TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — On Thursday, Travis County DA-elect José Garza announced that his former opponent in the Democratic primary, Erin Martinson, would be joining his office.
In a press release announcing the move, Garza called her a "decades-long champion for victims of violent crime" and said she would lead the special victims unit.
“The criminal justice system in Travis County has repeatedly failed survivors. That ends today,” said Martinson. “Those who have survived violent crimes deserve to have a justice system they can trust. Under José Garza’s leadership, we are going to build a justice system where victims are believed and treated with dignity and respect – starting from day one.”
Garza said Martinson has dedicated her career to fighting for survivors of violent crime, bringing decades of courtroom and criminal justice experience to the table.
“Erin Martinson has been leading the fight for sexual assault survivors for her entire career. I can think of nobody better suited to the task of overhauling the District Attorney’s approach to sexual assault cases and building a system that believes survivors,” said Garza. “Travis County’s criminal justice system has failed survivors, leading victims of violent crime to distrust the system. In order to keep Travis County safe, we need to fix our broken justice system and create a system everybody can trust.”
Thursday's news follows Garza's previous announcement that criminal justice reform expert Trudy Strassburger would take over as First Assistant District Attorney. She is the managing director of The Justice Collaborative, a national criminal legal reform advocacy organization.
In the March primary, current DA Margaret Moore received 41% of the vote, Garza earned 44%, and Martinson earned 15%. In the July runoff, Garza defeated Moore with 68%. And, on Election Day, Garza defeated Republican opponent Marin Harry by a landslide 70%.
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