Ronald Dale "Ronnie" Earle (born February 23, 1942) was, until January 2009, the District Attorney

District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

 for Travis County, Texas

Travis County, Texas

As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...

. He became nationally known for filing charges against House majority leader Tom DeLay

Tom DeLay

Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...

 in September 2005 for conspiring

Conspiracy (crime)

In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...

 to violate Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

' election law

Election law

Election law is a discipline falling at the juncture of constitutional law and political science. It researches "the politics of law and the law of politics"...

 and/or to launder

Money laundering

Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

 money. Earle has also prosecuted other politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

s, including Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas.She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S....

 and State Representative Mike Martin

Mike Martin (politician)

Michael Wayne Martin, known as Mike Martin , is a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 13. At the time, Martin resided in Longview in Gregg County...

. On one occasion, he prosecuted himself for an election law

Election law

Election law is a discipline falling at the juncture of constitutional law and political science. It researches "the politics of law and the law of politics"...

 violation

Offense (law)

In law, an offence is a violation of the criminal law .In England and Wales, as well as in Hong Kong the term "offence" means the same thing as, and is interchangeable with, the term "crime"....

 after missing a campaign finance

Campaign finance

Campaign finance refers to all funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or policies in some sort of electoral contest. In modern democracies such funds are not necessarily devoted to election campaigns. Issue campaigns in referendums, party activities and party...

 filing deadline by one day; he was fined $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

212.

Early life

Earle was born in Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

 and raised on a cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 ranch in Birdville, in Tarrant County

Tarrant County, Texas

Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 1,809,034. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County is the sixteenth most populous county in the United States and the third most populous in Texas. The county is named in honor...

. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout

Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)

Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

, earned money working as a lifeguard

Lifeguard

A lifeguard supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, or beach. Lifeguards are strong swimmers and trained in first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids and equipment depending on...

, played football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, and was president of his student council at Birdville High School, Haltom City, TX. After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law

University of Texas School of Law

The University of Texas School of Law, also known as UT Law, is an ABA-certified American law school located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The law school has been in operation since the founding of the University in 1883. It was one of only two schools at the University when it was...

 in 1967, Earle served as a municipal judge in Austin from 1969 to 1972. Earle was elected to the Texas Legislature

Texas Legislature

The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...

 as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 in 1972, serving until 1977. Earle was elected district attorney of Travis County in 1976.

Earle has been married to his second wife, Twila Hugley Earle, for nearly three decades. With his first wife, Barbara, he had two children: Elisabeth and Jason Earle. He also has one stepdaughter, Nikki Rowling, and two grandchildren by his daughter, Elisabeth.

Career as the District Attorney

The Travis County District Attorney's office investigates and prosecutes crimes related to the operation of the Texas state government. Elected as a Democrat in the city of Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, which is uncommon among Texas cities for its traditional support of the Democratic Party. He was, and his successor now is, the only Democrat with statewide prosecutorial authority.

In late 2007, Earle announced that he would not seek reelection to his post. His departure precipitated a race to fill his seat. Four Democrats, all employees of his office, ran for the seat. In the primary election

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

 held on March 4, 2008, no candidate received 50 percent of the vote. A runoff election was held between the top two finishers, and Rosemary Lehmberg – who Earle had endorsed – won handily. She faced no Republican opponent in the general election. She took office in January 2009 and is the first woman district attorney in Travis County history.

Investigation and indictment of Kay Bailey Hutchison

Earle filed charges against Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas.She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S....

, then Texas State Treasurer

Texas State Treasurer

Texas State Treasurer was a political office in the U.S. state of Texas, established in the Constitution of 1876. It was abolished in 1996.-History:...

, for allegedly misusing state telephones and allegedly assaulting a staffer. Earle attempted to drop the charges on the first day in court — in fact, at the pre-trial hearing — after the judge in the case questioned the admissibility of his evidence. The judge refused to allow it, instructing the jury

Directed verdict

In a jury trial, a directed verdict is an order from the presiding judge to the jury to return a particular verdict. Typically, the judge orders a directed verdict after finding that no reasonable jury could reach a decision to the contrary...

 to return a "not guilty" verdict so the charge could not be brought

Double jeopardy

Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same, or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction...

 against her again. In the case against Senator Hutchison, when it became clear that a dismissal was necessary, he dispatched an assistant to stand up in court and make the motion. A less widely known fact in the Hutchison affair is that she was indicted twice. The first grand jury included a member who was under accusation of a crime and disqualified to serve. Thus, the original indictment was void under Texas law. Earle's failure to realize that the first grand jury was improperly constituted led to all the indictments from that grand jury being declared void, both in the Hutchison case and in the cases of everyday citizens. Earle sought re-indictment, reviving the case. Ultimately, however, Hutchinson was acquitted

Acquittal

In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...

  because Earle failed to get a search warrant before he raided the Texas Treasury, the presiding judge blocked Earle's options as to the admissibility of the evidence obtained without a warrant, so Earle declared he was unable to proceed with a case, and the judge ordered a directed verdict of acquittal from the jury.

Investigation and indictment of Tom DeLay

For over two years, Earle and eight separate grand juries investigated possible violations of Texas campaign finance law in the 2002 state legislative election. Earle denies that his pursuit of Delay was part of a "fishing expedition." His investigation of two political action committees that spent a combined $3.4 million on 22 Republican Texas House races focused on a political action committee

Political action committee

In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...

 founded by DeLay, (Texans for a Republican Majority PAC). During the investigation, DeLay charged that Earle was a "runaway district attorney" with "a long history of being vindictive and partisan".

On September 28, 2005, the grand jury indicted DeLay for conspiring to violate Texas state election law. Texas prohibits corporate contributions in state legislative races. The indictment charged that Texans for a Republican Majority

Texans for a Republican Majority

Texans for a Republican Majority or TRMPAC is a general-purpose political action committee registered with the Texas Ethics Commission. It was founded in 2001 by former Republican Texas U.S. Rep...

, DeLay's PAC, accepted corporate contributions, laundered the money

Money laundering

Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

 through the Republican National Committee

Republican National Committee

The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...

, and directed it to favored Republican candidates in Texas. The presiding Democrat judge in the case, Pat Priest, eventually threw out this charge and the Court of Criminals Appeals upheld his decision in 2007.

Earle failed in a second attempt to secure new indictments against DeLay. That grand jury returned a "no bill" due to insufficient evidence according to at least one grand jury member. That member also claimed the "no bill" visibly angered Earle.

Earle sought and eventually received a second indictment of DeLay from a new grand jury in Austin that had been seated for just a few hours on charges of conspiracy to launder money. DeLay's lawyers assert that this indictment is legally flawed. The Texas Penal Code defines laundered money only as money gained as the "proceeds of criminal activity." DeLay's defense point out that the corporate donations came from normal and legal business activity.

DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin

Dick DeGuerin

Dick DeGuerin is a criminal defense attorney based in Houston, Texas. DeGuerin was admitted to the State Bar in 1965...

, filed a legal complaint charging Earle with prosecutorial misconduct

Prosecutorial misconduct

In jurisprudence, prosecutorial misconduct is a procedural defense; via which, a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which may have broken the law, because the prosecution acted in an "inappropriate" or "unfair" manner. Such arguments may involve...

 in connection with the DeLay indictment. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle

Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...

DeGuerin said he did not yet have any hard evidence to support these claims, but was seeking court permission to depose grand jurors. Earle has claimed the charges have "no merit."

There were no new rulings since the first charge against DeLay was thrown out in the summer of 2007.

Tom DeLay was scheduled for trial on criminal charges stemming from DeLay's 2005 indictment. On August 25, 2010 Senior Judge Pat Priest (judge)

Pat Priest (judge)

Pat Priest is a Texas state court judge from San Antonio. The Senior District Judge of Bexar County status, he was appointed to preside over the Tom DeLay campaign finance trial in Austin, Texas by Chief Justice of Texas Supreme Court Wallace B. Jefferson after two judges Pat Priest (born 1940)...

 denied DeLay's motion for a change of venue from Travis County to Fort Bend County, where DeLay resides, and set a trial date for October 2010. On November 24, 2010, Tom Delay was convicted of Money Laundering.

Indictment of State Rep. Mike Martin

On July 31, 1981 during the First Called Session of the Sixty-seventh Texas Legislature, Republican Representative Mike Martin

Mike Martin (politician)

Michael Wayne Martin, known as Mike Martin , is a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 13. At the time, Martin resided in Longview in Gregg County...

, then of Longview

Longview, Texas

Longview is a city in Gregg and Harrison Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 80,455. Most of the city is located in Gregg County, of which it is the county seat; only a small part extends into the western part of neighboring Harrison County. It is...

, was shot in the left arm outside his trailer in Austin with 00-buckshot. Soon after the shooting, unidentified spokespeople from Earle's office released information to the Austin American Statesman that they felt Martin was telling inconsistent stories to the police. They claimed he first said he had no idea who did it; later he said it was a Satanic

Satanism

Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

 cult

Cult

The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...

; in the end, he accused his political enemies. Martin responded to the leaks by saying he was asked to give police all possibilities and said he had no idea why the district attorney's office would be saying such things. Earle personally made a public announcement that Martin was cooperating with police and that no one from his office was releasing information saying otherwise to The Statesman.

Earle formed a grand jury to look into the shooting of Martin and invited him to attend without issuing a subpoena. Martin refused to appear by issuing a statement that he had already given officials all the information he knew. Gregg County District Attorney Rob Foster shortly arrested Martin on a three-year-old assault

Assault

In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...

 charge. The charge was immediately dismissed due to time limits and lack of evidence. Upon release, Martin appeared before reporters and accused Gregg County officials of using their offices to ruin him politically.

The day after his release on the assault charge, Martin voluntarily appeared before Earle's grand jury. At the time he didn't know that his first cousin, Charles Goff, had previously appeared before the grand jury and admitted he helped Martin stage the event to advance Martin's political career. He claimed Martin offered him a state job as payment, though Texas has strong nepotism

Nepotism

Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....

 laws forbidding the hiring of relatives. Goff had served prison time and had three outstanding felony warrants pending at the time of his testimony; however, the grand jury took his word over Martin's. After Martin’s denial of Goff’s accusations before the grand jury, Earle filed felony perjury

Perjury

Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...

 charges against the freshman legislator. Martin pleaded not guilty and, a year later, worked out a plea bargain

Plea bargain

A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...

 with Earle by admitting to misdemeanor

Misdemeanor

A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...

 perjury charges relating to the renting of a car around the time of the shooting. Martin resigned his House seat on April 22, 1982 and withdrew from the upcoming election.

Martin filed several suits against Earle, Rob Foster, and his cousin, Charles Goff for civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 violations. A federal judge dismissed the last case in June 1985 on grounds that prosecutors are immune

Qualified immunity

Qualified immunity is a doctrine in U.S. federal law that arises in cases brought against state officials under 42 U.S.C Section 1983 and against federal officials under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 . Qualified immunity shields government officials from liability for the...

 from civil suits. Martin still claims he is innocent of Earle's charges.

LaCresha Murray case

In 1996, Earle indicted 11-year-old LaCresha Murray for capital murder involving two-year-old Jayla Belton - the youngest homicide

Homicide

Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...

 prosecution in Texas history. Earle's evidence rested on an alleged confession by Murray, obtained by interrogation at a children's shelter in the absence of any attorney or family member. Murray's case provoked several public protests of Earle's office and at the Texas State Capitol from her detention in 1996 until her release in 1999, when the case was reviewed.

Murray was again tried and convicted of intentional injury to a child, receiving a 25-year sentence. In 2001, the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals reversed and remanded her sentence after finding that her confession was illegally obtained. Earle dropped all charges against her.

In 2002, a suit was filed against the Travis County District Attorney's Office and a host of other individuals and various agencies. The lawsuit alleges that the Murray family has been victimized by malicious prosecution

Malicious prosecution

Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort, while like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include intentionally instituting and pursuing a legal action that is brought without probable cause and dismissed in favor of the victim of the malicious prosecution...

, defamation, mental anguish, libel and slander. Charges of racism are also raised in the suit, suggesting that the Murray family would have been treated differently had they been white. Murray's suit was dismissed; on November 28, 2005, the US Supreme Court refused to revive the lawsuit.

Maurice Pierce case

On December 6, 1991, four teenage girls were murdered inside a local yogurt shop in Austin. In 1999, Earle led the "Yogurt Shop Murders

Yogurt Shop Murders

The 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders refers to the deaths of four teenage girls in a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas, on December 6, 1991, after which the shop was set aflame...

" case against suspect Maurice Pierce, leading to a grand jury indicting him on four counts of first degree murder.
Pierce was arrested along with Robert Springsteen IV, Michael Scott, and Forrest Welborn for the murders of four girls.

Springsteen and Scott eventually confessed to the crime. Springsteen was convicted and sentenced to death. Scott was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Welborn was never indicted for the crime.

Pierce continually maintained his innocence up until his release, occurring three years after his arrest. The state could not use Springsteen's and Scott's confessions against Pierce, so, without a confession, and only circumstantial evidence to connect him to the yogurt shop, the state had to either try Pierce or release him. Earle released him and dropped all charges citing a lack of evidence. The case against Pierce remains open. On December 24, 2010, Pierce was shot dead by Austin police officers in an incident during which Pierce allegedly stabbed a police officer with the officer's knife.

2010 Texas Elections

Immediately after Ronnie Earle announced his retirement as District Attorney of Travis County in December 2007, he began being mentioned as a possible statewide candidate. In the spring of 2009, Earle's name began being mentioned specifically in context with a race for either Texas Attorney General or Texas Governor.

Earle has said he is considering a run for one of the two posts. On June 30, 2009, an Internet draft movement, DraftRonnie.com, was launched to urge Earle to run for Texas governor. The Draft Ronnie website and draft movement ended in September, 2009, when Democrat Hank Gilbert entered the race for Texas Governor as the founder of the draft site announced his support for Gilbert and went to work for him as a high-level staffer.

On December 18, 2009 Ronnie Earle filed to run for Lieutenant Governor of Texas

Lieutenant Governor of Texas

The Lieutenant Governor of Texas is the second-highest executive office in the government of Texas, a state in the U.S. It is the second most powerful post in Texas government because its occupant controls the work of the Texas Senate and controls the budgeting process as a leader of the...

.

On March 2, 2010 Earle was defeated for the post of Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic primary by Labor leader Linda Chavez-Thompson

Linda Chavez-Thompson

Linda Chavez-Thompson is a second-generation Mexican American and union leader. She was elected the executive vice-president of the AFL-CIO in 1995 and served until September 21, 2007. She is also a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and a member of the board of trustees of United Way...

.

External links

• Travis County District Attorney- Official