1996 | David Botsford 

David Botsford became president. 

David Botsford dedicated his tenure as president of TCDLA to enhancing the diversity of TCDLA by introducing a platform that would put minorities and women in positions of power within TCDLA. David Botsford remained consistent to his pledge of increasing diversity when he put Betty Blackwell on the officer chain in 1995 prior to his position as president. The only female to serve on the officer chain before David’s efforts was Jo Keegans during the 1970s.

During this time Cynthia Orr and Lydia Clay-Jackson also served on the Executive Committee for TCDLA. Compelling issues to criminal defense attorneys during David’s presidency also included applications for habeas corpus, the legislatures slash in funding for attorneys and investigative expenses, and how the Court of Criminal Appeals appointed only a few attorneys to represent defendants sitting on death row. The demise of the Texas Resource Center and the passage of the federal Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 were also hot topics. Under his supervision, TCDLA sponsored a two-part capital murder seminar in Houston and Galveston and appointed four new committees devoted solely to capital murder to help practicing criminal defense attorneys. Botsford actively vied to increase membership to TCDLA while simultaneously promoting camaraderie among all criminal defense attorneys.