Democrat
June 10, 1987
Attorney testifies Feazell wanted ‘piece of action’
By Garth Jones
Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN – A Waco attorney testified that District Attorney Vic Feazell wanted “a piece of the action” when lawyers received money for getting court cases dismissed.
“The understanding was that Vic would get one-third and all three of us would share alike,” Dick Kettler said Tuesday as a witness for the government.
The McLennan County prosecutor is charged with accepting bribes or illegal campaign contributions in exchange for his influence over criminal cases. The trial is in its third week in U.S. District Court.
Kettler said he had talked with Feazell several times in 1984f about getting drunken-driving charges dismissed without offering any money.
“I began having trouble talking to Vic, and my partner (Don Hall) went over to see Feazell,” Kettler said. “Hall came back and said Vic wants to piece of the action.
That’s the way he put it. Hall said that’s what it’s going to take to do business over there.”
Kettler said the arrangement ended in April 1985, when he heard there was an investigation into Feazell’s operations.
Earlier Tuesday, a member of Feazell’s staff testified that attorneys often tried to influence Feazell because they considered him “soft-hearted.”
Mr. Fitzgerald said attorneys who sought personal attention from Feazell included Kettler.
Hall and Ken Crow, all of whom have testified for the government against Feazell.
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