Hana Belmonte-Ryu (she/her) began working at Texas Defender Service in March 2026. She received her B.A. in Black Studies and B.S. in Psychology and Brain Sciences from University of California, Santa Barbara in 2023. Before joining TDS, Hana worked as the primary mitigation specialist at the Harris County Public Defender’s office.

Caiti Coughlan (she/her) received a Master of Social Work from Baylor University in 2022. While completing her degree, Caiti interned at the YWCA of Greater Austin where she worked as a case manager for Austin-area residents facing crisis, and at Texas Defender Service, where she assisted the mitigation department with pre-trial and post-conviction casework. Upon graduation, Caiti was hired full-time as a Junior Mitigation Specialist. Before completing her Master of Social Work, Caiti received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Texas at Austin. Caiti worked as a freelance musician and private lessons teacher for over ten years.

Prior to joining TDS, Cassie Geiken (she/her) served as the Texas Law Parole Fellow with the Mithoff Pro Bono Program at the University of Texas School of Law. Cassie received her B.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2019 and her J.D. from the University of Texas school of Law in 2022. While in law school, Cassie worked with the UT Law civil rights clinic, actual innocence clinic, human rights clinic, and for Texas Legal Services Center and Disability Rights Washington.

Estelle (she/her) holds  a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.A. in literature from the University College London. Before joining TDS, she was a Staff Attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery.

Katie (she/her) joined Texas Defender Service in March 2026 as the Development and Communications Manager. A graduate of Oklahoma State University, she brings a decade-long career spent in marketing, fundraising, and communications for nonprofits advancing social justice causes. That work deepened her commitment to human rights and ensuring that everyone can access the services they need to find safety and justice. A native Texan, Katie is grateful for the opportunity to fight to change the criminal-legal system in the Lone Star state.

Justin Martinez (he/him) believes that no one should be defined solely by their worst choices and that no individual is disposable. These deeply held convictions drive his work toward not only recognizing the humanity and dignity of all those ensnared by the criminal legal system but also helping build a world that no longer relies on cages and punishment as a means to address the real harms and violence that happen within our communities. 

At the Texas Defender Service, which fights to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment in Texas, Justin advances the organization’s policy agenda on parole reform, second chances, the death penalty, and broader efforts to reduce the state’s reliance on incarceration. He does this through legislative advocacy, coalition building, pubic education, and grassroots organizing. As a co-founder of the Parole Advocacy Coalition of Texas (PACT), he co-leads a statewide coalition fighting to end the cycle of incarceration, punishment, and dehumanization inherent within Texas’ parole system.

Nayeli Moreno (she/her) received a Bachelor of Social Work in 2018 and a Master of Science in Social Work in 2019 from the University of Texas at Austin. During her time at UT, Nayeli completed internships at the UT Law Criminal Defense Clinic and at Texas Defender Service as a Mitigation Intern. She joined Texas Defender Service as a Junior Mitigation Specialist in 2019.

Camila Mosier-Giovine (she/her) is a Manne Family Fellow with Texas Defender Service. She received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2026. While in law school, Camila represented clients through the UT Parole Project and the Capital Punishment and Criminal Defense clinics. She also interned with the Capital Habeas Unit of the Western District of Texas and the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project in Durham, North Carolina.

Jamie Newsome (she/her) received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Colgate University and graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Master of Science in Social Work. During her graduate studies, Jamie completed an internship with the Council for At-Risk Youth. She spent her final semester in graduate school as an intern with Texas Defender Service before joining full time as a mitigation specialist in 2018.

Thea Posel (she/her) graduated with honors from the University of Colorado Law School and served as a faculty member at the University of Texas from 2016-26 in both the Capital Punishment Clinic in the School of Law and the School of Social Work. Thea has been trained as a mitigation specialist and has focused her career on improving collaboration between mitigation specialists and defense teams. In addition to writing, teaching, and presenting nationally and internationally on capital representation, Thea has worked with teams representing individuals facing the death penalty in Texas at all stages of the process, from pretrial to end-stage litigation. Thea joined TDS in 2026 as legal director, and is admitted to practice law in Texas.

Caitlin (she/her) holds B.A. from Yale University and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Texas. Before joining TDS in 2018, she was a Clinical Caseworker in Austin’s Community Court.

Jared Tyler (he/him) graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center in 2003. After graduating, he worked for three years as Deputy Director of the Texas Innocence Network, in which capacity he represented both capital and non-capital defendants in post-conviction proceedings in state and federal court and taught a course on innocence investigations at the University of Houston Law Center. He first joined TDS as a staff attorney in 2006 until 2009, where he represented capitally sentenced clients at all levels of state and federal post-conviction review. In addition to direct representation, he regularly consults on other state and federal capital post-conviction cases. Mr. Tyler rejoined TDS in 2017. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.