By Rob Kepple
TDCAF & TDCAA Executive Director in Austin
“Machine Gun” Mike Hinton was a beloved prosecutor and defense attorney in Houston, and his passing earlier this year touched a lot of people. Chuck Rosenthal, a former Harris County DA and Foundation Advisory Board member, led the effort to honor Mike with a scholarship program.
I am pleased to report that the Foundation Board has decided to use contributions made in Mike’s name to offer scholarships to TDCAA’s Annual Criminal and Civil Law Conference beginning in 2022. We will give you plenty of advance notice about the opportunity to apply next summer, so be on the lookout if you need help to get to the conference.
Texas Prosecutors Society Class of 2021
I am thrilled to announce the 2021 Class of the Texas Prosecutors Society. This by-invitation-only society is unified in its support for the profession of prosecution, and it works to fund an endowment that will one day add significant resources to TDCAA’s ongoing training mission. Thanks to these new members (below), who will be honored at a reception in conjunction with the Elected Prosecutor Conference on December 1.
TPS Class of 2021
W. Clay Abbott
Joseph Brown
Katrina Daniels
Roy DeFriend
Rocky Jones
Mia Magness
Dewey Mitchell
Stephanie Stroud
John Wakefield
John Warren
Zack Wavrusa
Andrea Westerfeld
The Escamilla-Wortham Challenge
In the last issue of this journal, I reported that we were just $400 shy of our $15,000 goal, which would match the generous donations of David Escamilla, former County Attorney in Travis County, and Bob Wortham, Criminal District Attorney in Jefferson County.
I am thrilled to announce that donors came through to match those funds—and with a little bit to spare! Profuse thanks to David and Bob and to all who gave. We really thought we’d need until the end of the year to earn the match, but all of y’all did it in record time. We are very grateful.
All Donors to the Escamilla–Wortham Challenge
Alva Alvarez
Gordon Armstrong
Diane Beckham
Kathy Braddock
Tom Bridges
Terese Buess
Kriste Burnett
John Dodson
Laurie English
David Finney
Gerald Fohn
Daniel Gonzalez
H.E. Bert Graham
Michael Guarino II
Tom Hanna
Rusty Hardin Jr.
Douglas Howell III
Ed Jones
Kim Judin
Rob Kepple
John Kimbrough
Tom Krampitz
Robert Lassman
Cheryll Mabray
Ken Magidson
Betty Marshall
Rick Miller
Renee Mueller
Lisa Peterson
Joseph Skrivanek III
Beth Toben
Carol Vance
Martha Warner
Roe Wilson