The Texas DA pitted against the power of Tom DeLay
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There have been some notable missteps, though, the biggest in 1994 when he went after GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for allegedly misusing state telephones for political business. At a pretrial hearing, the judge questioned the admissibility of the prosecution's evidence and Earle declined to present a case. That led to Senator Hutchison's acquittal, and many saw the DA as an amateur.
"He should have gone ahead and tried the case," says Mr. Allison. "Instead, he dumped it in the grease. And it didn't have anything to do with politics; it had to do with his inexperience." The case still perturbs many in the GOP.
Democrats, for their part, are still upset over the prosecution of Attorney General Jim Mattox for bribery in 1985. While pushing a state lawsuit against Mobil Oil Co., the Democratic AG argued with Mobil's lawyers, which led to his indictment.
He was acquitted and years later, Jim Marston, a civil lawyer in Austin and friend of Mr. Mattox, asked Earle why he went ahead with the questionable case.
"I said, 'Ronnie, how can it be an abuse of power to threaten a lawyer? We threaten each other all the time.' He told me that elected officials are held to a higher standard. They are supposed to be [above suspicion] like Caesar's wife." It was then that Mr. Marston realized how deep Earle's principles run. "Ronnie Earle is a Boy Scout who is offended by wrongdoings, chief among them, public officials' abuse of power."
References to classic literature are common with Earle, a self-described voracious reader who favors philosophy, religion, and psychology in his spare time. He and his wife, Twila, have been recognized for efforts to strengthen family and build community.
"For Ronnie, it's not just 'Can we put someone in jail?' It's 'Can we prevent crime?' " says Mr. Oden. "That might make him a limp-wristed sissy-boy prosecutor to some. But make no mistake about it, those who rape, rob, and murder get no safe passage in his county."
While Travis County has the fewest inmates per capita on Texas' death row, few accuse Earle of being soft on crime.
He was roundly criticized for his 1996 prosecution of 11-year-old Lacresha Murray, who became the youngest person in Texas to be charged with capital murder. The girl was twice convicted of beating a 2-year-old in her care, but both decisions were overturned.
Deliberate in the capital cases he sends to juries, Earle is well known for examining an issue from all angles before acting.
"If I have any complaint about Ronnie, it's that he is overly cautious about who he prosecutes," says Marston. "The fact that it has taken two years to investigate Tom DeLay is a sign not of partisanship, but of being completely careful."
But don't be fooled, adds Allison: Earle is "a politician and if a politician is not watching his or her backside, they are not going to be around for long." Still, he says with respect to a possible indictment of DeLay, "Ronnie is not going to prosecute a lousy case."
