[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16732-16733]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING DALLAS COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER MICHELLE MOORE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 3, 2011

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
honor Michelle Moore, a distinguished Dallas County public defender 
from my district. After sixteen years with the Dallas County public 
defender's office, Ms. Moore will be leaving her current position to 
open the first public defender's office in Burnet County, Texas.
  There are few people with as much capacity for compassion and as much 
dedication to her work as Ms. Moore has demonstrated throughout her 
term of public service. Her years of tireless work to help absolve 
innocent men of crimes they never committed have been critical to 
strengthening the integrity of our judicial system here in Texas and 
throughout the Nation.
  Having helped to free eleven wrongfully-imprisoned men, Ms. Moore has 
contributed greatly to Dallas County's record as having more DNA 
exonerations than any other county in the Nation since Texas began 
permitting post-conviction DNA testing in 2001.
  Ms. Moore has frequently gone above and beyond her normal scope of 
duty by making sure that exonerees had no trouble assimilating back 
into the lives that were taken from them, even regularly working off 
the clock and without charging her clients for legal advice.
  Beyond the boundaries of this great State, her work has gone far to 
highlight the need for a closer examination of certain convictions and 
for stronger safeguards against wrongful imprisonment. Ms. Moore's 
contributions have undoubtedly not only changed the lives of those she 
directly represented, but also the vast others in similar circumstances 
throughout the country.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that we must see Ms. Moore go. 
However, I have found relief in the fact that she is not leaving her 
work entirely and will instead be going on to serve the needs of other 
wrongfully convicted prisoners. I would like to end by wishing Ms. 
Moore the best of luck in her latest attempt to bring veritable justice 
to under or unserved areas in Texas.

       [From dallasnews.com, Oct. 29, 2011]

   Public Defender Who Spent Decade Working To Free the Innocent Is 
                         Leaving Dallas County

                          (By Jennifer Emily)

       For a decade, Dallas County public defender Michelle Moore 
     has worked on and off the clock to free the innocent from 
     prison and help them adjust to life on the outside once 
     they're released.
       This week, Moore, the face of the public defender's office, 
     is leaving to open the first public defender's office in 
     Burnet County, in the Hill Country.
       Moore helped free 11 men from prison, appeared on a 
     television documentary called Dallas DNA and helped change 
     state laws to compensate exonerees and prevent wrongful 
     convictions.
       ``It's tough to leave Dallas County and leave behind the 
     exonerees,'' she said. ``I'll still be in touch and help 
     out.''
       Dallas County's exonerees are mostly excited about Moore's 
     new opportunity, she said. But they still wish she would stay 
     in Dallas County.
       ``A couple of the guys were `Oh, yeah, that's cool,''' 
     Moore said. ``But a couple of the guys were like `We'll never 
     see you again.'''
       Someone else will take over her job with the public 
     defender's office, but the position has not yet been filled.
       Christopher Scott, freed in October 2009 after spending 12 
     years in prison for a crime he did not commit, said that 
     while behind bars, he saw Moore on television and hoped that 
     one day she would be his attorney. He said he couldn't 
     believe it when she was appointed to his case.
       Scott said Moore not only works on cases in her job as a 
     public defender but also regularly gives them free legal 
     advice and makes sure they are adjusting well when freed from 
     prison.
       ``Michelle is a princess to us,'' said Scott, who said he 
     considers Moore both a friend and family. ``A lot of people 
     take advantage of exonerees--not Michelle. She gives us 
     advice normally people would charge hundreds of dollars 
     for.''
       James Hammond, a DA's office investigator who has worked on 
     numerous claims of innocence, said Moore's dedication to her 
     job extends far beyond regular hours.
       ``She's very compassionate toward the exonerees,'' he said. 
     ``Not just the legal side in the courtroom but that they had 
     clothes and a place to stay. She made sure when they stepped 
     out of the building, they had a parachute, that they had 
     people interested in their interests.''
       Moore spent 16 years in the public defender's office. In 
     2001, when the state began allowing post-conviction DNA 
     testing, Moore began working cases in which inmates requested 
     DNA testing of old evidence to prove their innocence. Later, 
     she worked similar cases where there was no DNA to test.
       Dallas County has had 22 exonerations by DNA evidence and 
     three, including Scott's, by other evidence. Since 2001, when 
     Texas began allowing DNA testing and Moore began working on 
     cases, the county has had more DNA exonerations than any 
     other county in the nation.
       Some DNA tests confirmed guilt and others were 
     inconclusive. Moore was the lead attorney on nine cases in 
     which inmates were freed, and she assisted on two others.

[[Page 16733]]

       In Burnet County, she will oversee the public defender's 
     office and hire two attorneys, an investigator and an office 
     manager. The office is being created with a grant from the 
     Texas Indigent Defense Commission.
       ``It's new territory,'' she said.
       Dallas County prosecutor Cynthia R. Garza, who worked with 
     Moore on several exonerations, said that Moore's efforts, 
     along with those of the DA's conviction integrity unit, 
     established in 2007 by District Attorney Craig Watkins, made 
     an impact on how exonerations are seen locally and throughout 
     the country.
       ``Her role was very important to her clients and to the 
     whole movement'' of post-conviction exonerations, said Garza. 
     People are more open-minded now about exonerations, Garza 
     said.
       Moore also worked with legislators to bring about increased 
     compensation for Texas exonerees and changes in eyewitness 
     identification procedures.
       ``I was excited and relieved,'' Moore said about the 
     changes to the law. ``I'm proud to have been involved, 
     however small, in changing the system.''


                      AT A GLANCE--Michelle Moore

       Age: 46
       Education: Law degree from University of Arkansas, 1990.
       Career Highlights: Joined Dallas County public defenders 
     office 16 years ago; has helped free 11 innocent Dallas 
     County men from prison since 2001; former board president of 
     the Innocence Project of Texas.

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