Congratulations to John. F Shrode on his appointment to the 358th Judicial District Court in Ector County by Gov. Greg Abbott!
Congratulations to Susan Kelly for her appointment to the 54th State District Court in McClennan County by Gov. Greg Abbott!
Congratulations to Keith Hampton, Marjorie Bachman, and investigator Caitlin Meredith, all of whom contributed to the exoneration of an individual falsely accused and convicted of misdemeanor assault. Accused of shooting a school monitor in a parking lot with a BB gun, the actual assailant admitted his guilt and the eyewitness recanted his identification of the defendant. The defense wishes also to give kudos to the Travis County Attorney’s Office, as well as Corby Holcomb and Judge John Lipscombe. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Gerald Goldstein and Cynthia Orr, who saved Geronimo Gutierrez from the death penalty. Gerald and Cynthia received notice from the Court of Criminal Appeals that Geronimo’s death sentence had been overturned. The defense wishes to give thanks to David Weiss and the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Excellent work!
Congratulations to all the law firms associated with defending Arkema, Inc., against environmental crime charges during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The trial began in February 2020, went on a six-month break due to the pandemic, and resumed in October. Now the State has officially dismissed one charge against Arkema and three executives, and the judge has granted a directed verdict on the remaining charges. The four defendants were represented at trial by Rusty Hardin (Rusty Hardin & Associates), Letitia Quinones (Quinones and Associates), Derek Hollingsworth (Drumheller, Hollingsworth, & Monthy), Dan Cogdell (Cogdell Law Firm), Cordt Akers (The Akers Firm, PLLC), Paul Nugent and Heather Peterson (Nugent & Peterson), and Tim Johnson and Nick Dickerson (Locke Lord LLP).
Congratulations to past TCDLA President Betty Blackwell, who received the Distinguished Lawyer Award from the Austin Bar Association on January 28. The award recognizes the dedication and hard work of attorneys who have practiced for 30 years or more and have significantly contributed to the legal profession and the greater community. You deserve it, Betty!
Congratulations to Mark Thiessen and Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube of the Strike Force, who were instrumental in getting a continuance for one of Paul Looney’s cases. Looney feared contempt of court due to his expert witness being unavailable and his co-counsel being asthmatic and not participating in the trial until a COVID-190 vaccine was available. Thanks to the Strike Force, Paul’s case was continued until April 2021. Excellent work!
Congratulations to Alyse Ferguson for her appointment as a commissioner to the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health!
