DeLay’s lawyer is a Democrat and court legend

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Good track record against Earle
DeGuerin won an acquittal for Hutchison on charges of misconduct and document-tampering charges in 1994 — a case also brought by Earle. Hutchison did not respond to interview requests for this story.

The lawyer is also involved in Texas’ 2006 gubernatorial campaign as an unpaid adviser to Kinky Friedman, a musician, mystery writer and all-around wiseacre who is running as an independent. His slogan: “Why the Hell Not?”

DeGuerin said he thinks Friedman’s candidacy can do something about the public’s disaffection for the political process and boost turnout.

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“He’s going to bring people back to the process,” DeGuerin said. “I’ve seen politics get so divisive and so polarized that I think it’s a vulnerability.”

Born in Austin, the liberal seat of Texas, DeGuerin graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1965 and began his career with the district attorney’s office in Houston. He got his big break when he was offered a job by Texas legal giant Percy Foreman, who defended Jack Ruby, the man who shot President Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.

In 1982, DeGuerin struck out on his own, and his celebrity grew.

DeGuerin represented Koresh before he died with about 80 followers in a fire that erupted during a federal siege of their Waco compound in 1993. Hired by Koresh’s mother, DeGuerin went inside the compound during the 51-day standoff that preceded the blaze and took part in negotiations between Koresh and the FBI. He blames the government for the fiery ending.

Successfully argued self-defense
DeGuerin last year won an acquittal for Robert Durst, the cross-dressing heir to a real estate fortune who was charged with murdering a neighbor in Texas in 2003. Durst admitted dismembering the victim and dumping the remains. DeGuerin argued that Durst killed in self-defense.

At trial, DeGuerin brings out the best in prosecutors, former state Rep. Terry Keel said. Keel, an Austin Republican who worked in Earle’s office as a prosecutor, faced DeGuerin in a murder case that involved a Texas mayor who killed his wife and her boyfriend. The mayor was convicted but was spared the death penalty.

“Dick DeGuerin is a rare entity in that he is phenomenal at all phases of trial,” Keel said. “He is a lawyer who will personally live the case. He will spend the amount of time it takes with his clients and anyone else, including witnesses if necessary, to totally indoctrinate himself into the facts. He is unflappable in the courtroom, and he’s very talented in his interpersonal skills with the jury.”

DeGuerin is a pilot who loves to fly to far West Texas. He also likes to go on trail rides with friends and is proud to show off his callused fingertips from his years of guitar playing. He is married, with two daughters from a previous marriage, two stepdaughters and two grandsons.

He has taught at the University of Texas Law School for 12 years. This semester, he is teaching Advanced Criminal Defense, walking students through his cases and how he beat prosecutors.

Third-year student Polo Gonzalez said DeGuerin told the class that lawyers should keep their clients quiet, so classmates were puzzled after DeLay’s indictment to hear the lawmaker defend himself on talk radio, television and in the newspapers.

According to Gonzalez, when students asked DeGuerin about it, the lawyer responded: “I don’t have control of Tom DeLay. He’s his own man.”

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