TexasCHLforum.com

This may have been posted. I've been away for a few days and didn't see it anywhere.

Sounds like he needs a CHL.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hea ... 47781.html

Aug. 29, 2006, 7:48AM



High-profile defense attorney finds himself victim of a crime
By ANITA HASSAN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Defense attorney Rusty Hardin, whose high-profile client list includes former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich and former Police Chief C.O. Bradford, was robbed at gunpoint outside his home in West University Place early Saturday morning, authorities said.

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Hardin, who is currently representing Mayor Bill White's teenage daughter in a drunken-driving case, said he got home after midnight Friday after having dinner with his wife and some clients. Hardin and his wife had taken separate cars, and he arrived home shortly after she did.

When he got out of his car, the 64-year-old attorney said, he was approached by two men with a gun in his driveway on the 2700 block of Barbara Lane.

Hardin said the men forced him to the ground, put a gun to his ear and demanded money. They took his wallet, containing his driver's license, credit cards and cash.

Police said the men ran north down the street.

"They were there and gone within 10 minutes," Hardin said.

West University police responded to Hardin's 911 phone call shortly after the incident and, with the assistance of the Bellaire Police Department, began a search for the men.

Shortly after the incident, Bellaire police attempted to pull over three men in a green vehicle with a license plate light that wasn't working, but the men sped away.

West University police spotted the same car later, and six Bellaire and West University police officers stopped it.

The men were ordered out of the car one by one. Hardin's property and a gun were found inside the vehicle. All three men were arrested; it was a little over an hour after the robbery, police said.

"The West U. (police) response was incredibly quick," Hardin said. "They did a hell of a job."

Officer C. Castillo said such a crime could happen to anybody.

"I think it was just a random act," he said. "I think they just picked old Mr. Hardin this time. I don't think they knew who he was."

All three men are charged with aggravated robbery; one is also charged with evading arrest with a motor vehicle.

Among several high-profile civil cases, Hardin represented the estate of the late Houston oilman J. Howard Marshall II in litigation involving his widow, former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith, and one of his sons.

Hardin, a former prosecutor who spent 15 years with the Harris County district attorney's office, said he had never defended anyone for aggravated robbery before. He said he may or may not in the future.

"This didn't add a new dimension except that this time it was me," he said. "I was just luckier than most people."

anita.hassan@chron.com