Order in the Court!: Ethical Conduct in a Criminal Trial Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules.

In a criminal trial, the most common ethical duties implicated are the duty of candor to the tribunal, maintaining the impartiality and integrity of the tribunal, and the fairness of the proceeding as a whole. Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, these duties are broken down in Rules 3.03, 3.04, 3.05, and 3.06. Attorneys are charged with the responsibility of fully understanding each of these duties in order to interact accordingly with the tribunal. This Article will examine, in detail, each of these rules individually.

Additionally, the Article will analyze how each of the rules overlap and coincide with the Texas Judicial Code of Conduct, criminal statutes, specific obligations of a prosecutor, and other ethical rules.