Your Candidate for 13th Court of Appeals Place 6

South Texas is my lifelong home. I am a husband and father of two children. I come from a law enforcement family where my dad worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration. I graduated from McAllen Memorial High School in 1995. While in high school, I played football, track and field, and was in FFA. 

After high school I attended Texas A&M University. It was here that I realized I wanted to study law. During college Al Gore and George W. Bush ran for the presidency. Both of their campaigns ended up in the Supreme Court with the case Bush v. Gore. I followed the daily turn of events and loved understanding what mandamus, Equal Protection, Amicus and Certiorari meant.  I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. I graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in political science and a minor in philosophy. 

I moved from College Station to San Antonio and attended St. Mary’s University School of Law. I graduated with a Juris Doctorate and a certificate of concentration in criminal law. While attending law school I worked for the Bexar County Criminal Courts and learned early on the complexities of both criminal law trial work and appellate work. I was fortunate to work daily with the District Judges assisting with researching case law and having an opportunity to watch suppression hearings and trials. 

After law school I returned to McAllen where I worked in private practice. I focused on family law and criminal law. Family and criminal law are the two areas of law where you literally see the Constitution at work daily. In criminal law you see the Constitutional requirements of indictments, Due Process and the right to jury trials which are enshrined in Constitutional Amendments. In family law, you see the fundamental rights of parents to raise their children and how the U.S. Supreme Court shaped parental rights in Troxel.  While in private practice I also became licensed to be a concealed handgun license (CHL) instructor. I taught CHL classes for several years. 

After private practice I had the honor of working for the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office under Ricardo Rodriguez as part of the Border Prosecution Unit. I worked daily with law enforcement assisting with search warrants, grand jury indictments and extraditions from Mexico to return dangerous fugitives to stand trial. I am double board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law and Family Law. Less than .5% of the attorneys in Texas are double board certified. Prior to running for the Thirteenth Court of Appeals I was elected a school board Trustee and I have extensive experience in school law.

I have been an instructor for continue legal education seminars and have been a guest lecturer for Constitutional Law at the local university.

I will bring my extensive background in both trial work and appellate advocacy to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals.