Jani Jo Wood

I mentioned awhile back that there would be several places open on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. One of those running for Place 4 is Jani Jo Wood, a defense lawyer out of Harris County. I would like very much for you to visit her page, learn a little about her and understand why, even if she couldn’t get Carlos Coy a new trial, people like her should be on the TCCA.

She is a board member for the Innocence Project of Texas. She is certified as a criminal appellate lawyer by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization; this is significant to me because appellate work is such a complex and hopeless job that it seems like few do it, and even fewer are good at it.

She recently went to bat for the citizens of Houston to keep the courts from shaking them down for ‘court fees’ without an itemized bill. This was on behalf of a prisoner, by the way; someone who was convicted and yet, contrary to popular wisdom, still maintains his constitutionally protected liberties. Jani Jo Wood fought and won this case, leaving Harris County scrambling to make sure that they document their shit in the future.

On top of all that, she has long silver hair like a magical fucking unicorn and, like that rare and elusive mythical beast, Woods has the potential to purify the roiling cesspit that is the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Next week’s post, assuming there’s no update from SPM, will be a letter to this candidate outlining our fight and asking her to consider his case.

http://www.janijowood.com/

http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2012/10/harris-county-loses-expensive-234.html

http://www.news-journal.com/news/local/wood-says-she-would-add-new-outlook-to-court-of/article_aae8bbfd-8aa4-566c-bf32-58e785b6dcf4.html

http://harriscountypublicdefender.org/about/staff/jani-jo-wood/