Chief Justice Judy Parker, Justice Lawrence Doss and Justice Laura Pratt heard three cases in all, two of them from Lubbock. One involves Allan Montemayor, accused of beating 21-year-old Cypress Ramos to death in February 2022 and setting her body on fire inside a storage unit on North Frankford Avenue.
A pretrial ruling threw out evidence in that case, and the state is appealing. At issue is whether police improperly gathered DNA evidence.
The panel also heard Nathan Grassie's appeal in a child molestation case. Grassie received a life sentence for abusing three children over nearly a decade. His attorneys claim prosecutors withheld information and the trial court improperly allowed hearsay testimony.
Both Lubbock cases now rest with the same three judges.
Those judges all earned their law degrees at the same school that hosted them.