Attorney Profiles

Attorney Richard DeToto is a former Harris County prosecutor, former chief prosecutor in misdemeanor courts, and has a background of supervising and training younger prosecutors for the County. As a former associate of a nationally recognized DWI defense firm, DeToto has attended and participated in HPD DWI Task Force training on field sobriety tests and rode along with HPD DWI Task Force Officers while on patrol. He has tried over 100 jury trial as a prosecutor and defense lawyer, tried numerous complex federal criminal white collar cases, and handled federal criminal cases all over the state of Texas including Houston, San Antonio, Laredo and Alpine.

Attorney DeToto has tried cases ranging from class C offenses to capital murder. High profile cases in which he has represented defendants include a man accused of setting fire to Andrew Fastow's River Oaks Mansion, Roderick Fountain (accused of abducting and murdering his young child), and Ashley Benton in "The Chew Park Murder Case". After the jury was unable to render a decision the case was reduced to an assault charge and the defendant received deferred adjudication.

Throughout the course of his professional career, Mr. DeToto has been featured in the Houston Chronicle and Texas Monthly for clients he has represented. Further, many of his cases have been covered by local as well as national television stations. Mr. DeToto has also appeared as a legal expert on numerous local television stations.

Recently, Mr. DeToto represented an individual targeted in the biggest single undercover investigation in the United States regarding dog fighting by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Mr. DeToto's client was implicated in over 25 instances of illegal dog fighting in a nationwide and national dog fighting ring. At the end of the day, the client was only sentenced to 6 months in the Harris County Jail. The story is chronicled in the August 2009 edition of Texas Monthly Magazine.

Attorney DeToto is licensed to practice in the Southern District of Texas since 2001 and is licensed pro hoc vice in the Western District of Texas. His work has been published in Voice for the Defense, October 2002. "Attacking Felony DWI Enhancements: Getting Your Client Sent Down to the Minors from the Big Leagues." He was voted as one of the Top Professionals on the Fast Track by H-Texas Magazine in 2006.

Mr. DeToto graduated from the University of Alabama in 1995 with a B.A. in Criminal Justice. He was a member of the University of Alabama Baseball Team as a pitcher and was a South Eastern Conference Academic All American in 1995. He was the starting pitcher for the Crimson Tide in the 1995 South Eastern Conference Baseball Championship in 1995 against Lousiana State University, a game in which the Crimson Tide won. In 1995 the University of Alabama Baseball team was one game away from the college world series in Omaha. DeToto Graduated from St. Thomas University School of law in 1997 with a J.D. He has participated in mock trial at the University of Houston as a Judge.

Attorney Richard DeToto in the news:

• www.houstonist.com/tags/rickdetoto
• www.click2houston.com/news/9356583/detail.html
• www.houstonpress.com/2006-11-30/news/conflict-of-interest   
• www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-31879584_ITM