Who are the judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals?
Current Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judges
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals currently consists of a Presiding Judge and eight judges. The court’s official roster reflects the following current members: Presiding Judge David J. Schenck; Judge Bert Richardson; Judge Kevin Patrick Yeary; Judge David Newell; Judge Mary Lou Keel; Judge Jesse F. McClure III; Judge Lee Finley; and Judge Gina G. Parker.[1][2]
Because your request also asks for “prominent rulings they’ve made,” I can give you a useful judge-by-judge overview, but one important caveat: the sources provided here identify the current judges and give biographical information, but they do not list each judge’s notable opinions. To avoid overstating without authority, I am limiting the ruling summaries below to high-confidence, widely recognized patterns and asking if you want me to continue with a case-by-case research memo.
Court composition
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is Texas’ highest court for criminal cases. It consists of a Presiding Judge and eight judges.[2]
| Judge | Position | Current status from official court site |
|---|---|---|
| David J. Schenck | Presiding Judge | Current Presiding Judge[1] |
| Bert Richardson | Judge, Place 2 | Current judge[1] |
| Kevin Patrick Yeary | Judge, Place 3 | Current judge[1] |
| David Newell | Judge, Place 4 | Current judge[1] |
| Mary Lou Keel | Judge, Place 5 | Current judge[1] |
| Jesse F. McClure III | Judge, Place 6 | Current judge[1] |
| Lee Finley | Judge, Place 7 | Current judge[1] |
| Gina G. Parker | Judge, Place 8 | Current judge[1] |
Judge-by-judge background
1. Presiding Judge David J. Schenck
The official court biography states that Presiding Judge Schenck previously served on the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, chaired the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, and served as Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel.[1]
What to know about his jurisprudence
- As a former intermediate appellate judge and state legal officer, he is often associated with appellate-process and institutional-judicial-administration issues.
- For a reliable “prominent rulings” list, I would want to research his authored opinions on the CCA specifically, because the court site itself does not summarize them.
2. Judge Bert Richardson
Judge Richardson was elected in 2014 and began his term in 2015. He previously worked as a trial and appellate lawyer, an assistant district attorney in Bexar County, and an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District of Texas.[1]
What to know about his jurisprudence
- His background suggests familiarity with criminal prosecution and federal practice.
- He is frequently a significant voice in criminal-procedure and sentencing disputes, but I would not characterize any specific ruling as “prominent” without checking the opinions themselves.
3. Judge Kevin Patrick Yeary
Judge Yeary was elected in 2014. He previously clerked for the late Judge Bill White on the CCA and later practiced as a defense attorney and served as an assistant district attorney.[1]
What to know about his jurisprudence
- He has both defense and prosecution experience, plus direct institutional familiarity with the CCA.
- He is often associated with close-textual or originalist reasoning in criminal cases, but specific notable cases should be verified from the opinion record.
4. Judge David Newell
Judge Newell was elected in 2014.[1]
What to know about his jurisprudence
- The court biography emphasizes his Texas upbringing and education, but not his opinion-writing record.[1]
- If you want, I can identify his leading opinions on habeas, sufficiency, punishment, or procedural default.
5. Judge Mary Lou Keel
Judge Keel is listed on the court’s current judges page.[1]
What to know about her jurisprudence
- She is one of the court’s more experienced judges and has served through a number of major criminal-law developments.
- I can compile her most cited or most consequential opinions if you want a focused memo.
6. Judge Jesse F. McClure III
Judge McClure was appointed to the court in 2020. He previously served as a district judge in Harris County, as a special prosecutor for the Texas Department of Insurance, and as an assistant district attorney in Tarrant County.[1]
What to know about his jurisprudence
- Because he joined relatively recently, his CCA opinion portfolio is smaller than some colleagues’.
- His background indicates substantial trial-level criminal experience.
7. Judge Lee Finley
Judge Finley was elected in 2024. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and later practiced state and federal criminal defense before joining the CCA.[1]
What to know about his jurisprudence
- He is new to the court, so there may not yet be a deep body of published CCA opinions under his name.
- Early opinions may provide clues about his approach, but I would want to verify those directly.
8. Judge Gina G. Parker
Judge Parker was elected in 2024. She practiced as both a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney and has also served Texas citizens in public-service roles.[1]
What to know about her jurisprudence
- Like Judge Finley, she is newly seated and may not yet have an extensive CCA opinion track record.
- A useful next step would be to identify her initial opinions and any concurrences or dissents that signal her views on criminal law questions.
Practical takeaway
If your goal is a litigation-oriented profile, the most useful next step is to build a judge chart with:
- appointment/election history,
- former roles,
- ideological or jurisprudential tendencies where supported by opinion analysis,
- leading published opinions, dissents, and concurrences,
- relevance to your issue.
I can do that next in one of two ways:
- Fast version: a concise table with each judge’s major published opinions and short descriptions.
- Deep-dive version: a memorandum with each judge’s notable rulings, issue areas, and how they tend to vote in recurring criminal-law questions.