Top 10 stories of 2014: Regime change comes to DA’s office

When longtime Tarrant County District Attorney Tim Curry died of cancer in 2009, Joe Shannon became his reluctant replacement.

Stints in the Texas Legislature, decades in the courtroom and dozens of fund-raising events had taken a toll on him and his family, Shannon said.

“Raising money for a campaign makes you feel like a beggar,” said Shannon, 74. “In 1970, I spent $50,000 on my campaign (for state representative). Now that won’t even get you off the launching pad.”

Now 74, Shannon is stepping down from the office he has held for five years, effective Jan. 1.

He will be replaced by Sharen Wilson, 58, who retired from her position as a state district judge to run for district attorney, a job she first tried to win in 1990.

Shannon’s exit will mark the end of a 42-year run in which Curry or someone closely affiliated with him has called the shots from the lead prosecutor’s office.

Shannon said he believed that he and Curry would retire at the same time, but when Curry was stricken with cancer, that changed. Curry died on April 24, 2009.

“I had been at the foot of the throne for years,” Shannon said. “I wasn’t climbing the political ladder and I wasn’t looking for another job. As I had told some other people, I was getting out of show business.”

The day after Curry’s funeral, then-state Rep. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, called and encouraged the attorney to put his name up for consideration for the open position, Shannon said.

So Shannon sent his application to Gov. Rick Perry’s office, which was charged with appointing a replacement.

In May 2009, Shannon was summoned to Austin for an interview. Shannon said he hesitated, but his wife, Rebecca Lucas, did not.

“My wife said, ‘Just think of the 300 people in that office who are depending on you,’” Shannon said.

Shannon said he was interviewed by office staff for 45 minutes and 30 minutes later, he was offered the appointment through an intermediary. He said he never spoke to Gov. Perry.

In 2010, Shannon won election to the district attorney’s office outright.

‘Other things I wanted to do’

During his time as district attorney, Shannon hired a public information officer and created a website to provide news releases on key cases, assisted in setting up a veteran’s court, helped obtain grants to fund “no refusal” enforcement against drunk drivers during the holidays and upgraded the photo laboratory to the point that law enforcement officers in 13 states have asked its technicians for assistance.

In a letter to staff announcing his plans to retire, he notes that his office has had a 90 percent felony conviction rate.

Shannon said had he not decided to retire, he believes he would have won re-election.

“If I had served my full term I would have been 78 years old by the time it was finished,” Shannon said. “There are other things I wanted to do.”

Had Shannon run for re-election, he likely would have faced a barrage of questions about allegations that he had sexually harassed a former assistant district attorney who sued the county. Tarrant County commissioners voted to pay the woman $375,000 to settle the case. Shannon adamantly denied the allegations and said he was disappointed that county officials decided not to defend the case.

“An objective review of the documents will clearly demonstrate what I have said all along — there are two sides to this controversy,” Shannon said in January 2013. “The claims have been vigorously denied and disputed.”

Shannon said he does not let the opinions of others on the case bother him.

“You can’t spend your time worrying about what anyone else believes about you,” Shannon said. “The judgments of others are so subjective. When I look at the guy in the mirror, that’s the guy I want to make happy.”

Shannon said he will spend his retirement visiting grandchildren and teaching law at the Texas A&M University Law School. The biggest blessing bestowed on him as he assumed the office was the staff he inherited, Shannon said.

“Conviction record means nothing; it’s whether you have done justice,” Shannon said. “We’ve done a good job and I hope it continues.”

The new district attorney

By design, several of those staff members Shannon praised will not be present in the district attorney’s office for the Wilson administration. Some attorneys have decided to retire and others have been asked not to return.

But there should be no significant delays in taking cases to court because of staffing changes, Wilson said.

Wilson has appointed Larry Moore, a former prosecutor with close ties to the Innocence Project of Texas, to lead the district attorney’s effort to identify cases of actual innocence among Tarrant County convictions.

Prosecutor Greg Miller, once a Fort Worth police officer of the year, and Judge Mike Mitchell, who served 24 years as a county criminal court judge, were also added to Wilson’s staff. On the civil side, Wilson appointed David Harris, a former Southlake city councilman with experience representing law officers and judges in litigation.

Among the senior attorneys who are leaving are Jack Strickland, deputy chief district attorney; Marvin Collins, first assistant district attorney; and civil division chief Ray Rike.

Very few of the trial lawyers are going to leave and Wilson said she expects there to be no change in trial timelines. Wilson said she is confident the changes that she made in staffing are changes that the public wants.

“Our office is ready to go to trial,” Wilson said. “I would be amazed to hear that we had to pass on something because we were not ready. … We hired and appointed people who could do the work. The trial lawyers, the hard working ones, are still here and we are going to make sure that they have what they need.”

Wilson said her office will focus on putting those trial lawyers to work and give them whatever they need to do a good job. Her’s will be an efficient and effective office and responsive to taxpayers call to be good stewards of their dollars, Wilson said.

Wilson, who has been a prosecutor, a judge and a civil attorney, said she has looked at the criminal justice system from a number of different perspectives and feels ready to do the job and make improvements to the district attorney’s office.

“You don’t quit a perfectly good job if you don’t think you can make a difference,” Wilson said. “That’s part of the rationale. I wanted to make a difference.”

Embracing the community

Some areas Wilson said she wants her office to pursue include reviewing cases where questions of actual innocence have been raised, addressing the issues surrounding the abuse of elders, increasing the use of specialty courts and having community forums where the public can have more access to the office.

Tarrant County does not have a known problem concerning flawed convictions, Wilson said. But, she said, the office has a duty to take a careful look at cases where questions of innocence persist, Wilson said.

“My concern is for the public trust,” Wilson said. “We want to make sure the innocent are freed and the guilty are sent to prison.”

Wilson said she believes the elderly are a special population who need special attention, similar to that provided to children who are victims of crime. Elderly people are sometimes hesitant to come forward when they are victimized, either because they are embarrassed or because they are being taken advantage of by the people they love.

When the elderly do come to law enforcement for help they sometimes have difficulty explaining their problems because they are sick or have diminished mental capacities, Wilson said.

Wilson said community meetings will help enhance trust between her office and the general public.

“You will see some effort on our part to be out in the community,” Wilson said. “I will let people know who we are and what we think so that if there is a mistake made we as an office can hear from the public and they can hear from us. I expect to have a community advisory committee made up of just citizens. I think that kind of community wide vision will be helpful.”

This story was originally published December 26, 2014 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Top 10 stories of 2014: Regime change comes to DA’s office."