In its 2010-2011 term, which ended Aug. 31, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals welcomed its first new judge in almost a decade and, among numerous judicial decisions, overruled a 14-year-old precedent that had been a pet peeve for prosecutors.

Judge Charles Holcomb, who was first elected to the CCA in 2000, retired from the court on Dec. 31, 2010. In March, Gov. Rick Perry appointed Elsa Alcala, a justice on Houston’s 1st Court of Appeals, as the CCA’s first Hispanic female judge.