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.