases involving allegations of sexual assault and sexual abuse.  Mr. McKinney is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on drunk driving cases and is co-author of the two volume, legal practice manual, “Texas Drunk Driving Law.”  Mr. Moran is a leading authority on international criminal law and one of only a handful of lawyers ever to win an acquittal in an international criminal tribunal.

Mr. Fine’s clients have included organized crime figures in federal and state courts, on both the East and West Coasts, Teamsters Union officials, an Enron Broadband Services executive, members of the Houston Fire Department, Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

In 2008, Judge Fine was elected to preside over the 177th Criminal District Court, in Houston, Texas.  On the bench, he presided over hundreds of cases ranging from low level drug possession to capital murder.  Channel 11 News, in Houston, reported that Judge Fine granted more individuals deferred adjudication probation, sending them to treatment rather than to prison, than any of the other 21 Criminal District Court Judges.  His handling of individuals with chemical dependency problems and mental health issues, including in- or out-patient treatment, followed by long-term action in a 12 Step program or mental health treatment plan, as was appropriate, resulted in a dramatic reduction in the revocation rates of individuals, from 55 percent to 20 percent.  His passion, though, remained the practice of law. He, therefore, decided not to seek re-election despite the urgings of his colleagues, including defense lawyers, prosecutors and fellow judges.

Mr. Fine is a frequent speaker and author of several articles on issues in criminal law.  The following is a sample list of his published work:

Fine, K., Opening Statements: The One Who Tells the Best Story Wins, CLE paper and
presentations (2003).

Fine, K. and Morgan, C., The Admissibility of a Cohort’s Out-of-Court Statements: A Study of the Right to Confront and Cross-Examine, VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE (December 2004).

Fine, K., The Science and Art of Jury Selection (Part I, The Science), THE DEFENDER, (2005).

Fine, K., The Science and Art of Jury Selection (Part II, The Art), THE DEFENDER, (2005).

Fine, K. and Schneider, S., Extraneous Offenses: A Study of Rules 403, 404(b) and 613 of theTexas Rules of Evidence, CLE paper and presentations (2006).

Fine, K., Top Ten Tips for Preparing for Your DWI Trial, CLE paper and presentations (2007).

Fine, K., Judge, Alternative Sentencing and a Means of Reducing Recidivism, VOICE FOR THEDEFENSE, (December 2011).

Fine, K., Closing Argument: Basic Tools of Persuasion, CLE paper and presentation (2013).

Mr. Fine has represneted clients charged with an array of offenses, from DWI to Murder and from simple possession of marijuana to multi-defendant conspiracies to possess with intent to deliver narcotics. A sample list of a handfull of the clients he has represented follows:

Client charged with murder in a beating death, in Lubbock, Texas. The case was tried to a jury.  The defense was that client, although present during and part of the altercation, did not deliver the fatal blows to the victim. The jury acquitted the client returning a verdict of not guilty.

Client charged with possession with intent to deliver 35,000 tablets of ecstasy, in Beaumont, Texas, seized in search of a rented Dodge Neon. (Also located in the car was $350,000 in cash.). The case was tried to a jury. At the time of trial, the case was touted as the largest seizure of ecstasy from a single vehicle stop in Texas history. The defense was that client, although seated next to the door in which the drugs were found, had no knowledge that drugs or proceeds were in the car. After all, he would never transport drugs and drug proceeds in the same vehicle and would never have done either with a car load of young adults. The jury hung, a mistrial was ordered and the case later dismissed.

(This case also involved charges in the Federal District Court, Eastern District of Texas, for possession of narcotics, conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver narcotics, possession of drug proceeds, and money laundering. The federal charges were dismissed following the filing of a motion to suppress all evidence as having been illegally seized.)

Client charged with driving while intoxicated in Houston, Texas. Case was tried to a jury. The defense was that client, although almost twice the legal limit according to a breath test, was not intoxicated. Client’s performance on field sobriety test, both on the videotape and further developed through cross-examination, was more consistent with sobriety than intoxication and, therefore, the breath test was not accurate. Jury acquitted client returning a verdict of not guilty.

Client charged with kidnapping in Houston, Texas. Client was a Houston Police Department, Internal Affairs Detective, charged in connection with an extortion, blackmail, and kidnapping scheme. There was no question as to Client’s guilty. Client, therefore, pled guilty and a jury trial was had on the issue of punishment. The prosecutors asked for 99 years to life. After a two-week trial, the jury assessed punishment at 27 years, less than one-fourth of what the State sought. Mr. Fine’s co-counsel on this case was Mr. Robert Fickman.