Sam Nuchia is a professor at the

University of Houston–Downtown The University of Houston–Downtown (UHD) is a public university in Houston, Texas. It is part of the University of Houston System and has a campus that spans in Downtown Houston with a satellite location, UHD-Northwest in Harris County. Fo ...

. He previously served as an appellate judge and served 17 years with the

Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest ...

(HPD) beginning in 1967. Leaving HPD as Deputy Chief to become a prosecutor as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Texas, until he was tapped as Chief of Police by Mayor

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who was a center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted int ...

until leaving under the

Lee Brown Lee Brown may refer to: *Lee Brown (footballer) (born 1990), English footballer, for Portsmouth FC * Lee P. Brown (born 1937), police department chief and mayor of Houston * Lee Bradley Brown (1971–2011), British tourist allegedly beaten to death ...

administration.

Personal

He and his wife Liz are residents of Waller County. They have three grown children and four grand children.

Education

He rose in the ranks to deputy chief while attending college, first at

Abilene Christian College Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Southwestern United States and has one of th ...

and then at

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1923, it is accredited by the American Bar Association. South Texas College of Law Houston is the oldest law school in the city of ...

Career

Houston Police Department

He was credited with a number of positive results under his tenure with the decrease of response times to High Priority calls to 4.4 minutes from a high of 6.1 minutes. A Special Response group was created to handle large crowds and special events, pay increases for senior officers across the ranks. A Woman's Advisory Council was created for female officers to be able to raise and review any concerns, and officers with 20 or more years of experience would be eligible for the Deferred Retirement Option program.

Texas Court of Appeals

He wrote the opinion that overturned the conviction of

Andrea Yates Andrea Pia Yates ( Kennedy; born July 2, 1964) is an American woman from Houston, Texas, who confessed to drowning her five children in their bathtub on June 20, 2001. She had severe postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, and schizophreni ...

trial where the panel wrote, "Dr Dietz's false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury. We further conclude that Dr Dietz's false testimony affected the substantial rights of appellant." With that, it a retrial was granted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuchia, Sam Houston Police Department chiefs Living people Abilene Christian University alumni South Texas College of Law alumni People from Beaumont, Texas Texas state court judges Texas lawyers People from Houston American prosecutors Legal educators University of Houston–Downtown faculty Year of birth missing (living people)