Staff

  • Burke Butler
    Burke Butler
    Executive Director
  • Randi Chavez
    Randi Chavez
    Deputy Director and Head of Mitigation
  • Caiti Coughlan
    Caiti Coughlan
    Junior Mitigation Specialist
  • Atticus Finch
    Atticus Finch
    Lozano-Long Legal Fellow
  • Emily Follansbee
    Emily Follansbee
    Legal Director
  • Diego Galeazzi
    Diego Galeazzi
    Legal Fellow
  • Kyle Harmon
    Kyle Harmon
    Mitigation Specialist
  • Estelle Hebron-Jones
    Estelle Hebron-Jones
    Director of Special Projects
  • Nayeli Moreno
    Nayeli Moreno
    Senior Mitigation Specialist
  • Jamie Newsome
    Jamie Newsome
    Senior Mitigation Specialist
  • Miranda Nolen
    Miranda Nolen
    Mitigation Unit Manager
  • Adarsh N. Parthasarathy
    Adarsh N. Parthasarathy
    Manne Family Legal Fellow
  • Caitlin Purcell
    Caitlin Purcell
    Mitigation Unit Manager
  • Ashlee Qussad
    Ashlee Qussad
    Office Manager
  • Nicole Ramos
    Nicole Ramos
    Mitigation Specialist
  • Jennae Swiergula
    Jennae Swiergula
    Senior Counsel
  • Kevin Trahan
    Kevin Trahan
    Staff Attorney
  • Jared Tyler
    Jared Tyler
    Senior Counsel

Burke Butler
Executive Director

Burke Butler (she/her) became Executive Director of Texas Defender Service in 2022, where she leads TDS’s vibrant, committed team in their mission to fight for the end of mass incarceration and excessive punishment in Texas. She can be reached at bbutler@texasdefender.org

Burke has worked on criminal justice matters for over twelve years. Her experience spans policy, research, appellate litigation, and advocacy. Burke graduated from Yale Law School in 2011, where she was a recipient of the C. LaRue Munson Prize for Excellence in a Law School Clinical Program. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Harris L Hartz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and to the Honorable Keith P. Ellison of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

In 2013, Burke was awarded an Arthur Liman Fellowship from Yale Law School to spearhead a comprehensive investigation of Texas’s use of solitary confinement. Later, as a Staff Attorney at Texas Defender Service and then as a Principal at Phillips Black, Burke represented capitally sentenced prisoners in their post-conviction proceedings in state and federal court. At the Justice Collaborative, Burke engaged local elected officials to institute progressive policies to transform the criminal punishment system. She is a 2007 graduate of the University of Chicago, where she majored in English literature. Burke’s creative writing has appeared in The Texas Observer and in the literary magazines The Virginia Quarterly Review and Gulf Coast. Before becoming engaged in human rights issues in Texas’s criminal-legal system, she worked and volunteered in Afghanistan, Peru, India, Sierra Leone, and London.

In 2019, she was named a Premier Woman in Law by the Houston Association of Women Attorneys.

Randi Chavez
Deputy Director and Head of Mitigation

Randi Chavez (she/her) received a Master of Science in Social Work in 2003. While completing her graduate degree she interned at Texas Defender Service as a mitigation specialist. Upon graduation, she was hired as the first full-time mitigation specialist for the Gulf Region Advocacy Center (GRACE) and later worked independently as a mitigation specialist at both the trial and post-conviction levels. She then honed her clinical skills for three years as a clinical social worker in an inpatient psychiatric hospital in Austin, Texas. Randi returned to Texas Defender Service in 2009 as a mitigation specialist. As Deputy Director and Head of Mitigation, Randi now oversees TDS’s operations and provides high-level leadership and mentorship of TDS’s mitigation team. Randi can be reached at rchavez@texasdefender.org.

Caiti Coughlan
Junior Mitigation Specialist

Caiti Coughlan (she/her) received a Master of Social Work from Baylor University in 2022. While completing her degree, Caiti interned at the YWCA of Greater Austin where she worked as a case manager for Austin-area residents facing crisis, and at Texas Defender Service, where she assisted the mitigation department with pre-trial and post-conviction casework. Upon graduation, Caiti was hired full-time as a Junior Mitigation Specialist. Before completing her Master of Social Work, Caiti received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Texas at Austin. Caiti worked as a freelance musician and private lessons teacher for over ten years.

Atticus Finch
Lozano-Long Legal Fellow

Atticus Finch (he/they) is a Joe R. Long and Teresa Lozano Long Legal Fellow with Texas Defender Service. Atticus received his B.A. in History and Political Science from Texas State University in 2019, and he received his J.D. from the University of Texas in 2022. While in law school, Atticus worked in the UT Law capital punishment clinic, criminal defense clinic, and for Texas Defender Service as a law clerk.

Emily Follansbee
Legal Director
Prior to joining TDS, Emily (she/her) practiced criminal defense in Colorado. She spent over 7 years as an attorney for the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office where she defended indigent individuals at trial for all types of criminal offenses including homicide. Emily’s practice also included successful appellate and post-conviction litigation at the state level. Emily holds a J.D. from the University of Oregon and a B.A. from Union College.
Diego Galeazzi
Legal Fellow

Diego Galeazzi (he/him) is a Manne Family Fellow with Texas Defender Service. Diego received his B.A. in Historical Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2019, and he received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2022. While in law school, Diego participated in the Judicial Process in Trial Courts clinic and the Capital Punishment clinic, and he interned for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and with Sween Law, LLC. Mr. Galeazzi is in the process of applying for admission to the State Bar of Texas.

Kyle Harmon
Mitigation Specialist
Kyle Harmon received a Master of Science in Social Work from UT Austin in 2021 and B.A.s in English and Psychology UNC Chapel Hill in 2016. Kyle joined TDS as an employee in 2021 and interned with the organization prior to starting full-time. Their previous experience includes working as a therapist for kids and adults experiencing mood, anxiety, or eating disorders; organizing resource distribution for folks who are unhoused; and fundraising for greater access to quality educational and wellness resources.
Estelle Hebron-Jones
Director of Special Projects

Estelle (she/her) holds  a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.A. in literature from the University College London. Before joining TDS, she was a Staff Attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery.

Nayeli Moreno
Senior Mitigation Specialist

Nayeli Moreno (she/her) received a Bachelor of Social Work in 2018 and a Master of Science in Social Work in 2019 from the University of Texas at Austin. During her time at UT, Nayeli completed internships at the UT Law Criminal Defense Clinic and at Texas Defender Service as a Mitigation Intern. She joined Texas Defender Service as a Junior Mitigation Specialist in 2019.

Jamie Newsome
Senior Mitigation Specialist

Jamie Newsome (she/her) received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Colgate University and graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Master of Science in Social Work. During her graduate studies, Jamie completed an internship with the Council for At-Risk Youth. She spent her final semester in graduate school as an intern with Texas Defender Service before joining full time as a mitigation specialist in 2018.

Miranda Nolen
Mitigation Unit Manager

Miranda (she/her) received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings in San Francisco in 2012. During law school, she worked at Bay Area Legal Aid providing family law and immigration services to indigent survivors of domestic violence. Following her legal studies, Miranda worked in a school, where she continued to develop her interest in empowering vulnerable individuals. Miranda went on to earn a Master of Science in Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. While completing her graduate degree, she interned at the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs in Austin, Texas. Miranda joined Texas Defender Service as a mitigation specialist in 2017.

Adarsh N. Parthasarathy
Manne Family Legal Fellow

Adarsh N. Parthasarathy (he/him) is the 2023-2024 Manne Family Legal Fellow at the Texas Defender Service. Adarsh received his B.A. in History and B.S. in Political Science from the University of California San Diego and his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law. During law school, Adarsh was a Public Service Scholar, a Chris Marshall Scholar, President of the Public Interest Law Association, an Executive Editor of the Texas Journal of International Law and the American Journal of Criminal Law, and a Pro Bono Scholar for the Supported Decision-Making Project. He participated in the Supreme Court Clinic and was a repeat participant in the Capital Punishment Clinic. He interned for Disability Rights Texas, the Capital Habeas Unit for the Western District of Texas, and Sidley Austin LLP. At the time of his graduation, Adarsh had performed nearly 1500 hours of pro bono service, more than any other student in the school’s history. Mr. Parthasarathy is in the process of applying for admission to the State Bar of Texas.

Caitlin Purcell
Mitigation Unit Manager

Caitlin (she/her) holds B.A. from Yale University and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Texas. Before joining TDS in 2018, she was a Clinical Caseworker in Austin’s Community Court.

Ashlee Qussad
Office Manager

Ashlee (she/her) started working with TDS in Nov of 2019. Before starting at TDS she lived in Dallas where she studied Psychology at TWU.

Nicole Ramos
Mitigation Specialist

Nicole Ramos (she/her) received a Bachelor of Arts in Vocational Missions with emphasis in Sociology and Global Studies from Abilene Christian University in 2015. During her undergraduate studies, she piloted a social justice service-learning program in 4 schools in South Dallas, partnering with an international organization aimed at empowering youth. She served in the Peace Corps in Panama from 2016-2018, teaching English and community development to an indigenous village. Nicole went on to graduate from Northeastern University with a Master of Science in International Relations. During her graduate studies, she worked with unaccompanied child refugees from Central America, as an outreach coordinator for the homeless, and as a legal assistant in immigration law. Nicole joined TDS as a Junior Mitigation Specialist in 2021.

Jennae Swiergula
Senior Counsel

Before joining the Texas Defender Service, Jennae (she/her) was a staff attorney at the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs, where she represented death-sentenced prisoners in Texas in their state habeas proceedings. Prior to joining the OCFW, she was a staff attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, where she represented clients sentenced to death and clients sentenced to life without parole as children in all stages of state and federal post-conviction proceedings. She also represented other indigent clients subjected to excessive or unfair convictions and punishment and litigated challenges to the conditions of confinement in Alabama prisons. Previously Jennae was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York and she interned with Judge Michael H. Dolinger on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She received her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 2008.

Kevin Trahan
Staff Attorney
Kevin Trahan (he/him) first joined Texas Defender Service as a G. Rollie White legal fellow, and is now a staff attorney. He received his B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University in 2015 and his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2020. Before law school, Kevin was a journalist covering sports and sports law.
Jared Tyler
Senior Counsel

Jared Tyler (he/him) graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center in 2003. After graduating, he worked for three years as Deputy Director of the Texas Innocence Network, in which capacity he represented both capital and non-capital defendants in post-conviction proceedings in state and federal court and taught a course on innocence investigations at the University of Houston Law Center. He first joined TDS as a staff attorney in 2006 until 2009, where he represented capitally sentenced clients at all levels of state and federal post-conviction review. In addition to direct representation, he regularly consults on other state and federal capital post-conviction cases. Mr. Tyler rejoined TDS in 2017. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.