A Note of Gratitude for Another Term and 2021 Update

A Note of Gratitude for Another Term and 2021 Update

It’s official: Judge Birmingham is unopposed for re-election thus securing his third term. “Thank you for allowing me to continue to serve as the Presiding Judge of the 292nd. It is an honor of a lifetime, and I have each of you to thank. I also want to thank my amazing staff: Jessica Esparza, Kelly Simmons, Deputy Martin, Deputy Crumb, Carol Sanders, and Melissa Burke. I also want to thank the talented and hard-working lawyers I get to practice with and learn from each day.” Judge Birmingham’s third term begins January 1st, 2023.

In the meantime, we’ll share a few highlights from 2021: 1) An in-depth study of Judge Birmingham’s AIM Court, 2) a statistical breakdown of the 98 jury trials over which he has presided, and 3) three of his academic projects.

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“Dallas Deselection” Project Announced

“Dallas Deselection” Project Announced

Judge Birmingham is beginning a preliminary study to identify “trends related to race, gender, age and ZIP code of every juror seated in his court” from 2015 – 2020, called Dallas Deselection, a “worthy project that could make the process more transparent for the public” according to this editorial from the Dallas Morning News.  Judge Birmingham adds, “Any time you can get people interested in what’s happening at the criminal courthouse, I’m in.” Read more about Dallas Deselection here:

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“LandMark Tool” Free and Ready to Use

“LandMark Tool” Free and Ready to Use

If you want to have the most important criminal cases at your fingertips, Judge Birmingham created a free, searchable database of Landmark Opinions for the Texas Criminal Trial Lawyer.1The following commentary is offered pursuant to Canon 4(B) of the Code of Judicial Conduct: “A Judge may (1) speak, write, lecture, teach and participate in extrajudicial activities concerning the law, the legal system, the administration of justice and non-legal subjects subject to the requirements of this Code.” The LandMark Tool is part of a larger project he is working on called “A Practitioner’s Guide to the Identity, Analysis and Introduction of Criminative Evidence.” Here’s more on the LandMark Tool.

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Quite the Humbling Compliment

Quite the Humbling Compliment

I heard that Dan Abrams and David Fisher were coming out with a book about the Jack Ruby Trial called Kennedy’s Avenger: Assassination, Conspiracy and the Forgotten Trial of Jack Ruby. When the June 1st release date finally came, I went to the local bookstore and picked up a copy. Back at home and 14 pages later, I almost fell out of my chair:

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Podcast Website Launched; McVeigh v. USA Hosted on Law & Crime

Podcast Website Launched; McVeigh v. USA Hosted on Law & Crime

Judge Birmingham launched “AMurderousDesign.Com,” a collection of materials related to his documentary podcast “A Murderous Design.” The new website has links for each podcast, scripts and citations for each episode, and an interactive “Trial Visualization Report” for each historic trial: Timothy McVeigh, Jack Ruby, Charles “Tex” Watson, Charles Albright-a.k.a. The Eyeball Killer, and the Trinity River Massacre.

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Re-Election Announcement

Re-Election Announcement

I am very excited to officially announce I am seeking my 3rd term as the Presiding Judge of the 292nd Judicial District Court. I remain fully dedicated to ensuring justice is served in each case, big or small, and maintaining the dignity of the process along the way. Thank you all for entrusting me with this awesome responsibility for these last two terms. I have learned a great deal from each of you, and look forward to learning more in the years to come. 

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156 AIM Court Graduates

156 AIM Court Graduates

Over the pandemic, I fell in love with a free tool called Google Data Studio, a program that uses data to create interactive custom reports. I ran the numbers from AIM Court since it’s inception, and I am very pleased to announce that 156 young men and women have earned dismissals on 179 felony cases, avoided a potential of 2,544 years in prison, and performed 3,744 hours of community service. The report and some other takeaways follow.

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