Every year the Office of Court Administration publishes the Annual Report for the Texas Judiciary. The Report provides information regarding judges, court caseloads, and funding for the judiciary. The report for 2010 covers the fiscal year, beginning September 1, 2009 and ending August 31, 2010.
Overall, less than two percent of all criminal cases went to trial in 2010. However, trial rates were much higher for capital murder and murder cases, which went to trial in 21.3% of the cases and 18.2% of cases, respectively.
Seventy five percent of the cases that went to trial, were tried before to juries. Overall, defendants were convicted in 76.4% of cases that went to trial before a jury.
Other interesting tidbits from the report include:
- Felony assault or attempted murder cases increased 113 percent.
- Felony and misdemeanor drug offense cases increased 153 percent.
- Other felonies increased 115 percent.
- The highest conviction rate for felonies was for felony DWI cases, at 84.8 percent.
The complete Annual Report for the Texas Judiciary for Fiscal Year 2010 can be found here: http://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/AR2010/AR10.pdf
Written by Benson Varghese. ♦ Contact Benson.♦ Have Res Ipsa Blog delivered to you.
