About The Campaign
Domestic violence survivors often find themselves in the Criminal Justice System without really understanding it. There are so many different entities that make up the System and it can be overwhelming.
HCDVCC is conducting a series of “Deliberate Dialogues” on the Intersection of Domestic Violence and the Criminal Justice System which will wrap up in October/November.
Starting in March, the conversation will center on what agencies are involved before a case goes to trial. April will be focusing on those agencies that are involved after a case has been completed. May will focus on the Courts and Judges and their role in the process of a criminal case. After a break in June, July will bring us information on the District Attorney’s Office, who prosecute cases, and the Public Defender’s Office, who defend the accused and the resources they can provide. We will conclude with speakers in September from the Justice Administration Division and Commissioner’s Court into how they shape the Criminal Justice System in Harris County. Finally, in October we will wrap up the series with a discussion on how to move forward with the information we have learned so we can continue to work to increase safety for domestic violence survivors and to hold perpetrators accountable.
The moderator will be our Executive Director, Barbie Brashear.
October is upon us and all of us have been busy with the events taking place this month. We have also experienced several tragedies in our community, over the last few months, that have directly impacted not only our agency, but our partners as well. We would like to take one thing off our/your plate and push our October 27th Deliberate Dialogue back a week to November 3rd. This will allow us time to be fully engaged in connecting the dots, recognizing the gaps, and brainstorming solutions. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to reconnecting with you on November 3rd.
Thank you everyone! We had such a great conversation!
How to Attend The LIVE Sessions...
Want To WATCH The Recorded Sessions?
March Guests & Their Bios
Mario Garza is the president of the Professional Bondsman of Harris County. He is the owner/operator of 1st Advantage Bail Bonds in Houston, and a former civil/criminal paralegal with over 13 years of experience in the legal field.
April Guests & Their Bios
Monica Pena has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice/Criminology. She began working for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Parole Division in 2001 following graduation as a Institutional Parole Officer in Snyder. In 2002, she transferred to District Parole (field) in Fort Worth where she served as a District Parole Officer and Unit Supervisor from 2002-2017. In 2017, she was promoted to Parole Supervisor at the Fort Worth II District Parole Office and in 2019 she was promoted to her current position of Region Director over Region III of TDCJ-Parole Division where she supervises a staff of over 400 employees and over 16,000 parole clients.
Experienced in the area of design and implementation of problem-solving court programs, Trina Willis is an accomplished, innovative, and passionate professional with more than 28 years of experience in community corrections. Ms. Willis’ professional service has established her as a voice for a smarter approach to community corrections. Trina’s innovative perspective has informed the development of several problem-solving courts in the state of Texas, including the DIVERT Program. Similarly, Trina collaborated with other stake holders to establish the Dallas 4-C Reentry Court, which was the first re-entry court program in Texas. Both programs have been instrumental in reducing recidivism for a high-risk population. Trina is a graduate of Grambling State University with a B.S. in Criminal Justice. She has mentored younger professionals and uses her dynamic leadership to support the implementation of evidence-based community corrections programs around the state of Texas.
May Guest(s) & Bios
July Guest(s) & Bios
Ryan McLearen is an Assistant District Attorney. His duties are to prosecute persons charged with criminal violations of the laws of the state of Texas. He has represented the state of Texas in thousands of cases against defendants charged with violations of the criminal laws of the state of Texas. In his time as a Harris County Assistant District Attorney he has spent time in the Crimes Against Children Division where he prosecuted child sex abuse cases, along with being a felony district court chief of the 185th District Court for 2 years. Ryan is currently one of the felony district court chiefs of the Domestic Violence Division that is in charge of prosecuting intimate partner violent acts that range from Assault of a Pregnant Person to Capital Murder.
Monica Gonzales began working at Harris County Public Defender’s Office in 2011, where she now serves as a Senior Litigator in the Felony Trial Division supervising a team of 9 lawyers. She is a graduate of Rice University where she majored in Political Science and Policy Studies. She received her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas School of Law. After graduating she worked primarily in indigent defense for the past 28 years.
