First Assistant Criminal District Attorney for Rockwall County Craig Stoddart Republican Nominee for Fifth Court of Appeals' Jim Moseley's Old Seat

William Shakespeare famously complained of "the law's delay," But he never said anything about the rapid dispatch of business when a political committee knows its will, and the Republican precinct chairs of Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall and Kaufman counties did not dawdle in naming First Assistant Criminal District Attorney for Rockwall County Craig Stoddart to uphold the GOP banner in this year's November race for the seat in Texas's Fifth Supreme Judicial District Court of Appeals in Dallas formerly held by Jim Moseley.
Stoddart will be in an unusual position until January 2, 2015. He is the justice presumptive-- if the Democrat defeats him

"a lioness . . . [will have] whelped in the streets;

And graves [will] have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead;

Fierce fiery warriors [will have] fought upon the clouds,

In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,

Which . . . [drizzle] blood upon the Capitol;

The noise of battle . . . [will hurtle] in the air,

Horses . . . [will] neigh, and dying men [will] groan,

And ghosts [will]shriek and squeal about the streets."

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, act 2, sc. 2

The Democrat county committee chairs have not yet chosen their sacrificial lamb candidate. They appear to intend to next week.

Stoddard is an appellate prosecutor of 22 years' experience, not just in Dallas, but in many other state appeals courts including Texas's highest criminal court-- the Court of Criminal Appeals. He appears to have little or no civil appellate experience. He got a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of North Texas in 1986, and his law degree from Texas Tech in 1990.

Dallas's Fifth Appellate District to Be Short Handed until 2015; New Justice Will Likely Be Chosen by Six GOP County Chairpeople.

Justice John Moseley of Dallas's Texas State Fifth Supreme Judicial District Court of Appeals-- not the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals headquartered in New Orleans-- resigned to go into private practice, but did so between the time he had been chosen a candidate for re-election and the time of the actual regular election. This means that the governor doesn't choose the replacement for the end of the term. The replacement will be the winner of the election. The Republicans and the Democrats will get to choose candidates through the party chairs of the six counties that make up the district. As a practical matter, one of the justices of that court for next term is going to be chosen by the six county Republican chairs of the district.

Hat tip to D. Todd Smith of Austin. The Texas Lawyer has a good story on this, too, but they only let three stories per month outside of their pay wall.