Tim Curry (attorney)
Encyclopedia
Tim Curry was a Texas
lawyer and the Tarrant County
District Attorney
from 1972 till his death in 2009.
Born in Tulia, Texas
, Curry graduated from Texas Christian University
and Baylor Law School
. He started to work with his father and elder brother at their practice in Fort Worth.
During his first years as District Attorney, Curry worked on bringing down the pornography
businesses in downtown Fort Worth. He also declined to seek indictments for drug suspects until samples had been tested, a new practice, which sometimes took months.
murder trial. This was the last case Curry tried in court. Curry had been accused of being "soft" on drunken driving cases. In the 1990s, charges that his office bungled prosecuting a skinhead who was sentenced to probation for gunning down a black man sparked a protest of thousands through downtown Fort Worth. At a later trial, on different charges, the defendant got 40 years in prison.
. He continued to work but was housebound from the beginning of 2009. Prosecutors visited him and delivered papers for him to sign and to keep up to date on cases. Curry died on April 24, 2009, aged 70.
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...
lawyer and the 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...
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...
from 1972 till his death in 2009.
Born in Tulia, Texas
Tulia, Texas
Tulia is a city in, and county seat of, Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,117 at the 2000 census; in the 2005 census estimate, it had fallen to 4,714. The city is at the junction of U.S. Route 87 and Texas State Highway 86, approximately two miles east Interstate 27...
, Curry graduated from Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
and Baylor Law School
Baylor Law School
Founded in 1857, Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas and has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1931 and a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1938. Baylor Law School is affiliated with Baylor University and located in Waco, Texas...
. He started to work with his father and elder brother at their practice in Fort Worth.
Election as District Attorney
Curry was selected to run for District Attorney of Tarrant County after the original choice for nominee backed out just before the 1972 election. Curry was 33 years old when he was first elected.During his first years as District Attorney, Curry worked on bringing down the pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
businesses in downtown Fort Worth. He also declined to seek indictments for drug suspects until samples had been tested, a new practice, which sometimes took months.
Cases
Curry was also involved in the T. Cullen DavisT. Cullen Davis
Thomas Cullen Davis is an American oil heir. He was arrested for, and later acquitted of, the murders of his stepdaughter and his estranged wife's boyfriend, then hiring a hitman to kill his estranged wife and a judge.-Criminal trials:In August 1976, Davis was charged with the murder of his...
murder trial. This was the last case Curry tried in court. Curry had been accused of being "soft" on drunken driving cases. In the 1990s, charges that his office bungled prosecuting a skinhead who was sentenced to probation for gunning down a black man sparked a protest of thousands through downtown Fort Worth. At a later trial, on different charges, the defendant got 40 years in prison.
Change in party
Curry was first elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party in 1990, around the time many other Tarrant County elected officials did as the region's political leanings veered toward the GOP.Last years/death
In the summer of 2008, Curry was diagnosed with lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. He continued to work but was housebound from the beginning of 2009. Prosecutors visited him and delivered papers for him to sign and to keep up to date on cases. Curry died on April 24, 2009, aged 70.