Robert Carl "Bert" Richardson (born 1956), is an American judge on the

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a presiding judge and eight judges. Article V ...

, to which he was elected in 2014.

Early life

Born in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Richardson's father was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

fighter pilot, and the family moved frequently, living for periods in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Richardson graduated from

Judson High School Judson High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in Converse, Texas, 15 miles northeast of downtown San Antonio. It was established in 1959 as part of the Judson Independent School District, and is currently classified as a 6A scho ...

Converse, Texas Converse is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States, northeast of downtown San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 27,466. It is part of the San Antonio metropolitan statistical area. History Converse is on Farm t ...

, and received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, followed by a J.D. degree from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio.

Legal career

Richardson became an Assistant District Attorney in the Bexar County

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

's office in 1988, and in 1998 became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio. In 1999, Governor

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

appointed Richardson to a seat on the 379th District Court. He remained on that office until 2008, when he lost a bid for reelection to

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, Ron Rangel. In 2014, Richardson presided as a special judge on call over the 2014

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...

of Governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

for alleged abuse of office. During the course of the proceedings, Richardson was elected to the Court of Criminal Appeals, and thereafter denied the motion to dismiss the case against the governor. Richardson won reelection in 2020.

References

External links

Texas Courts: Judge Bert Richardson

Texas Tribune: Judge Bert Richardson

Campaign website

Texas State Directory: Judge Bert Richardson
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Bert 1956 births Living people Brigham Young University alumni Judson High School alumni Lawyers from San Antonio St. Mary's University School of Law alumni Judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Texas Republicans