Texas Crimes Against Children Lawyer

The Critical Role of Forensic Interviews — And Where They Go Wrong

In many child abuse and child sexual assault cases, the single most important piece of evidence is a child’s recorded forensic interview. Prosecutors treat these recordings as near-unimpeachable. Juries tend to believe children. And many defense attorneys do not have the training to identify the problems that can render a forensic interview unreliable.

Douglas Huff does. He evaluates forensic interviews against recognized scientific protocols, looking for:

• Leading and suggestive questions: Did the interviewer introduce information the child had not volunteered? Did the interviewer’s phrasing guide the child toward a particular answer?
• Source monitoring failures: Can the child distinguish between events they experienced, events they were told about, and events they imagined or saw on a screen? Young children are particularly susceptible to source confusion.
• Multiple interview contamination: Was the child interviewed multiple times by different adults (parents, therapists, investigators, forensic interviewers) before the recorded interview? Each conversation can introduce or reinforce details that did not originate with the child.
• Protocol deviations: Was the interview conducted according to an evidence-based protocol (NICHD, CornerHouse, Finding Words/ChildFirst)? Were rapport-building, ground rules, and narrative practice phases completed before substantive questioning began?
• Developmental appropriateness: Were the questions appropriate for the child’s age and developmental stage? Were the child’s responses interpreted in context, or were ambiguous statements given definitive meaning by adults after the fact?

When a forensic interview is flawed, the entire evidentiary foundation of the prosecution’s case may be compromised. This is where forensic science training and trial experience converge and it is where Douglas Huff’s defense work is most impactful.

Challenging Medical Evidence in Child Abuse Cases

Prosecution experts in child abuse cases frequently testify that a child’s injuries are “consistent with abuse” or “inconsistent with the explanation provided.” These opinions carry enormous weight with juries. But the medical literature is more nuanced than many prosecutors acknowledge.

Normal anatomical variants are sometimes misidentified as signs of trauma. Accidental injuries can produce findings that mimic abuse. Certain medical conditions such as bleeding disorders, bone fragility conditions and dermatological conditions can produce findings that look like intentional harm. And in sexual abuse cases specifically, the peer-reviewed research has established that the vast majority of children who have been sexually abused have normal physical examination findings.

Douglas Huff works with qualified defense medical experts to ensure that the court hears the full picture and not just the prosecution’s interpretation. His forensic science training gives him the ability to read and understand the medical literature, cross-examine prosecution experts on their methodology, and present alternative explanations that are grounded in science.

Sentencing Mitigation in Cases Involving Children

Cases involving children carry some of the harshest sentencing ranges in Texas and federal law. If a case reaches the sentencing phase, whether through plea agreement or conviction after trial, the quality of sentencing preparation is critical.

Deandra Grant Law’s in-house mitigation team prepares comprehensive biographical sentencing reports that present the full context of a client’s life to the court. In federal cases, where sentencing is governed by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, a strong mitigation presentation can influence the court’s calculation of the appropriate sentence within or below the Guidelines range.

Your Defense Attorney: Douglas Huff

Douglas Huff’s career in criminal defense began where the stakes are highest and the resources are lowest: the public defender’s office. For years, he represented clients accused of the most serious felonies, such as murder, aggravated sexual assault, child abuse, and learning how to build a defense with intensity and precision even when the system is stacked against you.

He then pursued what very few defense attorneys pursue: scientific training. The ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist designation required graduate-level coursework in forensic science, laboratory training, and demonstrated competency in evaluating scientific evidence. Douglas is one of two ACS-CHAL attorneys at Deandra Grant Law making our firm the only law firm in Texas where two attorneys hold this credential.

Douglas also holds Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) training, has published legal scholarship, and served as President of the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in 2023 and currently serves as President of the Dallas Criminal Defense Bar. He approaches every case involving a child with the seriousness it demands, the scientific rigor the evidence requires, and the compassion that clients in crisis deserve.