Kevin Patrick Yeary

Kevin Patrick Yeary (born September 8, 1966) is an American 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.

Background

Yeary was born in Cotulla, La Salle County, Texas but reared in Laredo.^[1] He graduated in 1984 from Saint Augustine High School, a Roman Catholic 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 English-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]

Personal life

In 1997, Yeary married Mary Susanne 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 was a member of the Catholic Lawyers Guild in San Antonio. 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/law clerk 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 in which the death penalty was imposed. 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 were Bert Richardson of San Antonio and David Newell of Houston. Yeary's term extends through 2020.

References