UPDATED: The board of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department on Wednesday announced the selection of an interim executive director to succeed Mike Griffiths, who announced his resignation last month.
Brandi Grissom
Brandi Grissom worked at the Tribune from its launch in 2009 until 2014, rising to the rank of managing editor. In addition to editing duties, Grissom led 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.
Posted in
Politics
Liveblog: 2014 Primary Election
Texas voters are making the first round of decisions this year about who they want to lead their state in 2015 and beyond.
Posted inState Government
Livestream: State Reps. Joe Deshotel, James White and Allan Ritter
Texas Tribune CEO and Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith interviews state Reps. Joe Deshotel, James White and Allan Ritter on the campus of Lamar University in Beaumont.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
East Texas Town’s Stance on Famed Convict Changes Over 15 Years
When Bernie Tiede went to trial in 1999 for murdering a wealthy Carthage widow, many in the town wanted the young man to see a light punishment. But 15 years into his life sentence, many now say prison is where he belongs.
Posted inState Government
Court Reverses DNA Testing Decision in Swearingen Case
UPDATED: The state’s highest criminal court on Wednesday reversed a lower court’s decision to allow further DNA testing in the case of death row inmate Larry Swearingen, sending his case back to a district court.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
DNA Hearing Brings Death Row Inmate’s Case Closer to Resolution
During a two-day DNA hearing that ended Tuesday, prosecutors argued tests confirmed Hank Skinner’s guilt in a 20-year-old triple murder, but his lawyers said the results raised too many questions to allow him to be executed.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Hearing to Look at DNA Evidence in Skinner Case
After more than a decade of fighting for DNA tests and two years of analysis on decades-old evidence, a court in Pampa will hear evidence that death row inmate Hank Skinner says should stop his execution.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Sheriff and Judge in Battle Over Medical Care in Jail
An East Texas judge says he should be able to intervene when the jail isn’t providing medical care he deems adequate. The county says the judge is overstepping the bounds of his authority.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Solitary Confinement Study Approved, but Funding Remains Elusive
Lawmakers passed a bill that requires a study of solitary confinement in Texas prisons, but the panel charged with hiring a third party to conduct the research does not have money to fund the study.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Considering Toll of War in a Death Penalty Debate
Lawyers for Iraq War veteran John Thuesen are appealing the former Marine’s death sentence for a double murder, arguing that his original trial lawyers didn’t adequately explain the post-traumatic stress that Thuesen had suffered.