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The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district,which each cover one U.S. state or,in some cases,a portion of a state. Each district court has at least one courthouse,and many districts have more than one. District courts' decisions are appealed to the U.S. court of appeals for the circuit in which they reside,except for certain specialized cases that are appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders,including the UK,Hungary and Singapore,and some states of Australia. Brazil is the only country in which an office of government-paid lawyers with the specific purpose of providing full legal assistance and representation to the needy free of charge is established in the constitution. The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution,as interpreted by the Supreme Court,requires the US government to provide legal counsel to indigent defendants in criminal cases. Public defenders in the United States are lawyers employed by or under contract with county,state or federal governments.
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.
Dora Lizette Irizarry is a senior United States District Court Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
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.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Texas for murder,and participation in a felony resulting in death if committed by an individual who has attained or is over the age of 18.
Stephen A. Zappala Jr. is the District Attorney of Allegheny County,Pennsylvania.
Rodney Glenn Ellis is an American politician. He represented Texas' 13th state senate district in the Texas Senate from 1990 to 2017. The district contains portions of Harris County,including downtown Houston,and Fort Bend County. He is a member of the Democratic Party. On June 25,2016,Ellis won the Democratic Party's nomination for Harris County Commissioners Court Precinct 1. He was elected county commissioner on November 8,2016 and sworn into office on January 1,2017.
Susan D. Reed was the Criminal District Attorney of Bexar County,Texas from 1998 to January 3,2015. She is a member of the Republican Party.
Charles A. Rosenthal is an American lawyer and former District Attorney of Harris County,Texas.
Sharon Faye Keller is the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She is a Republican.
Pro se legal representation comes from Latin pro se,meaning "for oneself" or "on behalf of themselves" which,in modern law,means to argue on one's own behalf in a legal proceeding,as a defendant or plaintiff in civil cases,or a defendant in criminal cases,rather than have representation from counsel or an attorney.
Kathleen Mary Williams is United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She previously served as the Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Florida.
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Republican Party,he has been the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015,but has been suspended since May 27,2023,following his impeachment by the Texas House of Representatives. He presently awaits trial in the Texas Senate. He previously served as Texas State Senator for the 8th district and the Texas State Representative for the 70th district.
Suzanne Margaret "Sue" Basso was an American woman who was one of six co-defendants convicted in the August 1998 torture and murder of 58 year-old Louis "Buddy" Musso,a mentally disabled man who was killed for his life insurance money. She was sentenced to death in October 1999. Basso was executed by lethal injection on February 5,2014. Prior to her execution,Basso had been held at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville,Texas,where all of the state's female death row inmates are incarcerated. At the time of the crime,Basso lived in Jacinto City,Texas,a Houston suburb.
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.
In the United States,a public defender is a lawyer appointed by the courts and provided by the state or federal governments to represent and advise those who cannot afford to hire a private attorney. Public defenders are full-time attorneys employed by the state or federal governments. The public defender program is one of several types of criminal legal aid in the United States.
On June 6,2006,a teenage boy named Gabriel Granillo was stabbed to death at Ervan Chew Park,in the Neartown district in Houston,Texas. His killer,Ashley Paige Benton,underwent a criminal murder trial which resulted in a hung jury. Benton's lawyers and the assistant Harris County district attorney agreed to give Benton probation in exchange for Benton pleading guilty to aggravated assault. Her probation was ended early in 2009,and her criminal charge was to be dismissed as part of terms of successfully completing her probation.
Ali Mahmood Awad Irsan is a Jordanian-American convicted murderer held on Texas death row. He was sentenced for the murders of Iranian-American activist Gelareh Bagherzadeh,a friend of one of his daughters;and his son-in-law,Coty Beavers,in Greater Houston.
Kim Ogg is an American lawyer and prosecutor. She is the Harris County District Attorney in Texas and assumed office in 2017. Her current term ends on December 31,2024. She was previously the City of Houston’s first appointed Anti-Gang Task Force Director,and the executive director of Crime Stoppers of Houston. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
References
- ↑ "TJB CCA About the Court Judge Mary Lou Keel" . Retrieved 2017-11-22.
- ↑ McGaughy, Lauren (2016-02-01). "Candidates cite politics as key to criminal court race". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
- 1 2 "Fort Worth's Meyers: last Democrat standing statewide in Texas". star-telegram. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
- 1 2 3 Flynn, Meagan (2016-10-27). "Judge Accuses Harris County Public Defenders of Flouting Rules". Houston Press. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
- ↑ "Mary Lou Keel". Dallas County Republican Party. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
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