To be more specific.... my experience with with him was too low to rate. The only professional, kind, & respectful one was his personal assistant ( Armando ). He was hired as my son's court appointed lawyer in Harris County. He totally stayed unprepared every time he went to the back to speak to my s...on during court by having someone else's pa paperwork, and calling him another client/inmate name. During court my son asked him to call his Mother for her opinion about the case and he pretended to do so but shook his phone so that it can hang up, nevertheless, he never reached out to talk to me, nor did I see a missed call from his #.
I'm a solo parent & I'm his Mother. From the very first court date, when I met him.... the vibe was like:
1) In a hurry and not wanting to briefly answer my questions or break it down in explaining the 1244a option
2) He literally over-talked me and continued to walk, saying that he has to go but he don't recommend the 1244a because he is aiming for a dismissal for the evading arrest charge, in which he stated it was a state jail felony but, I later found out that it was a 3° felony.
3) He returned one phone call in the late evening around 6pm, after I left a detailed message with his personal assistant (Armando) for him to call me. Even as we talked, he never answered my questions thoroughly and constantly over talk to me on the phone.
I kindly; firmly and directly made him very much aware of his attitude and told him that he was being very unprofessional. His attitude got worse, as he tells me that he no longer has to talk to me, and he will just deal with only his client, and if i didn't like it, I need to go pay for an attorney. I knew at that very moment that I was going to have issues with him. From that moment on & court dates later, he no longer answered my calls or messages after I left a few to his voicemail and with his personal assistant.
He pointed his finger in my face after I confronted him about how he didn't represent him well or in his best interest. He told my son to shut up when my son asked him to go tell the DA of his proposal in giving a plea, and I personally feels that he needs to remain respectful and professional to any client he deals with whether they are incarcerated or in the world fighting their case. I would never recommend him to anyone because of my personal experience. During the process of fighting the evading arrest charge, I called the court in making a complaint about him. They gave me my options on what to do to make a complaint against him because he was too far in the case to be allowed off & get a new lawyer.
I just wanted to share my family's unprofessional experience we had with Ray Castro because I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. My son felt like he was fighting against the DA & his lawyer. He felt like he couldn't trust him. Not one time did I disrespect Mr. Ray Castro. Not one time did I curse him. However, I'm a very direct, respectful, out-spoken, and genuine person. I stand on fairness and equality. I believe that, "right is right and wrong is wrong" and you should "treat people how you want to be treated." I know that being a court appointed attorney may be stressful and overwhelming because you under so much pressure but treat people as human beings understanding and respecting their case along with their charges, hearing the overall facts of the matter. My son did a plea of a 6 years deferred adjudication probation and did six months in jail. He was sent off to Ymac (young men about change), & put on a waiting list. Mr. Ray Castro stated that "I needed to be glad he got the 6yrs." Mr. Castro stood before the DA and Judge quietly, during court and never disputed, or argued against her false statements, even speaking on priors he was arrested for but falsely accused, standing before a judge, that found him innocent dismissing the charges. He has no felonys, so we felt like this was the best option.