Gregory Keith Zaney

I was in jail. Several lawyers showed up to be interviewed by me. Mr. Zaney was very enthusiastic, by far the most impressive, claiming to have "spell-binding oration skills and a charismatic stage presence." He assured me he is a winner. I'm pretty sure he had trouble staying awake during each o...f the four days of the trial. Instead, he made not a single objection to a steady stream of lies and misrepresentations from the DA (I could write a book) and his one sentence closing argument was so weak and lame he couldn't look me in the eye. After the verdict and sentencing he actually mumbled regrets -something about not feeling well that day and then he did actually try to convince me how lucky I was to only have a ten year ordeal ahead of me (really? really?), lucky?... that only (directly) cost $40,000 (add $150,000 plus loss of income), --he proceeded (as on many occasions) to exhibit the same mildly uncomfortable patience as if all he had to do was wait it out and he'd be home free; like when I reminded him of his own words. Words I had not forgotten, such as "don't worry at all, you'll never do a day in prison, maybe a year probation at most" or "not one of the felony charges will stick," -or "This'll all be over before you know it." He did not keep a single agreement, including but not limited to; keeping even one appointment, bringing even one of three crucial specialists, or addressing even one of the many damaging omissions, errors, or falsehoods made on the D.A.'s part -such as losing the EMS field tests documenting the nearly comatose witness's 650 insulin count, or the fact that the mentally disabled witness who was from out of town spent the weekend with the D.A. in his family home sharing meals, etc. Mr. Greg Zaney made no effort. There WAS NO defense of any kind excepting putting me on the stand (which was a last minute thing because I made it clear for months, with each conversation, that I would not, that I was paralyzed with fear and distrust of the system.) But day three rolled around and he put the ultimatum all on me. If he had wanted to set me up for pressure he couldn't have done a better job. During the 15 minutes of our defense he made no effort to show that what happened was; a) clearly done in self defense, and b) that the specific occurrence could only have been a result of faulty equipment, and that c) the assailant was given immunity due to his destitute indigence (which was the only reason he was on my property, I was helping him out) and was thereby able to admit to the crime enough to falsely accuse me and give an air of credibility to his blatant perjuries. I had never been in trouble before; never been in a police car, hand cuffs, courtroom or attorney's office before. If I knew then what I know now I would have fired him by the second day of trial and filed to have him disbarred. He would show me his appointment book at length bemoaning his workload as an excuse for his negligence each time he managed to unexpectedly show up while I was in jail -another of his broken promises since I was 10 months in county when he said he'd have me out in 1. This all took place over the course of 15 months from mid 2004 to mid 2005. I used to be able to think of nothing else, now I can't stand thinking about it at all. This cost me half a lifetime of hard work and careful planning; my son's UT education and my retirement nest egg, my land, the house I built, my reputation and my future. I went from nearly zero debt to 90K in debt in 2 years. This man Zaney was instrumental in his complicity with the DA in ruining the life of a person who was innocent as charged. He literally never lifted a pinky finger to effect the outcome on my behalf. In my experience his only skill is selling you on himself -not in being that person when it counts. He is no friend of mine.

In June of 2000 I, as a police officer was accused of "Official Oppression". Zaney was retained by me from a list provided by my FOP representative (which by the way is the only help I received from the FOP). Zaney and I met and he stated that he had handled cases like mine and based on the resear...ch he did on my case he felt that I was being railroaded by my PD and it was a BS case and not to worry. Zaney did not communicate with me unless I contacted him numerous times first. Zaney advised that he was in the middle of a murder trial and filed a continuance until after the murder trial was over.. Zaney contacted me only after I called his office several times and when contacted he advised " I'm really drained from this murder trial and I need time to regroup." Ask yourself how would I feel if I called a police department for help and they responded as Zaney did...or if you called your DR...people we trust and depend on. Note: I was seriously depressed, scared and felt as if I really had no hope and no support (this is putting it very mildly. Zaney contacted me for a meeting, one of very few to adivse me that the newly elected Bell County DA (Garza) was trying to make a name for himself and if I went to trial he planned to put me in jail. Then this lawyer, once zealous and confident (or so I beleived) who told me that my case would be a piece of cake now advised that in his opinion I should accept a plea bargain that the DA offered. I, never having been in a position such as this put my trust in Zaney, so contrary to everything I felt and believed or was led to believe (that it was a BS case and not to worry) I reluctantly and with much regret and under much pressure took the plea. In hindsight I should've found another lawyer and fought the charges and I believe that I would've beaten the charge because it WAS a BS case. In my opinion Zaney felt he "had better and more important" things to do and lost interest in my case...in short got lazy. The charge is listed in the Texas Penal Code as a Class A misdemeanor but somehow was filed as a Felony reduced to a Misdemeanor. I advised Zaney of this error and he stated that he would look into it and have it corrected again I took Zaney at his word. At this time August 2013, after I did a criminal history check on myself the charge still reads as a Felony. I've been advised that I have to employ yet another lawyer to correct a mistake that I didn't make and was not corrected by "my lawyer." This "Felony" charge has prevented me from obtaining several employment opportunities and has impacted my life very negatively ever since the beginning.