Ronald Dale Earle was an American politician and judge who was,from January 1977 to January 2009,the District Attorney for Travis County,Texas. He became nationally known for filing charges against House majority leader Tom DeLay in September 2005 for conspiring to violate Texas' election law and/or to launder money. In Texas,Earle was known for his criminal justice reform efforts which focused on crime prevention,alternative sentencing,victim advocacy,and the reintegration of former offenders into society. In 1983,Earle –an Eagle Scout –prosecuted himself for an election law violation after missing a campaign finance filing deadline by one day;he was fined $212. Earle was a fixture in Travis County politics and served in public office there for more than 30 years,joking that he was asked if he was the "District Eternity".
The structure of the judiciary of Texas is laid out in Article 5 of the Constitution of Texas and is further defined by statute,in particular the Texas Government Code and Texas Probate Code. The structure is complex,featuring many layers of courts,numerous instances of overlapping jurisdiction,several differences between counties,as well as an unusual bifurcated appellate system at the top level found in only one other state:Oklahoma. Municipal Courts are the most active courts,with County Courts and District Courts handling most other cases and often sharing the same courthouse.
The Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for civil matters in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court,the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,is the court of last resort in criminal matters.
The 1991 Austin yogurt shop killings are an unsolved quadruple homicide which took place at an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop in Austin,Texas,United States on Friday,December 6,1991. The victims were four teenage girls:13-year-old Amy Ayers,17-year-old Eliza Thomas,17-year-old Jennifer Harbison,and Jennifer's 15-year-old sister Sarah. Jennifer and Eliza were the shop employees,while Sarah and her friend Amy were in the shop to get a ride home with Jennifer after it closed at 11:00 pm. Approximately one hour before closing time,a man who had tried to hustle customers in his queue was permitted to use the toilet in the back,which took a very long time and may have jammed a rear door open. A couple who left the shop just before 11:00 pm,when Jennifer locked the front door to prevent more customers from entering,reported seeing two men at a table acting furtively.
Wayne Patrick "Pat" Priest was a San Antonio,Texas state court judge who has presided over a number of nationally and regionally important cases.
Tom DeLay,a Republican U.S. Representative from Texas from 1979–83,and from 1985–2006 and the House Majority Leader from 2003–05,was convicted in 2010 of money laundering and conspiracy charges related to illegal campaign finance activities aimed at helping Republican candidates for Texas state office in the 2002 elections. In 2013,a Texas Court of Appeals panel acquitted DeLay when it overturned his conviction. This decision was affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on October 1,2014. DeLay had three years from that date,i.e. until October 1,2017,to file any lawsuits for wrongful action.
The Texas Courts of Appeals are part of the Texas judicial system. In Texas,all cases appealed from district and county courts,criminal and civil,go to one of the fourteen intermediate courts of appeals,with one exception:death penalty cases. The latter are taken directly to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,the court of last resort for criminal matters in the State of Texas. The highest court for civil and juvenile matters is the Texas Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court (SCOTX) and the Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) each have nine members per the Texas Constitution,the sizes of the intermediate courts of appeals are set by statute and vary greatly,depending on historical case filings and so that the justices on each court can timely adjudicate the volume of cases regularly before them. The total number of intermediate appellate court seats currently stands at 80,ranging from three,four,six,seven,nine,and thirteen (Dallas) per court.
Fortunato Pedro Benavides was an American judge. From 1994 until 2023,he served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States.
Sharon Faye Keller is the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She is a Republican.
Charles Ruford Holcomb is a retired Texas judge who served on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals from 2001 to 2010.
Timothy Brian Cole was an American military veteran and a Texas Tech University student wrongfully convicted of raping a fellow student in 1985.
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party,he previously served in the Texas Senate representing the eighth district and as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.
The innocent prisoner's dilemma,or parole deal,is a detrimental effect of a legal system in which admission of guilt can result in reduced sentences or early parole. When an innocent person is wrongly convicted of a crime,legal systems which need the individual to admit guilt —as,for example,a prerequisite step leading to parole —punish an innocent person for their integrity,and reward a person lacking in integrity. There have been cases where innocent prisoners were given the choice between freedom,in exchange for claiming guilt,and remaining imprisoned and telling the truth. Individuals have died in prison rather than admit to crimes that they did not commit.
The Judiciary of California or the Judicial Branch of California is defined under the California Constitution as holding the judicial power of the state of California which is vested in the Supreme Court,the Courts of Appeal and the Superior Courts. The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the California Supreme Court at the top,California Courts of Appeal as the primary appellate courts,and the California Superior Courts as the primary trial courts.
Rosemary Lehmberg is a former District Attorney of Travis County,which includes the capital city of Austin,Texas. She began working in the District Attorney's office in 1976. She headed many Divisions of the DA's office,establishing the Travis County Children's Advocacy Center,and was called "The Best Lawyer for Children's Issues" by The Austin Chronicle. In 2009,she became the first female District Attorney in Travis County. Lehmberg served eight years as Travis County’s district attorney before retiring in January 2017.
On August 15,2014,Texas Governor Rick Perry was indicted by a Travis County grand jury,but has since been cleared on all charges. The first charge of the indictment was abuse of official capacity,a first-degree felony,for threatening to veto $7.5 million in funding for the Public Integrity Unit,a state public corruption prosecutors department. The second charge,which has since been ruled unconstitutional,was coercion of a public servant,a third-degree felony,for seeking the resignation of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg,a Democrat,after she was convicted of drunk driving and incarcerated. Lehmberg was a district attorney in Travis County,Texas,and the Travis County DA's office managed the Public Integrity Unit's operations. The veto was seen as retribution for Lehmberg not stepping down. Perry pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Julie H. Kocurek is an American attorney who serves as the presiding judge of the 390th District Court in Austin,Texas since January 1999,being appointed by then-Governor George W. Bush. Prior to serving as a Texas state judge,Kocurek served as an assistant district attorney in Travis County for seven years.
Michael Aaron Persky is an American attorney and former judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2003 to 2018.
Texas state elections in 2020 were held on Tuesday,November 3,2020. Its primaries were held on March 3,2020,with runoffs taking place on July 14.
