I’d like to support Davis for DA, having been impressed with with several things I saw with you/him on the bench.

I do whoever have one big question that I haven’t seen addressed yet.  If it’s addressed on one of the web sites, for example, I’d like to read whatever is available.

What part do you, Rick Davis, think you played in the Davis – Turner feud?  What should you have done differently, and what have you done to heal tensions caused by the feud, tensions which go beyond just those two men?

Thank you for your questions about the very public differences I’ve had with District Attorney Bill Turner.  Also, thank you for considering me as your choice on November 4th for District Attorney of Brazos County.  I would be honored by your vote.

The part I played in the “feud” as you refer to it with Bill Turner is exactly one-half. He and I both made mistakes in how we handled a serious disagreement regarding our public duties and responsibilities.  For my part, I apologized and regret that what was a private matter was made public in a manner beyond my control or expectation.  I am sincerely sorry that we both acted in ways that could have been better, and more importantly should have been better.

It serves no good purpose to re-hash all the details of the circumstances and causes surrounding that sad affair.  Suffice it to say that my actions would be different today than they were those many years ago (it has now been over seven years).  From that experience I have learned that a public official’s first duty is to serve the public.  The public is not served well when private disagreements and highly charged emotions interfere with a public servant’s duties and responsibilities.

Pride is a terrible thing, and when one’s pride is offended because of a sense of betrayal it can lead to unfruitful and counterproductive disruption.  Since that disagreeable engagement, I have committed myself to suppress my own feelings and emotions in favor of the public good.

One more thought… were such a situation to arise again, I would be more humble and ask the person with whom I have a private disagreement to agree to a fair and just mediation so that the eventual resolution serves the public, not those who are elected to serve the public.

That conflict is history and it taught us all good lessons.  Not only in words, but also in deeds as a judge who sought to serve with integrity and dignity for nearly eight years, I have tried to soothe differences and to serve the good citizens of  Brazos County and Texas.  My rating as the top rated district judge in Brazos County demonstrates my commitment to service above self.

My actions toward Mr. Turner are respectful and cordial, and his are the same toward me.  As recently as last January in The Eagle, Mr. Turner said those issues are water under the bridge and that we must move forward.  I agree.

Moreover, it is the public whom we serve, not ourselves.  And, that is my commitment to you.

Thank you again for giving me this opportunity to explain a rather unfortunate past incident.  I look forward to serving you and all the public in the future.

The trust that you have shown me is not taken lightly. I value your support and I am committed to serving you with honor and integrity. My life as an Aggie, an Army veteran, a businessman, a lawyer, a judge and a husband and father has prepared me to be district attorney of Brazos County. I will serve with firmness and compassion, fairness and equality, and with what is best for the community always first and foremost in my heart and mind.

Long ago, as a fish in the Corps of Cadets, I committed to memory Governor Richard Coke’s advice to the first A&M students in October 1876.

“To the students: Let your watchword be duty. Know no other talisman of success than labor. Let honor be your guiding star in your dealings with your superiors, your fellows, with all. Be as true to a trust reposed as the needle to the pole. Stand by the right even to the sacrifice of life itself. And learn that death is preferable to dishonor.

In that spirit, I will strive to be as true to your trust as the needle on a compass is to the North Pole. I am grateful to people who are publicly supporting my candidacy for District Attorney.

Those who know me know that I will ensure justice for all and favoritism for none. There will be no “sweetheart” deals for friends or supporters and no “rotten” deals for those who have opposed me in the past. There will be justice for all – equal, fair and honest.

As a former Cadet at Texas A&M and as an Armor Officer in the National Guard, I learned leadership.  My work experience is not limited to the practice of law. I have worked as a sacker, a retail salesman, a concrete worker, a waiter, a pizza delivery man, a carpenter, a computer programmer, and as an engineer.

Having a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an analytical background from working in the U.S. Space Program is conducive to legal reasoning.

Having been licensed to practice law for more than 16 years, having more than eight years judicial experience and having presided over many jury trials, I know what is effective lawyering and advocacy. Most important, though, is my passion for truth and justice.

The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America. His discretion is tremendous. He can have citizens investigated and, if he is that kind of person, he can have this done to the tune of public statements and veiled or unveiled intimations. Or the prosecutor may choose a more subtle course and simply have a citizen’s friends interviewed. The prosecutor can order arrests, present cases to the grand jury in secret session, and on the basis of his one-sided presentation of the facts, can cause the citizen to be indicted and held for trial. He may dismiss the case before trial, in which case the defense never has a chance to be heard. Or he may go on with a public trial. If he obtains a conviction, the prosecutor can still make recommendations as to sentence, as to whether the prisoner should get probation or a suspended sentence, and after he is put away, as to whether he is a fit subject for parole. While the prosecutor at his best is one of the most beneficent forces in our society, when he acts from malice or other base motives, he is one of the worst.

The small but prominent Bryan law firm, Davis & Davis, P.C. (no relation) fit best and made the best offer. Since that time, I have remained keenly interested in criminal law, and dealt directly with prosecutors from both defense attorney and sitting judge perspectives. I have a commitment to truth and justice.

Why it is necessary for a change in the District Attorney’s office?

Public service is one of the most honorable ways one can give back to a country that we love.  Those who serve the public, whether in the Armed Forces or in public office, deserve our respect and gratitude.  They usually do so at great personal cost.

However, no one can claim a “right” to an office.  As an incumbent judge four years ago, I faced two challengers.   When I was challenged, I went through the mental process of evaluating my work and feeling unappreciated.  Upon reflection, I remembered something I said in my 2000 campaign. Neither the office of District Judge nor any other public office is a throne.  It is a public trust, and I should not resent it when another person asks the public for that trust.  Everyone who is qualified has the right to ask the public for its trust and run for office.

Change in public office is good.  When one is in office too long, he can lose objectivity, and advance the interests of friends over the interests of the public.  Like the proverbial frog in a pot of slowly boiling water, a public servant might not even realize that he is doing it and that he’s lost his objectivity.

The office of District Attorney is one of the most powerful if not the most powerful public offices one can hold.  The District Attorney has control over a person’s liberty, over the sanctity of his home, and, in rare instances, over a person’s continued existence.  He or she has the power to accuse, which can translate into the power to destroy.  He or she also has the power to forgive, which can translate into the power of excusing true wrongdoing.  No one should hold that much power for a very long time. It is for these reasons that I pledge to serve no more than two terms if elected Brazos County District Attorney.

Too often, a District Attorney will favor lawyer friends and former assistants at the expense of other lawyers that are not on the “in” crowd.  That practice has the direct effect of and discriminating against and disenfranchising those citizens accused that have the wrong lawyer.  Equal justice is for all.  No one should receive favoritism.

A claim that lengthy experience deserves extending the length of a District Attorney’s service is circular reasoning.  The claim also ignores the fact that in a metropolitan area such as Brazos County where the elected District Attorney rarely tries cases, the most important function of the District Attorney is to provide just and even handed leadership.  There are several experienced, competent and ethical assistants that I hope stay on with the new administration.  What will change is that there will be more fairness, less favoritism and more equality in the administration of justice in Brazos County.

Our community deserves no less.