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Dallas Morning News reporters found numerous cases of Texans who were appointed to court attorneys, only to wait for weeks, sometimes months without representation and ultimately receiving unfair trials. Reporters found one case of a man who had been judged "mentally incompetent to stand trial, yet he was incarcerated for almost a year." In addition, reporters researched death row inmates finding numerous cases of innocent people incarcerated because of poor defense. The Dallas Morning News "found the attorneys who had represented those inmates tended to be inexperienced and were far more likely to have major bar disciplinary records. We found that judges routinely failed to check disciplinary records, or to ignore prior misconduct." "This series generated increased interest and attention to reform efforts."