Sean Keane-Dawes

• Supervision of direct reports, including timesheet review and approval, submitting comp time, one-on-ones with the Executive Director, and review and approval of training and education requests for the Goliad, Refugio teams, and Bee Chief Public Defender.
• Attend the monthly TIDC chiefs' and leaders' meeting.
• Check and approve monthly reimbursement requests.
• Draft narrative reports for Refugio and Goliad.
• Assist in recruitment efforts by engaging with contacts, and representing TRGPD at CLEs and conferences.
• Attend all union bargaining prep meetings, and actual bargaining meetings.

• I was promoted to Trial Team Chief. In this capacity, I oversaw the running of the public defender office. I managed a team of attorneys and support staff in the daily operations of the office. At this time, the staff was being reduced due to the ending of the contract, but we still represented those clients until July 2023, when we were fully out of the Atascosa office, which covered four counties: Atascosa, Wilson, Karnes, and Frio. During this time, from January 2023 to April 2023, we tried four cases to jury verdicts. In my position, I was also in regular contact with the judges and aided in getting many cases resolved prior to our leaving or transitioning to the new county-run public defender office.

• I was responsible for helping the Trial Team Chief in managing the attorneys and support staff. I also had a caseload of high level 1st and 2nd degree felonies, such as murder, sex cases, and other violent offenses. I was the contact with the local judges in giving them an update on how well we were doing.

My practice was 80% indigent criminal defense. During this time, I represented hundreds of clients, most on high level 1st and 2nd degree felonies, ranging from murder, violent offenses, and sex cases. I also tried approximately two dozen cases to jury verdicts over this span. I achieved a number of not-guilty verdicts, including a directed verdict. I also won a case on appeal: Gonzales v. State, 435 S.W.2d. 801 (2014).