He became nationally known for filing charges against House majority leader Tom DeLay in September 2005 for conspiring to violate Texas' election law and/or to launder money.
In Texas, Earle was known for his criminal justice reform efforts which focused on crime prevention, alternative sentencing, victim advocacy, and the reintegration of former offenders into society.
In 1983, Earle – an Eagle Scout – prosecuted himself for an election law violation after missing a campaign finance filing deadline by one day; he was fined $212.
[1] Earle was a fixture in Travis County politics and served in public office there for more than 30 years, joking that he was asked if he was the "District Eternity".
[2] Earle spoke extensively on his belief that the law guided public responses to crime but that it was society's collective "ethics infrastructure" that required support to deliver a safer, more just, and more livable community.
And that is in that work of mommas and daddies and aunts and uncles and teachers and preachers and neighbors and cousins and friends – that's where you learn how to act, not from the law.
[1] He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, earned money working as a lifeguard, played football, and was president of his high school student council.
While his high-profile prosecutions of elected officials garnered the most press attention, it was Earle's work in criminal justice reform that was his primary focus.
[8] Through the Travis County Public Integrity Unit, Earle prosecuted politicians, including Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, United States House Majority Leader Tom Delay, Texas State Representative Mike Martin, and Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox.
Soon after the shooting, unidentified spokespeople from Earle's office released information to the Austin American Statesman that they felt Martin was telling inconsistent stories to the police.
Martin responded to the leaks by saying he was asked to give police all possibilities and said he had no idea why the district attorney's office would be saying such things.
Gregg County District Attorney Rob Foster shortly arrested Martin on a three-year-old assault charge.
He claimed Martin offered him a state job as payment, despite Texas' strong nepotism laws forbidding the hiring of relatives.
After Martin's denial of Goff's accusations before the grand jury, Earle filed felony perjury charges against the freshman legislator.
Martin pleaded not guilty and, a year later, worked out a plea bargain with Earle by admitting to misdemeanor perjury charges relating to the renting of a car around the time of the shooting.
[citation needed] For over two years, Earle and eight separate grand juries investigated possible violations of Texas campaign finance law in the 2002 state legislative election.
The presiding judge in the case, Pat Priest, a Democrat, eventually threw out the charge and the Court of Criminals Appeals upheld this decision in 2007.
"[16] In its opinion, the court decided that "...the evidence shows that the defendants were attempting to comply with the Election Code limitations on corporate contributions."
[17] In 1996, Earle indicted 11-year-old LaCresha Murray for capital murder involving two-year-old Jayla Belton – the youngest homicide prosecution in Texas history.
Earle's evidence rested on an alleged confession by Murray, obtained by interrogation at a children's shelter in the absence of any attorney or family member.
In 2002, a suit was filed against the Travis County District Attorney's Office and a host of other individuals and various agencies, which alleged the Murray family had been victimized by malicious prosecution, defamation, libel and slander, and had suffered mental anguish.
[citation needed] Immediately after Earle announced his retirement as District Attorney of Travis County in December 2007, he began being mentioned as a possible statewide candidate.
On December 18, 2009, Earle filed the necessary paperwork to run for Lieutenant Governor of Texas but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Linda Chavez-Thompson, a labor union activist.