Final Farewell
Matthew Paul of Austin, the state’s prosecuting attorney for more than a decade, died on March 25 at the age of 51. Paul, who graduated first in his class at the University of Texas School of Law in 1985, became an assistant state prosecuting attorney in 1987 after serving about two years as an assistant county attorney in Kerrville. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals appointed Paul as state prosecuting attorney in 1996. “He’s always been the fairest and most reasonable prosecutor I’ve ever met,” CCA Judge Barbara Hervey says of Paul. Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley says Paul did a great job of professionalizing the Office of the State Prosecuting Attorney and forming good relationships with local prosecutors around the state. Bradley says Paul was in the difficult position of trying to balance the need to have a consistent statewide policy with the sometimes-contrary desires of local prosecutors. “I can’t think of a time when he wasn’t able to blend those two goals,” Bradley says. Hervey says that when Paul argued a case before the CCA, he sat at the counsel table across from where she sits on the bench. Paul never could get his tie right, Hervey says, noting that she finally bought him a tie at a tall men’s shop. After that, whenever Paul sat down at the counsel table prior to an argument, he’d always adjust his tie a little, Hervey recalls. Bradley says Paul also was good at presenting and summarizing the law for prosecutors and was a frequent speaker at the annual conference of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. In 2005, the TDCAA presented Paul with the C. Chris Marshall Distinguished Faculty Award for outstanding contributions to the education of Texas prosecutors.
