Eric Hillman, who used to work for the Nueces County (think Corpus Christi) District Attorney’s Office, is suing his former bosses.

As a prosecutor for the office, he was assigned a DWI case against a local man.  As he began interviewing witnesses prior to trial, he found that the police had left out at least one witness: the one who said the driver was not drunk.

In Texas, a prosecutor is supposed to seek justice, not get convictions.  So, prosecutors are required to disclose to the defense any exculpatory information.

Hillman’s bosses wanted none of that there crap going in in Texas.

He told his supervisor about it and claims his supervisor told him he did not need to inform the other side, which is required in the discovery process of a case in court.

Hillman did not want to wrongly pursue the case, so he called the State Bar of Texas for their opinion.

“They affirmed that he in fact needed to turn over that witness to the defense, so he went back to the supervisors and told them he was going to disclose the witness and he was fired the morning of the trial,” Pratt said.

The newspaper contacted the district attorney’s office to get a comment but, “They would not speak about the case, citing pending litigation.”  Damn, ain’t that just slick as polished ice?  The District Attorney’s office has lawyered-up!

Sic ‘um, Hillman.