Appellate The district attorney’s three appellate division prosecutors and their legal assistant handle the appellate litigation that arises out of Montgomery County criminal cases. Most defendants convicted after a trial appeal their convictions, and the appellate prosecutors defend those convictions by filing briefs and presenting oral argument in the various Texas courts of appeals and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Their affirmance rate (the percentage of cases in which the judgment of conviction is upheld by the appellate courts) approaches 100% every year—a tribute to the experience and expertise of the Montgomery County trial prosecutors and judges. In addition, the appellate division prosecutors represent the State in the habeas corpus proceedings in which prison inmates seek to obtain new trials, sometimes many years after their convictions. They also frequently assist the trial prosecutors when complex legal issues arise during trial court proceedings.                       Bill Delmore Legal Services Division Chief   The chief of the district attorney’s legal services division is Bill Delmore, a career prosecutor with almost thirty years of experience. A graduate of the University of Texas and the University of Houston Law Center, Delmore clerked for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals before joining the Harris County district attorney’s office as a misdemeanor trial prosecutor. Before retiring from Harris County in September of 2008, he served as general counsel to the district attorney, John B. Holmes, Jr.; as the chief of the appellate division; and as the chief of the Legal Services Bureau. In January of 2009, Delmore ended his brief retirement to join the staff of his former Harris County intern, Brett Ligon. In addition to Delmore’s appellate duties, he serves as special counsel to the district attorney, handling petitions for expunction and non-disclosure, requests for information under the Public Information Act, and other miscellaneous duties assigned by the district attorney. Delmore has authored more than 600 appellate briefs, and represented the State in numerous capital murder cases in which the death penalty was imposed. He has represented the State (and his fellow prosecutors) in several Texas courts of appeals, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.