On Tuesday evening, at approximately 6:10 p.m., David Lee Powell became the 458th person executed by the State of Texas—the 13th put to death this year. There were a number of things that distinguished Powell from other death row inmates—all of which were reported by the Houston Chronicle the day before his execution. First, he had been incarcerated 32 years before his execution—making him the sixth longest term inmate of Texas’ 322 condemned inmates. Second, Powell saw all 457 condemned inmates go to their death since Charles Brooks was executed on December 7, 1982—the date the state re-started its death penalty machine after the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which gave constitutional license to the death penalty. Third, Powell was one of the longest serving death row inmates put to death in this country—one year shy of the 33 year mark set my Jack               Powell was a convicted “cop killer”—a conviction that makes execution almost certain in Texas, no matter how long the inmate lives on death row. It didn’t matter that Powell had become a changed man during his three-decade confinement on death row. His attorney, Richard Burr, said he had lived an “exemplary life on death row.” ...

El Paso County Commissioner’s Court voted last week to fire the county’s Chief Medical Examiner Paul Shrode, according to the El Paso Times. Shrode came under fire several years ago after county officials learned he had submitted three conflicting resumes which seriously impugned his credibility as a state expert witness. District Attorney Jaime Esparza said he is already reviewing cases to determine if any convicted defendants have grounds upon which to challenge Shrode’s testimony in their cases. “I don’t think we’ll see a rush to review his cases,” Esparza told the El Paso Times.             The straw that apparently broke the proverbial camel’s back in Shrode’s case came after the Ohio Parole Board voted 4-3 last week to recommend clemency for a death row inmate because of problems the board found with Shrode’s 1997 testimony in that case.             Although Esparza has supported Shrode publicly at previous Commissioner Court hearings at which the former medical examiner came under attack, the district attorney said some criminal defendants in the future may call the former medical examiner as a witness to question him about the autopsies he performed in their cases.             Even though pretty much everyone in the county now want to distance themselves ...

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins established a “conviction integrity unit” in 2007 whose purpose is to make sure that there are no innocent people in the Texas prison system who were wrongfully convicted by his office. The Dallas Morning News reported this past Sunday that Watkins’ integrity unit has recently shifted its focus from DNA cases to those cases of possible innocence not involving DNA.             Since 2001, there have been 20 DNA exonerations in Dallas County—most of whom involved faulty identification procedures. Police and prosecutorial misconduct, withholding of evidence, were involved in the other cases. Watkins told the Morning News that the experiences of his integrity unit have changed his perspective in the way he sees cases of potential innocence.             “At the time, I started out looking at legitimate claims of innocence, and obviously we still do,” the District Attorney told the Morning News. “But now, it’s how we improve prosecutor and police techniques. It’s about the ability to argue for changes in the law.”             Watkins’ office identified a total of 502 cases for potential DNA cases. His prosecutors tested 50 of those cases. Seven men were exonerated and 28 were confirmed to be guilty. DNA results in some ...

Personal Background: Incarcerated in the Louisiana prison system for 40 years from December 11. 1965 to April 21, 2006. Convicted of felony murder in East Baton Rouge Parish in June 1966. Paroled to the State of Texas on April 21, 2006. Married since June 1982 to Jodie Sinclair. Law: Jailhouse lawyer for 34 years. Prepared legal pleadings/briefs through all the state courts (trial/intermediate appellate/supreme court) and the federal courts (district/appeals court/U.S. Supreme Court). Experience includes criminal law, constitutional law, 42 U.S. Sec. 1983 litigation, civil law, family law (divorce proceedings), discovery proceedings in state/federal courts, exceptions of no cause/right of actions in state court, and Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b) motions to dismiss/Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 summary judgment motions. With the assistance of civil rights attorney Richard C. Hand, won first prisoner rights lawsuit in Louisiana in Sinclair v. Henderson, 331 F.Supp. 1123 (E.D.La. 1971). Legal writings published in Louisiana Law Review, Vol. 45, No. 5, p.1061 (May 1985); Journal of Prison & Jail Health, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 100 (Fall/Winter 1983); New England Journal on Prison Law, Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 556 (Summer 1981). Worked as “inmate counsel-substitute” in Louisiana prison system in 1973 and from 1988 through 1994 representing inmates before institutional ...

Jodie Sinclair has spent more than two decades in public relations and broadcast news in Texas and Louisiana. She has also lived in California, Mexico, Italy and Switzerland where she attended school as a child. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Jim S. Adler & Associates 2007 - 2009 Houston, Dallas, San Antonio Director of Public Relations Houston Downtown YMCA 2006 Communications Director Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force, Houston 2005 Member: Communications Team, Office of the Mayor Houston Downtown Management District 1998-2005 Director of Public Relations and Communications KBMT-TV Beaumont, Texas 1996-1998 Chief Assignments Editor /General Assignment Reporter khtv-tv Houston, Texas 1987-1996 Public Affairs Director KPRC Radio Houston, Texas 1987-1988 Weekend News Anchor-Producer Reporter kjac-tv Beaumont, Texas 1985-1987 Morning Anchor/General Assignment Reporter ut-tv Houston, Texas 1983-1984 University of Texas Medical School Medical Reporter/Producer Retina Research Foundation Texas Medical Center, Houston, 1982-1983 Public Affairs Assistant wafb-tv Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1980-1982 Legislative Reporter/General Assignment Reporter PROFESSIONAL AWARDS Public Relations Society of America, Award of Excellence, Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force, 2006 Texas Association of Broadcasters Bonner McLane Award for Public Service, 1992-1995 Anson Jones Award for Medical Reporting Texas Medical Center, 1994 Texas Classroom Teacher Association Award Education Reporting, 1993 Houston Mental Health Association Media Award Mental health Reporting 1991 Honorable Mention ITVA Award, Houston Chapter Medical Reporting 1984 EDUCATION Columbia University in the City of New York M.S., Journalism, 1985 Loyola University of The South, New Orleans, LA B.A., Journalism and Public Affairs, ...