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Judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Judge Bert Richardson was elected to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and began his term on January 1, 2015. He was reelected in 2020. From 1988 to 1999 he was a trial and appellate lawyer while serving as an Assistant District Attorney for Bexar County and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas. He was appointed to the 379th District Court of Bexar County in 1999 by Gov. Bush. From 2009-2014, he served as a Senior Visiting Judge in over 50 counties across the State presiding over civil and criminal cases. He was an adjunct professor at San Antonio College, St. Mary’s University School of Law for over 20 years prior to being elected to the TCCA, was previously the Court liaison to the State Bar and is a frequent speaker at State Bar conferences across the State. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and St. Mary's University School of Law, and he is Board Certified in Criminal Law. St. Mary’s School of Law named him a Distinguished Law Graduate in 2015 and in 2022 he was the recipient of their annual Rosewood Gavel Award, awarded to an outstanding St. Mary’s judge for their contribution to our system of constitutional democracy. He has extensive experience in death penalty and wrongful conviction cases at the trial and appellate levels. An avid photographer, he was an assistant photo editor of his university yearbook and is frequently published in state and national running publications, as well as the State Bar Journal and other legal publications. He worked his way through undergraduate and law school in his mother’s fine art gallery, as a photographer, bullet-proofing cars, an employee of Southwest Airlines, and an intern in the Bexar County DA’s Office. He was raised in an Air Force family, has lived in Europe and South America for 10 years, served a two-year mission for his church in Argentina and is fluent in Spanish. His wife, Terri, is a retired teacher and school administrator, and they have one son.

Author of the book "Chasing Justice"

Kerry Max Cook was 22 years old when he was wrongly accused, convicted, and sentenced to death in Tyler, Texas. After two decades on death row involving four capital murder trials, three overturned convictions, and a U.S. Supreme Court Stay of Execution, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found him “Actually Innocent” on June 19, 2024. The high Court characterized his legal saga as one plagued from beginning to end with “bookends of deception spanning over 40 years,” and “when it comes to solid support for actual innocence, this case contains it all - - uncontroverted Brady violations, proof of false testimony, admissions of perjury, and new scientific evidence.”

His courageous search for truth, justice and accountability continues today, 49 years later in Federal civil court on a Section 1983, seeking to hold Tyler officials accountable for framing him for the 1977 rape and murder of Linda Edwards.

Kerry is the best-selling author of Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn’t Commit.

He inspires youth and adults worldwide with messages on the importance of faith, hope, family, perseverance, and never giving up. He is an award-winning keynote speaker for teen Leadership Camps, the Young Presidents Organizations (YPO), and various notable civic and community organizations.

Kerry is the son of a U.S. Army veteran, a husband, and a father. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his best friend and wife, Sandy.