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: Grits for Breakfast

Texas' 2009 judiciary by the numbers

The FY 2009 annual report on the Texas Judiciary (pdf) from the Office of Court Administration came out last month and included a number of notable tidbits related to criminal cases that deserve Grits readers attention.Trials extremely rareIn district courts, "Less than 2 percent of all cases (excluding transfers and motions to revoke probation) went to trial in 2009. Trial rates were significantly higher, however, in capital murder and murder cases, which went to trial in 24.3 percent and 20.2 percent of cases, respectively." In county courts, which handle misdemeanors, only one percent of cases went to trial.Prosecutor background predominates among judgesAmong Texas' 434 district judges, 37% had prior experience as a prosecutor, while just 15% had experience as a lower court judge...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 02, 2010 (boomark / email).