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.

Diego Galeazzi (he/him) is a Manne Family Fellow with Texas Defender Service. Diego received his B.A. in Historical Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2019, and he received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2022. While in law school, Diego participated in the Judicial Process in Trial Courts clinic and the Capital Punishment clinic, and he interned for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and with Sween Law, LLC. Mr. Galeazzi is in the process of applying for admission to the State Bar of Texas.

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.

Jane Irons (she/her) is a Manne Family Fellow with Texas Defender Service. Jane received her B.A. in Philosophy from Yale University in 2019 and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2024. While in law school, Jane represented clients as part of the Criminal Defense Clinic, served as an extern at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Squire Patton Boggs Public Service Initiative, and Center for Appellate Litigation, and interned at the Georgia Capital Defender and the ACLU of Colorado.

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.

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.

Miranda (she/her) received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings in San Francisco in 2012. During law school, she worked at Bay Area Legal Aid providing family law and immigration services to indigent survivors of domestic violence. Following her legal studies, Miranda worked in a school, where she continued to develop her interest in empowering vulnerable individuals. Miranda went on to earn a Master of Science in Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. While completing her graduate degree, she interned at the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs in Austin, Texas. Miranda joined Texas Defender Service as a mitigation specialist in 2017.

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.

Ashlee (she/her) started working with TDS in Nov of 2019. Before starting at TDS she lived in Dallas where she studied Psychology at TWU.

Nicole Ramos (she/her) received a Bachelor of Arts in Vocational Missions with emphasis in Sociology and Global Studies from Abilene Christian University in 2015. During her undergraduate studies, she piloted a social justice service-learning program in 4 schools in South Dallas, partnering with an international organization aimed at empowering youth. She served in the Peace Corps in Panama from 2016-2018, teaching English and community development to an indigenous village. Nicole went on to graduate from Northeastern University with a Master of Science in International Relations. During her graduate studies, she worked with unaccompanied child refugees from Central America, as an outreach coordinator for the homeless, and as a legal assistant in immigration law. Nicole joined TDS as a Junior Mitigation Specialist in 2021.

Before joining the Texas Defender Service, Jennae (she/her) was a staff attorney at the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs, where she represented death-sentenced prisoners in Texas in their state habeas proceedings. Prior to joining the OCFW, she was a staff attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, where she represented clients sentenced to death and clients sentenced to life without parole as children in all stages of state and federal post-conviction proceedings. She also represented other indigent clients subjected to excessive or unfair convictions and punishment and litigated challenges to the conditions of confinement in Alabama prisons. Previously Jennae was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York and she interned with Judge Michael H. Dolinger on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She received her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 2008.

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.