An Important Pro Bono Victory
Dear Friends,
I wanted to share the important news that our former board member Charles S. Kelley and his team at Mayer Brown, along with Advancing Real Change, Inc., have succeeded in winning relief for their capitally convicted client Larry Estrada.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that Mr. Estrada has intellectual disability and has reformed his sentence to life imprisonment. We extend our gratitude and appreciation to Charles S. Kelley, Marc Kadish, Marjan Batchelor, Anna Durham, and Sydney Royer of Mayer Brown; Kyle Friesen of Shook, Hardy & Bacon; and Dr. Elizabeth Vartkessian of ARC.
Mr. Estrada is one of 19 people who have been removed from death row since 2017 because they have intellectual disability. Texas Defender Service has represented eight—more than 40 percent—of those removed from Texas death row because of intellectual disability in the last eight years. The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits imposition of the death penalty against people with intellectual disability. This is because people with intellectual disability are more easily manipulated by others into committing serious crimes; are less equipped to vigorously defend themselves in court; and are uniquely vulnerable to wrongful convictions.
We know that historically marginalized communities are especially vulnerable to being wrongfully sentenced to death; this holds true for those with intellectual disability. More than 80 percent of people of intellectually disabled defendants sentenced to death are people of color, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center.
Mayer Brown and ARC’s life-saving victory for Mr. Estrada shows that law firms can take on the most challenging pro bono cases—and win. If you are at a law firm and have an interest in taking on the pro bono representation of someone facing a harsh and unjust sentence in Texas, please reach out to us by email.
With gratitude,
Burke Butler
Executive Director
Texas Defender Service
