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	Prosecutor Highly Regarded By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times July 24, 2011 http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/jul/23/prosecutor-highly-regarded/ SAN ANGELO, Texas — Throughout the prosecutions of seven men, members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the attorneys for the defense have changed, and the venue has changed, but between the bar and the judge's bench, the lead prosecutor remained the same. Eric Nichols, the special prosecutor for the Texas attorney general, has kept a steely eye and his poised, shaved head directed toward the defense. His speech is methodical through most of his examinations of witnesses in trials, occasionally flaring angrily in final arguments. Occasionally he smiles bemusedly at arguments from the defense. "It was one of the best jobs I ever had," Nichols said about working for the attorney general before returning to private practice. He continues the prosecution of members of the FLDS with the trial of Warren Jeffs, the head of the polygamy-endorsing sect, whose trial regarding sexual assault of a child begins Monday in the Tom Green County Courthouse. Nichols declined to comment about his career as an attorney to be sensitive to the proceedings. The University of Virginia graduate and graduate of the University of Texas School of Law has been named a "super lawyer" by Texas Monthly magazine. He joined the attorney general as deputy attorney general for criminal justice in 2007, leaving his private practice at Houston-based Beck, Redden and Secrest, where he practiced civil and criminal litigation. Before his private practice, he also had been an assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of Texas, prosecuting white-collar crime. "With over 17 years of service as a prosecutor and litigator, Eric Nichols has the experience and expertise to lead our dedicated law enforcement officers and prosecutors. Texans can rest assured that Eric's leadership will further bolster our work to crack down on child sex predators, uncover Medicaid fraud, and vigorously defend the state of Texas against appeals by convicted criminals," Attorney General Greg Abbott said when Nichols was hired. His expertise in presenting documentation has come through in the trials of FLDS members, where time after time he has gone to the witness stand with documents in plastic sleeves, presented them to the law enforcement officer who was part of the chain of custody, and had them admitted into evidence. The raid on the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County — brought about because of what is widely believed to have been a hoax phone call from a woman claiming abuse at the ranch — brought in thousands of documents, filling up trailer loads from law enforcement, which have become the backbone of the case against FLDS members. Nichols returned to private practice this year in February, but he has been kept on by the state as a special prosecutor, going to appellate hearings for FLDS members and pretrial hearings for Warren Jeffs. "He is one of the state's best prosecutors," said First Assistant Attorney General Daniel Hodges, who worked closely with Nichols. "Eric is incredibly smart, extremely thorough, always well prepared. He brings to a trial a unique mix of legal ability and the capacity to explain the law to the jury. ... He is very self-effacing, very down to earth, a fierce advocate for law enforcement in the agency."
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