Post-Conviction Appeals

Trials are not perfect and convictions are not always just. Post-conviction investigation develops the factual record counsel needs to seek relief.

Liberty Investigations has worked post-conviction appeals, state and federal habeas proceedings, and capital punishment appellate matters across Texas for more than twenty years. We work regularly with the Texas Defender Service, the Texas Capital Habeas Units, pro bono law firms, and innocence organizations. We also work with other nonprofit and justice organizations and with individual attorneys engaged in post-conviction and capital defense litigation.

Scope of the Work

Post-conviction investigation begins where the trial record ends. The investigator reviews the offense, the original investigation, the trial, and the appellate record as if approaching the case for the first time. That review identifies what was done, what was missed, and what needs to be developed to support the legal claims under review.

The work commonly includes:

• Locating and reinterviewing witnesses whose accounts have changed, who were never contacted by the defense, or who have new information that has come to light since trial.
• Developing records that were not part of the original case file, including records that could have been obtained pretrial through subpoena but require different means at this stage.
• Reviewing trial counsel's file to identify failures to investigate, failures to call or prepare witnesses, failures to obtain records, and other performance issues that may support an ineffective assistance claim.
• Investigating prosecutorial and law enforcement conduct, including Brady violations, undisclosed agreements with witnesses, false or misleading testimony, and patterns of misconduct across other cases.
• Investigating jailhouse informants and cooperating witnesses, including cooperation history, benefits received, and patterns of testimony across multiple cases.
• Developing facts relevant to newly discovered evidence, recantations, forensic science developments, juror misconduct, and other grounds for relief.
• Working alongside mitigation specialists and experts where fact and mitigation work overlaps, including locating witnesses, obtaining records, and developing factual context relevant to the offense and the client's background.

All of this work is conducted at the direction of counsel, documented as attorney work product, and built to support specific legal claims rather than general inquiry.

Engagements vary in scope. Some matters call for a full reinvestigation from the trial record forward. Others involve a defined set of tasks counsel needs handled, such as locating a particular witness, obtaining a specific set of records, or running down a single line of inquiry. We work to whatever scope counsel sets, whether that means taking the lead on a full investigation or handling discrete assignments within a larger effort.

The Challenges of Post-Conviction Work

Post-conviction investigation typically begins years, sometimes decades, after the offense and the trial. Witnesses have moved, memories have faded, and records that were readily available pretrial may no longer be accessible through compulsory process. The investigator works against those constraints methodically, prioritizing what is most likely to support the claims under development and what is time-sensitive given retention windows, witness availability, and procedural deadlines.

The scope of the work tends to expand as the investigation develops. A witness reinterview may surface a Brady issue that was not previously visible. A review of trial counsel's file may produce an IAC claim that was not in the original assessment. Counsel and investigator should expect to revisit scope and priorities as new facts come in.

Capital Cases

Capital post-conviction work proceeds under specific procedural rules at both the state and federal level, with broader scope, larger legal teams, and higher investigative demands than most non-capital matters. Liberty Investigations has extensive experience in capital habeas proceedings, including cases involving the Texas Capital Habeas Units and federal habeas review in the United States District Court. That experience covers the full range of capital post-conviction investigation. It includes claim identification and witness development, records collection, IAC investigation, mitigation support, and preservation of the record for federal review.

Working with Liberty Investigations

Reach out by phone, email, or contact form to discuss the case. Engagements are documented before work begins and tailored to the scope and funding of each matter. For questions about billing, retainers, post-service arrangements, and CJA matters, see the Working With Us page.