Attend Events

TCADP is pleased to offer virtual programs as well as in-person events such as our Annual Conference. See below for details on upcoming and past events, as well as events hosted by partner organizations.

Upcoming Events

TCADP social gatherings in Dallas and Austin
TCADP Deputy Director Tiara Cooper will host an informal happy hour for supporters in DFW on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Come by Vector Brewing (9850 Walnut Hill Ln. Suite 405, Dallas, TX 75238) anytime between 6:30 and 8:30 PM to meet Tiara and Nan Tolson, Director of Texas Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, who recently moved back to the area. Tiara also will provide updates on cases we are working on and other current initiatives. Email her at tcooper@tcadp.org to RSVP or text her when you get to Vector Brewing at 469-677-4141.

TCADP Executive Director Kristin Cuellar will host a happy hour for folks in the Austin area on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at Easy Tiger (6406 N Interstate 35 Frontage Rd in The Linc). Come by anytime between 5:00 and 7:00 PM. Look for us outside on the patio (we’ll have a TCADP sign) or text Kristin at 512-552-5948 when you arrive.

TCADP Book Group
The TCADP Book Group meets every six to eight weeks on Zoom and reads a mix of fiction, non-fiction, and memoirs (see below for a list of everything we’ve read together). Our next selection is He Called Me Sister: A True Story of Finding Humanity on Death Row by Suzanne Craig Robertson. We will discuss the book with Ms. Robertson on Zoom on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at 7:00 PM CT. Register here.

Noose to Needle: The legacy of race and the death penalty in Texas
Join us on Thursday, May 30, 2024, for an important conversation about the intersection of race and the death penalty, featuring TCADP Deputy Director Tiara Cooper, Estelle Hebron-Jones, Director of Special Projects for Texas Defender Service (TDS), and Furonda Brasfield, Director of the Noose to Needle Project.

In this webinar, you will learn about persistent and ongoing racial disparities in Harris County’s use of the death penalty, as documented in a report published by TDS earlier this year and exemplified by the case of Duane Buck. You also will hear about the Noose to Needle Project, which explores the historical connections between lynching and racial terror and the modern death penalty. Tiara will share her perspective on intersectionality and how the project connects to her current work in Texas. This conversation will take place on Zoom from 6:30-7:30 PM CT. Register here to receive the meeting link.

TCADP Summer Lunch Series in Austin
This summer, TCADP will host a monthly lunch series for supporters in the Austin area. These gatherings will take place at the TCADP office in North Austin (1139 West Braker Lane) and will feature a special guest speaker. Join us for our first luncheon on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, when we will hear from Adrián de la Rosa, a Capital Defense Investigator at the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Texas – Capital Habeas Unit. Lunch will be provided; pre-registration is required. Join us from 12 to 1 PM that day for conversation and community!

Past Events

Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction: The Case of Charles Don Flores
Did you know someone can be convicted and sentenced to death without any evidence linking them to the crime scene? That’s what happened to Charles Don Flores, who has spent more than 20 years on death row for a crime he maintains he did not commit.

On June 8, 2023, TCADP, with support from local and national partners, hosted Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction: The Case of Charles Don Flores in DeSoto, Texas. During the community forum, attendees heard from these speakers:

Christopher Scott, a Dallas County exoneree
Gretchen Sween, Flores’s appellate attorney
Dr. John Wixted, an expert on memory and eyewitness identification

You can watch the live stream of the event here: https://www.facebook.com/cdf999299/videos. (This was recorded by a friend of Charles Flores who traveled from Colorado to be there!)

Bilingual panel discussion: “The Years of Fierro”
On May 12, 2021, EPF Media, TCADP, and Witness to Innocence hosted a special panel discussion related to the documentary film, “The Years of Fierro,” and the case of César Fierro, who spent four decades on Texas’s death row before his sentence was reduced. He was paroled in 2020. Throughout his ordeal, César maintained his innocence of the crime for which he was convicted in El Paso in 1980. The panel was conducted in English and Spanish and featured the filmmaker, Santiago Esteinou, two of César’s attorneys, Sandra Babcock and Dick Burr, and César himself. Watch and share the recording.