Kevin Patrick Yeary

Kevin Patrick Yeary (born September 8, 1966) is an attorney from San Antonio, Texas, who is an incoming judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, a nine-member body which serves as the court of last resort in state criminal cases. Yeary was elected to a six-year term in 2014 to succeed the retiring Judge Paul Womack, his fellow Republican.

Background

Yeary was born in Cotulla in La Salle County, Texas, but reared in Laredo in Webb County in South Texas.^[1] He graduated in 1984 from the Roman Catholic Saint Augustine High School in Laredo.^[2] His paternal grandfather, Harold R. Yeary (1908-1969), is the namesake for the library at Laredo Community College. Both Harold Yeary and Yeary's younger son, Amber Milton Yeary (born 1938), served as president of the Texas School Boards Association. Kevin Yeary's father is Harold R. Yeary, II (born 1935), a former dentist in Laredo.

Yeary obtained bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts from St. Mary's University in San Antonio. In 1991, he completed his legal studies at St. Mary's University School of Law.^[2]

In 1997, Yeary married the former Mary Susanne "Suzie" Basey (born 1969), a pediatrician in San Antonio. Together the couple has four daughters. Yeary is affiliated with Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity. He is a member of the Roman Catholic men's organization, the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Lawyers Guild. He is a former board member of the Encino Park swim team.^[2]

Legal career

For a year after law school, Yeary was the briefing attorney for the late Texas Judge Bill M. White. Having practiced law since 1991, he is licensed by all Texas courts and most of the regional federal courts. He has argued cases before both the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court, a civil body. He has authored appeal briefs in various cases, including those with the death penalty. He has experience with applications for the writ of habeas corpus. Since 1998 until he joined the Court of Criminal Appeals, Yeary was an assistant district attorney for Bexar County. Earlier, he was an assistant DA in Harris and Dallas counties. From 2000 to 2008, he was an adjunct professor at San Antonio College.^[2]

Yeary faced two opponents for his party's nomination to the Court of Appeals in the primary election held on March 4, 2014. Yeary polled 600,220 votes (54.7 percent). Davis trailed with 307,124 (28 percent), and Wood received the remaining 190,910 votes (17.4 percent).^[3]

In the November 4 general election, with no Democratic opponent, Yeary polled 2,876,256 votes (76.2 percent); Quanah Parker and Judith Sanders-Castro (born 1949) of San Antonio, the nominees of the Libertarian and Green parties, respectively, held the remaining 23.8 percent of the ballots cast.^[4] Elected to the Court of Criminal Appeals with Yeary are Bert Richardson of San Antonio and David Newell of Houston. Yeary's term extends through 2020.

References

Current statewide political officials of Texas U.S. Senators John Cornyn Ted Cruz State government Greg Abbott, Governor Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor & President of the Senate Carlos Cascos, Secretary of State (appointed) Ken Paxton, Attorney General Glenn Hegar, Comptroller (Treasurer equivalent) George P. Bush, Land Commissioner Sid Miller, Agriculture Commissioner Christi Craddick, Ryan Sitton, David J. Porter, Railroad Commissioners Senate Juan Hinojosa, President pro tempore In the Texas Senate, there are no majority or minority leaders. House Joe Straus, Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Speaker pro tempore In the Texas House, there are no majority or minority leaders. Supreme Court (civil) Nathan Hecht, Chief Justice Don Willett Debra Lehrmann John P. Devine Paul W. Green Jeff Brown Jeffrey S. Boyd Phil Johnson Eva Guzman Supreme Court (criminal) Sharon Keller, Presiding Justice Lawrence E. Meyers Bert Richardson replacing Tom Price Kevin Patrick Yeary replacing Paul Womack Cheryl Johnson Michael Keasler Barbara Hervey Elsa Alcala David Newell replacing Cathy Cochran