Patterico's Pontifications

12/14/2007

Travis County DA Announces Retirement

Filed under: Politics — DRJ @ 5:47 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Ronnie Earle, the District Attorney of Travis County (Austin, Texas) for the past thirty-plus years, announced his retirement today. Earle is a familiar figure to many Texans but others may know him better as the hero of the left for his prosecution of Tom DeLay:

“Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said Friday he won’t seek re-election next year, bringing an end to a three-decade reign in which he battled some of the biggest names in Texas politics.

The 65-year-old Earle, who’s led a criminal investigation of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his associates, told his staff of his decision then announced it to the public. “I want to thank the people of Travis County for entrusting me with the responsibility of this office to see that justice is done. At the end of my term we will have had a 32-year partnership, because doing justice is the job of the community itself,” Earle said.

One year remains in his current term.

The Democrat has been criticized by DeLay and other Republicans who say his prosecutions of elected leaders are politically motivated. Earle points out that he prosecutes Democrats as well as Republicans.

Earle had to decide whether to run again before Jan. 2, the end of the candidate filing period for the March 4 state primaries. Earle considered not running for re-election in 2004, but the DeLay investigation centering on campaign spending in 2002 legislative races took off. He said the case was one of the most important of his career and he couldn’t abandon it.”

DeLay’s spokeswoman had a pithy and uncomplimentary response:

“DeLay spokeswoman Shannon Flaherty said Earle “never had any intention of finishing off his revenge on Tom DeLay” and is afraid of being disgraced while in office.

“This is a no-brainer for him,” she said. “Good riddance to another corrupt DA.”

Earle’s entry into politics as a political outsider fit with the 1970’s hippie culture of Austin, including a full beard and long hair in his younger years. (Picture here.) Legendary Texas Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock, a Democrat like Earle, famously stated that “the bearded Earle never bathed or shaved except in election years,” to which Earle responded: “Unbathed, unshaved, unopposed.”

The Austin American-Statesman speculates that Earle may be considering a gubernatorial bid. Perhaps in an effort to assist in that effort, recent Austin American-Statesman articles have portrayed Earle in a non-partisan light … but that dog won’t hunt.

— DRJ

34 Responses to “Travis County DA Announces Retirement”

  1. What is the current status of TX v DeLay?

    Another Drew (a28ef4)

  2. Freaking corruptocrat. First Ronnie PREANNOUNCES DeLay is going to be his target and arranges to have a film crew around to document the process for posterity. How many grand juries did he go through before he finally got one that he could pressure into indicting DeLay, something like five? Then it turned out he indicted DeLay for crimes that weren’t even in the statutes at the time Earle alleged they were committed. Nonpartisan my ass.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  3. daley, are you inferring that Ronnie might have an axe to grind?

    Another Drew (a28ef4)

  4. DeLay did manage to dampen the Democrat celebration by surrendering himself the day after the indictment and having a nice booking shot taken. No perp walk or frog marching for Tom, spoiling the wet dreams of the Dems.

    http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/20/Delay.booking/index.html

    daleyrocks (906622)

  5. Another Drew,

    I don’t know anything about the status of DeLay’s case beyond this reference:

    “DeLay and two Republican fundraisers who were indicted with him still are awaiting trial in Travis County on charges of money laundering and conspiring to launder money. Earle’s office lost its appeal earlier this year to have another charge of conspiracy to violate the election code reinstated against the three men.”

    DRJ (09f144)

  6. DRJ…
    Thank you, for the up-date.

    Another Drew (a28ef4)

  7. You mean Robin Rather’s (Dan’s daughter) best friend is going to finally resign? To Earle I have to say “don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out”.
    And the Austin clown can run for governor, but I have news for him, Austin hasn’t grown big enough to put him in that seat yet.

    Maybe Earle will move to the Left Coast where he will really be part of the majority. Can’t say that he will be missed. His shenanigans have cost Travis County plenty.

    retire05 (4bae23)

  8. “the bearded Earle never bathed or shaved except in election years,”

    I always saw soap, razor blades and toothpaste as societally imposed evils, too. And to tell the truth, I don’t like DeLay. Not since the Schiavo case. He passed a law that … hmm … gave the federal courts jurisdiction to exercise their discretion in an involuntary euthanasia case.

    nk (6061ba)

  9. /\
    SPAM

    Ronnie Earle is actually pretty good at what he does. He only gets attention for the political stuff, and he is very zealous, but the fact is that Delay was a bit of a K street crook. He did more harm for the GOP than he did good, and I’m glad he’s gone. Ronnie runs a tight ship of competent prosecutors, and they do a great job administering justice. I would say the best job in Texas.

    Texas is not totally a GOP state, and certainly wasn’t in recent decades. Earle has gone after corrupt democrats too, and with a lot of zeal then as well. If it’s wrong to return to the grand jury, then I guess all DAs are wrong. That said, Ronnie did seem to push the Delay case too hard, and he damaged the reputation of Travis County’s DA office as a result. Everyone goes overboard sometimes. But Delay was the wrong kind of leader for the GOP, and Earle did a hell of a lot of good, so I don’t think it’s fair to define Earle by this one case.

    Dustin (29d3e6)

  10. Dustin,
    As you recall Ronnie Earle’s good moments during the past 30 years, also remember how he mishandled the Kay Bailey Hutchison case, the Yogurt Shop murders, and the Lacresha Murray case.

    DRJ (09f144)

  11. “Austin American-Statesman articles have portrayed Earle in a non-partisan light … but that dog won’t hunt.”

    What’s his record of prosecutions, of democratic vs republican politicos?
    “Over Earle’s 27-year tenure, his Public Integrity Unit has prosecuted 15 elected officials, including 12 Democrats.”
    That dog hunts just fine.

    blah (fb88b3)

  12. And if we’re talking politics the Hutchison link contradicts your argument.

    blah (fb88b3)

  13. Of course left out of the Think Progress link is the unfavorable material cited by Patterico in his earlier coverage of Earle on this blog.

    https://patterico.com/2005/09/29/la-times-spin-on-ronnie-earle/

    daleyrocks (906622)

  14. That dog hunts just fine.

    If we’re talking garbage can scraps, yes.

    Paul (2ca51d)

  15. Pat pointed out a few things, but made no great claims.
    And his reference to Hutchison is indermined by DRJ’s link
    This was funny though. About Delay: “Maybe he is dirty.”
    Yeah, maybe.

    Paul, there was a long list on the link I posted.

    blah (fb88b3)

  16. How does DRJ’s link undercut anything I said in my old post?

    Patterico (7e5131)

  17. It doesn’t. However, I believe blah views Earle’s prosecution of Democrats and his aborted prosecution of Kay Bailey Hutchison as proof he is non-partisan. IMO the links show he has problems prosecuting high-profile cases, partisan or not.

    DRJ (09f144)

  18. Send Ronnie Earl to Gitmo to start prosecuting the “guests” there and see what the left says about his tactics then.

    JVW (477e5a)

  19. IMO his record of prosecuting democrats makes sense in a state where democrats controlled the legislature for the bulk of his tenure as DA. Those with the power hand out the favors. Of course, blah would never go beyond the headline level of analysis presented by his partisan blog source.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  20. Sorry, that was sloppy.
    I should have said that Pat’s reference to Hutchinson was inclusive. Daleyrocks sent us there as it made a case. But that was his opinion.
    DRJ’s link was to a defense of Earle.

    blah (fb88b3)

  21. blah,

    Burnt Orange Report is a left-wing blog and even it thought Earle blew the Hutchison prosecution. That’s hardly a defense of Earle.

    DRJ (09f144)

  22. blah – I didn’t make any reference to Hutchinson because it’s common knowledge that Earle screwed it up. Many people expect him to drop the DeLay prosecution as the trial date approaches as well.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  23. Paul, there was a long list on the link I posted.

    So?

    Paul (2ca51d)

  24. Paul- “So?”
    So respond in detail or don’t bother at all.

    DRJ- “Perhaps in an effort to assist in that effort, recent Austin American-Statesman articles have portrayed Earle in a non-partisan light … but that dog won’t hunt.”

    Patterico-
    “P.P.S. Many Republicans have leapt on the example of Earle’s dropped prosecution of Kay Bailey Hutchison (also mentioned in today’s Times article, at the very end) as evidence that Earle is a partisan. I’m not making that argument, because I don’t know all the facts of that case. Prosecutions get dropped for all sorts of reasons, and a dropped prosecution doesn’t necessarily indicate that the prosecution was bogus to begin with, or that the D.A. is a partisan.”

    blah (fb88b3)

  25. “So respond in detail or don’t bother at all.”

    Another hilarious bit of irony.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  26. Don’t get your point, blah. Sorry. Just not understanding it.

    Patterico (77de8e)

  27. Blah, you responded to this:

    Perhaps in an effort to assist in that effort, recent Austin American-Statesman articles have portrayed Earle in a non-partisan light…but that dog won’t hunt.”

    by linking to Think Progress with the comment:

    That dog hunts just fine.

    You attempted to refute the notion that Earle isn’t partisan by linking to a well-known leftist organ. Daleyrocks has already posted an example of something Think Progress negected to mention. How much more was left out that wil show up in a political campaign?

    That is why I commented “So?”

    I agree with SPQR in #25. You telling me to “respond in detail or don’t bother at all” is a hilarious bit of irony viewed in light of your commenting history.

    Paul (2ca51d)

  28. “Don’t get your point, blah. Sorry. Just not understanding it.”
    Which one is that Pat?

    Is Earle a political hack? The record seems to show otherwise.
    Is he a saint among men and was his office a light unto the nations? I doubt it.
    But that wasn’t the point was it.
    “…linking to a well-known leftist organ”
    Leftists don’t suck up to democratic political figures son.
    We just don’t. That would be liberals.

    blah (fb88b3)

  29. Leftists don’t suck up to democratic political figures son. We just don’t.

    Of course not. Democrat leftist organs like Think Progress never stoop to writing fawning articles about any candidate running on the Democrat ticket (except Joe Lieberman) and “neglect” to mention anything unflattering in personal histories…no, they rip them unmercifully in print during election season.

    Please.

    That would be liberals.

    What’s the difference?

    Paul (2ca51d)

  30. Is Earle a political hack? The record seems to show otherwise.

    Not exactly.

    I would agree he’s not a hack to the extent that he would reject or fail to prosecute solid cases even though the suspects were Dems.

    But the stuff I listed in my post showed a certain level of hackery, yes.

    You claimed DRJ undercut something I said in my post, and I still don’t understand what you meant by that. Your attempt at clarification seemed to be: DRJ’s link tended to remove the benefit of the doubt that I had given Earle re Hutchinson. That doesn’t help Earle.

    If you had another point, showing how her link undermined the previous post I had written showing evidence of Earle’s hackery, I still don’t understand it.

    Patterico (faeccf)

  31. “You claimed DRJ undercut something I said in my post, ”
    My first response to that was sloppy. If anything your response on Hutchison agrees with BOR as to hackery. But Daleyrocks provided the link to you, and DRJ gave the link to BOR. I crisscrossed the reference a bit.
    But you gave other examples.
    “a certain level of hackery.” I’ll accept that description. We haven’t spent much time on the sources on my link, but fair enough.

    This began with “The Hammer” and charges of corruption. Are the charges political BS? No. Are the claims against Earle overblown? Yes. And the assaults on him were hot and heavy from day one from the entire republican political machine.

    blah (fb88b3)

  32. blah – It seems to me that as usual you were just flinging links without reading them or understanding the underlying subject matter. Most people would call that a knee jerk reaction.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  33. DRJ,

    Generally, I agree with you that Earle has not been perfect and there are several cases such as those you mention serve as warnings for prosecutors to be careful.

    I certainly do recall Kay’s little trial. Justice worked out fine in the end. As far as the horrible yogurt shop murders go, that’s a very frustrating case indeed. As I’m sure Patterico will agree, some cases are just hard to prosecute. Sure, that case was a huge screw up in many ways, but some cases are like that. This Springsteen fella confessed, after all, just not in court. Was Earle too zealous? It’s the same question in all the cases. As far as the Yogurt cases go, which I recall studying repeatedly in my Evidence class, what exactly did Earle do wrong? He was following precedent on statements against interest. Sure, The Court said he was wrong, but in saying so they shifted hearsay law. Personally, I think it was a crummy case and Earle’s people made their best case. It’s an adversarial system, it’s not as though these decisions haven’t come under scrutiny.

    Frankly, I think the proof is in the pudding. It’s not Earle alone, it’s a great funding Travis County received (esp. compared with the rest of Texas), but I believe things are done pretty well here. Perfectly? Of course not, this is criminal law, and the smallest mistakes are still major problems.

    Since this is an adversarial system, and Ronnie Earle generally aggressively pursues serious cases and pushes the law as far as he think he can, when there are political cases and he’s prosecuting a Republican, he looks like a crazy Democrat. He has prosecuted dozens of democrats for similar stuff, but that’s not what we read about in the paper.

    Someone has to prosecute political corruption, and the accusation of witch-hunt is often automatic when the the parties aren’t in alignment. But those politicians get their defense lawyers and their day in court, so Earle should be as adversarial as he wants because that’s how justice is reached in our system.

    I just think it’s unfair to point to a few cases that made the headlines and decide that defines Earle’s work. Convictions are overturned here far less often than elsewhere in Texas. Crime is relatively low for such a large city as Austin, especially when compared to nearby San Antonio and Houston. That’s what defines Earle’s work. I am a hardcore Republican, knocked on doors for Bush’s campaign, and I like Tom Delay, but I don’t have a problem with Earle, and I think the problematic cases you cite are a very small part of the story.

    Dustin (9e390b)

  34. Dustin,

    I’m glad the Austin crime rate is low compared to other major cities although you have to exclude property crimes to make that assertion. I’m also glad that Earle has become competent at managing his staff after 30 years of practice, especially after reading stories like this.

    DRJ (09f144)


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