CRIMINAL DEFENSE 

Melinda Carroll has been assisting the defense bar since 1995. She is a life-long resident of East Texas. Ms. Carroll has a degree in civil engineering, but found her passion in defending the United States Constitution and assisting citizens facing legal challenges. She has worked as a paralegal, juror consultant and forensic investigator.

 

During her 26 years of criminal defense, she has participated in more than fifty (50) capital murder defenses and countless state and federal trials. Ms. Carroll is involved in all areas of the practice of Criminal Defense. Her expert case evaluations and critical review of police investigations has resulted in numerous favorable dispositions of many clients. She has excellent interrogation skills and is able to discover evidence that law enforcement were unsuccessful in obtaining. She is known to vigorously review case discovery including digital, audio and video evidence in trial preparation and has often discovered evidence that all other investigators had missed or ignored. Her unconventional efforts and tactics are extreme in preparing a defense for  clients. Ms. Carroll is an expert in jury selection and has assisted in the voir dire (jury selection) process in hundreds of criminal cases.  Melinda has developed valuable relationships with many law enforcement agencies, both federal and state, including the FBI, US Marshals Office, DEA, Texas Rangers and local police and sheriff's departments.

Ms. Carroll is the owner of Texas Investigations and Forensic Services (TIFS) A-18,113 which is a private investigation firm that assists criminal and civil investigations, surveillance, and service of process. TIFS employs an excellent team of investigators and process servers to assist  law firms and the federal and state bars in Smith and the surrounding counties.

 

Ms. Carroll is a member of Texas Association of Licensed Investigators, Texas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Smith County Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association.