Jorge G. Aristotelidis

The law office of Jorge Aristotelidis specializes in handling the difficult cases of criminal defense. Experience, education, and know-how are essential to successfully resolving your case. When you hire Jorge Aristotelidis you get experience, dedication, and a prepared and committed defense lawyer. Mr. Aristotelidis handles state and federal charges in trial and appellate courts and has argued before state and federal appellate courts, including the Second, Fifth, and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals, and has successfully appealed a case before the United States Supreme Court. He is skilled in the highly technical areas of writs and appeals and writs of habeas corpus. He has obtained downward variances from recommended guideline sentences, as is now allowed since the Supreme Court’s landmark Booker opinion.  If you need a lawyer that can handle a more difficult criminal charge call or email Jorge Aristotelidis today.

Certifications & Memberships:

Board Certified in Criminal Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Board Certified in Criminal Appellate Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Member, Criminal Justice Act (CJA) A+ Panel

Past President, San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (2013-2014).

Associate Director, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA) (2015-present).

Chair, District 10, Panel 2, of the State Bar of Texas’s Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel (2014 – present). Preside over all disciplinary hearings for the panel.

Member, Texas State Bar Committee on Criminal Pattern Jury Charges (2015 – present). Meet every two to three months in Austin to submit drafts and corrections to the State Bar’s “Texas Criminal Pattern Jury Charges,” multi-volume publication. See http://texasbarbooks.net/texas-pattern-jury-charges/criminal-general-instructions/

Bar Admissions:

All Courts in Texas (admitted to practice law in 1992)

Supreme Court of the United States (2006)

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1998)

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (2004)

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2015)

United States District Court for the Western Dist. of Texas (1995)

United States District Court for the Southern Dist. of Texas (1995)

United States District Court for the Northern Dist. of Texas (2008)

United States District Court for the Eastern Dist. of Texas (2011)

United States District Court of Wyoming pro hac vice (phv) (2003)

United States District Court for the E.D. of Missouri phv (2005 & 2007)

United States District Court for the N.D. of Georgia phv (2012)

United States District Court of New Mexico phv (2012)

United States District Court for the S.D. of New York phv (2014)

United States District Court for the N.D. of Florida phv (2018)

United States District Court for New Hampshire phv (2020)

Education:

1992 University of Texas At Austin (J.D.)
1989 University of Texas at Austin (B.A.)

Experience:

2011 – 2014:  Partner, Demott, McChesney, Curtright & Armendariz, LLP
1999-2002 Assistant Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division

Articles and CLE Presentations:

Conditional Pleas in Federal Court, Sponsored by the Federal Bar Association (FBA),     San Antonio, Texas, October 24, 2019.

Canine Searches at the Border (co-presented with AFPD Sara Martinez – of the Laredo Division), Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Texas Annual Conference, August 23, 2019, San Antonio, Texas.

Texas Criminal Jury Charges, Sponsored by The Center for American and International Law, Plano, Texas, August 8, 2018.

Winning with Pretrial Motions,” Unleashing Your Inner Beast Series, Sponsored by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA), Galveston, Texas; April 20,  2018.

Role of the Constitutional Judge in the Accusatory System-Shared Experiences, Co-Speaker with Angie Raba, Assistant U.S. Attorney – (Appellate Division Western  District  of Texas), Sponsored by the OPDAT-MEXICO, United States Department of Justice  (Hosted by Ray Gattinella, Senior Legal Advisor & AUSA Mary Lou Castillo, Coordinator). San Antonio, Texas; February 22, 2018. 

Role of the Constitutional Judge in the Accusatory System-Shared Experiences, Co-  Speaker with Angie Raba, Assistant U.S. Attorney – (Appellate Division Western  District  of Texas), Sponsored by the OPDAT-MEXICO, United States Department of Justice  (Hosted by Ray Gattinella, Senior Legal Advisor & AUSA Mary Lou Castillo, Coordinator). San Antonio, Texas; November 29, 2017.

Presented Crimmigration, Cutting Edge Issues, Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, October 6, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 

Presented Cross-Examination and the Right to Present a Defense – Law and Concepts, Beating the Drum for Justice Series, Sponsored by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers  Association (TCDLA), South Padre Island, Texas; July 13, 2017

Presented Cross-Examination and the Right to Present a Defense – Law and Concepts, Beating the Drum for Justice Series, Sponsored by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA), McAllen, Texas; November 16, 2016,

Presented Advising Criminal Defendants After Padilla, Sponsored by the San Antonio  Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (SACDLA); San Antonio, Texas; November 3,  2016.

Presented Texas Criminal Jury Charges – Basic Law with Cutting Edge Issues, Lecture for the Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Project State Public Defender Training, San Antonio, Texas; June 15, 2016.

Presented Advising Criminal Defendants After Padilla, One-Hour Lecture, Immigration   Law Course, by request of Professor Lee Teran, for her class, Saint Mary’s Law School,  San Antonio, Texas; October 26, 2015.

Presented Advising Criminal Defendants After Padilla, Sponsored by the Smith County Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Association, Tyler, Texas; October 8, 2015. 

Presented Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel Training, Sponsored by the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division, Laredo, Texas; October 2, 2015

Presented Immigration Law and Ethical Considerations when Representing Non-Citizen Minors, Juvenile Law Seminar Sponsored by the San Antonio Bar Association (SABA), San Antonio, Texas; October 17, 2014.

Presented Advising Defendants After Padilla, Criminal Law Power Update Seminar Sponsored by the Webb County Bar Association (WCBA), Laredo, Texas; October 30,  2014.

Presented Advising Defendants After Padilla, Nuts & Bolts Seminar Sponsored by the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (SACDLA), San Antonio, Texas;  November 14, 2014.

Co-Presented Key Criminal Law Case Developments in the Fifth Circuit, live online  webinar panel, for the Association of Federal Defense Attorneys (AFDA), April 11,  2014.

Presented Advising Criminal Defendants after Padilla and Chaidez, AILA Texas Chapter Spring 2013 Immigration Seminar, South Padre Island, Texas, April 26th, 2013.

Presented Castle Law, Self-Defense and Other Issues, at the SACDLA’s Summer Seminar on Assaultive and Homicide Offenses, San Antonio, Texas (August 10, 2012). *

* Course director.

Co-presented Padilla v. Kentucky: What You Need to Know When Defending a Foreign National in Criminal Cases, 2011 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting, Moderated by  Joseph B. De Mott, of De Mott, McChesney, Curtright & Armendariz, LLP, San Antonio,  Texas. (June 24, 2011).

Co-presented The Criminal Landscape after Padilla, at the Advanced Immigration Law Course, by the State Bar of Texas, Houston, Texas; February 24, 2011.

Presented Piercing the Search Warrant Veils, at the 7th Annual Nuts & Bolts Seminar, by the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (SACDLA),” San Antonio, Texas; November 5, 2010.

Presented Advising Criminal Defendants after Padilla, at the Federal Criminal Law Update, Sponsored by the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Texas at the Baylor Law School, Waco, Texas; October 28, 2010.

Presented Cross-Examination Law, Crawford, General Criminal Law Update, at the Ultimate Cross-Examination Seminar, sponsored by SACDLA, San Antonio, Texas; August 20, 2010.

Presented, via live webcast, “Advising Immigrants after Padilla,” with Javier Maldonado of San Antonio and Brian Bates of Dallas, sponsored by the State Bar of Texas, Austin,  Texas; August 18, 2010.

Co-presented, with Lance Curtright of San Antonio Padilla v. Kentucky, A New Obligation for Criminal Defense Attorneys, and “The Padilla Rule,” respectively,    sponsored by SACDLA (April 20, 2010).

Presented Piercing the Veil of Search Warrants, at the Jim Greenfield Memorial Nuts & Bolts Seminar,” sponsored by SACDLA; November 20, 2009.

Presented Crawford/Davis Update, at the Advanced Trial Series, sponsored by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA), Laredo, Texas; February 22,  2008.

Presented Crawford/Davis Update, at the Advanced Trial Series, sponsored by TCDLA, Del Rio, Texas; April 18, 2008.

Presented Suppressing Drugs and Guns: How to Win Without Picking a Jury, at the Fourth Annual Nuts & Bolts Seminar, sponsored by SACDLA, San Antonio, Texas;    November 9, 2007.

Presented Trained Canines and the Fourth Amendment, for SACDLA; January 25, 2007.

Presented Search and Seizure in a Drug Case, at the Second Annual Nuts & Bolts Seminar, sponsored by SACDLA; November 17, 2005.

Presented Canine Searches at the Border: A Review of Current Law and a Call for Change”, at the Sixteenth Annual Federal Public Defender Staff Conference and Seminar, Houston, Texas; August 2001.

Presented Cutting Edge Issues in Illegal Entry Cases, Nuevas Fronteras en Defenses Fronteriza-II/Advanced Criminal Defense In Border Cases-II New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association seminar, Las Cruces, New Mexico; May 2000.