I had something very rare happen yesterday and thought Id write about it and see if others have similar stories to tell. I had a call from the receptionist that there was someone there to see me about a case. She gave me a case number, an old one at that, and I pulled up the screen for Tommy Laster. I first met Tommy Laster in 1991 when I tried him for Agg Kidnapping. While working as a bank security guard he restrained and assaulted a female employee of the bank. He was convicted and got 7 years in prison. Fast forward to 2005 when I get a call from a felony prosecutor in our office who notifies me that Laster has a new case against him where he tried to abduct a little eight year old girl. I picked up the case and we tried it in 2006 and got a forty year sentence. It was a very tough case factually (Laster v. State, 275 S.W.3d 512 (Tex.Crim.App., 2009) The credit for convincing the jury on the admittedly thin evidence was due to the courageous testimony of my 8 year old victim and her ten year old brother. I hadn�t thought about the case in awhile and was shocked to hear that the visitors were my victim and her mother. Maybe your experiences are different but I can count on one hand the number calls or visits I have gotten from victims in cases I have prosecuted after the case has been disposed of. They came back to my office and I learned that the mother was in the Courthouse on some business and her daughter wanted to come see me. We chatted for a bit about how she was doing in school and she told me about her grades, her hobbies, and the counseling she was getting and she seemed to be doing fine. As they got up to leave I got, a smile, a big hug, and a thank you. As we all know you don�t do this job for the thanks because those don�t come very often. Still, when they do, those times when you feel like you really made a difference in someone�s life, those times when your efforts change a child�s tears to a smile, are worth the wait. This job can beat you up pretty bad sometimes so if you have a story with a happy ending I would invite you to share it on this post so we can all start the New Year with a smile. I wish all my prosecutor friends a Happy New Year full of successful prosecutions and possibly a thank you or two.

A long time ago, John Healey (now DA of Ft. Bend Co.) and I tried an agg. sexual assault of a child case for about two weeks. The victim was a 4 year old boy who made an outcry to the maternal grandmother about his new step-dad.

I spent a ton of time on the case; in fact, it seemed to consume the majority of my time. One big problem I had was getting this kid to like and trust me. We didn't hit it off to good at first. One day I brought my dog T-bone with me, and that did it! He loved T-bone at first sight, and I guess he finally figured I must be alright if I owned T-bone.

It was a very hard fought trial; the defense made all kinds of nutty and baseless allegations against grandma. Then the jury came back with a not guilty verdict.

CPS had a suit to terminate the rights of the mother (who supported her man all the way). In the middle of it all, grandma disappeared with the boy. Years later they resurfaced in New Zealand. For at least the last 10 years she has kept contact with me. I've met the lad, now a young man, a Texan with a Kwi Wee accent, and a good guy. I was invited to his wedding, but couldn't go--too far away.

The trial didn't turn out well--in fact it was a disaster. But we did all we could do, and this lady recognized that and appreciated our efforts. To get thanks, even tho you lost is pretty rare.

A La. couple were stopped on I-10 in Chambers Co. and found to have about 5 lbs. of marijuana in the car. We had a judge trial, and the male took the stand & claimed that the arresting trooper--a legendary drug hound who found tons of marij. every year--had planted the marij. in their car. They were convicted. He again took the stand, and testified that he and the judge could sit down together and work out the conditions of probation. The judge sentenced him to the joint, and gave the girl probation.

After the trial, the girl came to my office. She told me that what the guy said was a lie, that the troopers were entirely professional, that she was very frightened when they got arrested, but they were complete gentlemen. She said she was treated well by the jail, and she thought they had a fair trial. She wanted me to know that.

I told her, you ought to dump that guy--he's bad news for you, and will only get you into more trouble. She said: You know, that's what my parents keep telling me. And then, after we were arrested, the two troopers pulled me aside and told me the same thing. Our bonds lady (a local character) told me the same thing. My probation officer just a few minutes ago told me the same thing as well. And now you tell me that.

She took our advice. A couple of years later she came by the courthouse with her son, and introduced me to him. She was fixing to get off probation and she wanted him to see the place she had landed in when she went to the dark side. She had gotten a pretty good job, and had landed on her feet.

An English woman with 2 little boys from a previous marriage, married an American lawyer, and they moved into a house out in the country. Shortly after the move, he was arrested by the Feds for money laundering, and sent to prison. So she found herself in Texas, with 2 little boys, far from any family and friends.

One night, a burglar broke in, turned off the power to the master bedroom, walked in and spent hours raping and humiliating her and threatening to kill her children if she screamed. Then he escaped.

I once lived in a foreign country, and I feel we have a special responsibility to look after foreigners in our midst. She felt very vulnerable. The sheriff's investigator and I spent a lot of time working on that case and then we tried the rapist. I wanted her friends and family in Britain to know that my county in Texas took this crime seriously, and my jury did not disappoint. They returned a guilty verdict in a matter of minutes. In my argument on punishment, I asked for Life. I asked them not to worry about the fine--we'll never see it anyway, and not to trade time for money--just give him Life.

They were out about 15 minutes, and they didn't listen to what I said. They sentenced him to pay a $10K fine and to spend his life in TDC.

She had been a sad lady up to then, but she gave me a hug. She was very grateful.

I had a felony DWI defendant I'll call Bob, who just had too many DWI's. I told his atty. that Bob just never got it and this time we need to send him to the joint.

His atty. pleaded with me to give him one more chance at probation. He brought in his employer and he told me what a great worker Bob was and how his two kids live with Bob and their mother is out of the picture. The def. atty. did everything but play a violin. In a moment of weakness I agreed to give him probation. I immediately regretted it; I felt like such a sap.

That was several years ago and Bob is still on his 10 year probation, but he's been a model probationer. He's also become one of the leaders in my county in the AA movement. He recently started a new AA group because he thinks a lot of people need more meetings per week. He is a jovial guy and always greets me with a big smile. I really didn't do anything in his case, but I'm glad I took a chance on him.