Brandi Grissom
is The Texas Tribune's managing editor and joined the staff when the online publication launched in 2009. In addition to editing duties, Grissom leads the Tribune's coverage of criminal justice issues. During her tenure at the Tribune, she was chosen as a 2012 City University of New York Center on Media, Crime and Justice/H.F. Guggenheim Journalism Fellow and was a fellow at the 2012 Journalist Law School at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Grissom, along with Tribune multimedia producer Justin Dehn, received a 2012 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting for work on the case of Megan Winfrey, who was acquitted of murder in February 2013 after the Trib’s coverage brought statewide attention the case. Grissom joined the Tribune after four years at the El Paso Times, where she acted as a one-woman Capitol bureau. Grissom won the Associated Press Managing Editors First-Place Award in 2007 for using the Freedom of Information Act to report stories on a variety of government programs and entities, and the ACLU of Texas named her legislative reporter of the year in 2007 for her immigration reporting. She previously served as managing editor at The Daily Texan and has worked for the Alliance Times-Herald, the Taylor Daily Press, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and The Associated Press. A native of Alliance, Neb., she has a degree in history from the University of Texas.
bgrissom@texastribune.org
512-716-8618
Recent Contributions
Reform advocates argue that a bill banning "snitch" testimony would help prevent wrongful convictions. But critics of the measure say that current rules protect defendants and that eliminating such testimony could tie prosecutors’ hands.
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Megan Winfrey has watched as her father and brother were released from jail because the dog-scent evidence used in the murder case against them was deemed faulty. But she remains in prison, awaiting a ruling on her plea for acquittal.
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credit: Caleb Bryant Miller
In an advisory filed in state district court on Wednesday, the Texas attorney general's office says DNA test results further confirm Hank Skinner's guilt. The death row inmate's lawyer says it's too early to draw conclusions.
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Mark Norwood, the Bastrop dishwasher who was arrested one year ago for the 1986 murder of Christine Morton, was indicted by a Travis County grand jury on Friday for the January 1988 murder of Debra Masters Baker in Austin.
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State Rep. Bryan Hughes shakes hands with a delegate at the trade show of the Texas Republican Convention June 8, 2012.
State Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola and a candidate for speaker of the House, promised his colleagues on Thursday that he will decentralize power in the lower chamber if he is elected.
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Voters in Texas’ largest cities decided on a range of controversial ballot propositions on Tuesday, including measures to build a medical school in Austin and to build a baseball field in El Paso.
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photo illustration by: Justin Dehn / Callie Richmond
Judge Ken Anderson (l) and Michael Morton (r)
Williamson County State District Judge Ken Anderson argues that time has run out on claims that he violated ethics rules during the 1987 prosecution that led to the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton.
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The execution of Donnie Lee Roberts Jr., 41, on Wednesday for the 2003 shooting death of a Polk County woman marked the 250th execution during Gov. Rick Perry’s tenure, and the 12th in 2012. The total is the largest — by far — under any recent governor in the United States.
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Williamson County State District Judge and former prosecutor Ken Anderson at the first hearing in the court of inquiry investigating his role in the 1987 wrongful conviction of Michael Morton
The judge presiding over the court of inquiry of Williamson County State District Judge Ken Anderson denied a request Tuesday to allow Anderson's lawyer to depose Michael Morton's lawyers before a Dec. 10 public hearing.
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John Bradley, Williamson County District Attorney in Georgetown, TX Friday November 11, 2011. Bradley is responsible for prosecuting felony criminal offenses that are committed in Williamson County.
Outgoing Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley is being considered to head up the state office that prosecutes crimes in state prisons and juvenile detention facilities.
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photo illustration by: Justin Dehn / Callie Richmond
Judge Ken Anderson (l) and Michael Morton (r)
The prosecutor who oversaw Michael Morton's wrongful conviction in 1987 is now facing both civil and criminal legal action and could be disbarred if he is found to have violated professional rules of conduct.
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Mark Norwood being led into court for the first time on Jan. 18th 2011. He is charged with the 1986 murder of Christine Morton.
The special prosecutor in the 1986 murder of Christine Morton has decided not to seek the death penalty in its case against Mark Norwood, a Bastrop resident whose DNA was identified at two similar murder scenes.
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A cell at the Giddings State School, a juvenile correctional facility of The Texas Youth Commission.
County juvenile probation agencies produce better results for less money than state youth lockups, according to a report by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. The report also says counties need more funds and oversight.
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Texas State Representative, Bryan Hughes, speaks with a member of the Mineola Study Club on October 9, 2012.
State Rep. Bryan Hughes is a fiscal and social conservative who has become a Tea Party favorite in his effort to replace House Speaker Joe Straus. But the East Texan has one trait that is very un-Republican: He's a trial lawyer.
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photo illustration by: Todd Wiseman / Callie Richmond
A year after he was released from prison, Michael Morton says he is still enjoying the small blessings of free life. On Thursday, he's launching a website to aid his efforts to reform Texas laws and make prosecutors more accountable.
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