Important Information for anyone with a conviction out of Midland County, Texas!
If you had a Midland County conviction over the past 20 years there are exciting developments from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA).
On September 22, 2021 the CCA reversed the conviction of death row inmate Clinton Young on his habeas application.
The court found that long-time Midland prosecutor Ralph Petty’s simultaneous work for the judge on the case and the district attorney’s office at the same time, violated three things:
- Clinton’s right to a fair trial
- An impartial judge,
- And due process.
The District Attorney District Attorney Laura Nodolf has sent out over 300 letters to convicted individuals who had this same potential issue happen in their cases.
If your conviction is out of Midland County, this brings new hope for you, even if you’ve filed a writ before.
If you received one of these letters or have a conviction out of Midland County, be sure to read this opinion of the CCA and get started on investigating your case and how Ralph Petty may have been involved.
I plan to do some videos in the coming days about this decision and how you can use it and the work the attorneys did there for your benefit.
The opinion is at this link:
This case is going to open the floodgates to overturning convictions on many cases in Midland while Ralph Petty was employed there.
Nodolf had recused herself from the case in 2019 after finding the information about Petty during a budgeting process. The Young case continues to be handled by Dawson County District Attorney Philip Furlow.
In the meantime, Young has been taken off death row and is to be transferred back to the Midland County Jail as Furlow decides whether to retry the case or dismiss the charge.
Other News Stories about the Clinton Young case:
Midland Reporter-Telegram
Clinton Young: Court orders new trial for death row inmate convicted in Midland County
CBS 7 KOSA TV Odessa TX
Court of Criminal Appeals tosses murder conviction of Clinton Young
The Texas Tribune
Reason.Com
For 20 Years, This Prosecutor Had a Secret Job Working For the Judges Who’d Decide His Cases
One of Ralph Petty’s victims is trying to hold him accountable, but she will have to overcome prosecutorial immunity.
About The Attorney
Jacob Blizzard is board certified in both criminal law and criminal appellate law.
He regularly practices in the areas of state and federal criminal defense, criminal appeals, post conviction writs of habeas corpus.
In Texas, there are more than 100,000 attorneys licensed to practice, but only 7,450 are board certified. In the entire State of Texas, as of the 2019 certification year, there were only 87 attorneys board certified in both criminal law and criminal appellate law, making Mr. Blizzard one of 0.087% of attorneys in Texas to hold both of those certifications.
