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03/31/93
Koresh attorney is accustomed to high-profile cases; He's known as intense, thorough
By Bruce Nichols / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-His role in the Branch Davidian standoff is not the first time Houston defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin has been in the limelight.
Federal agents have made Mr. DeGuerin a center of attention by allowing him into the cult compound to talk directly with Branch Davidian leader David Koresh, whose mother hired Mr. DeGuerin in the case.
The 52-year-old former partner of the late Percy Foreman-one of Houston's most famous defense lawyers-Mr. DeGuerin has been a high-profile, highly paid, sometimes high-society defense lawyer in Houston for years.
Before the cult standoff, he was known in Waco for defending Muneer Deeb, a convenience store operator retried and acquitted in a notorious Waco capital murder case. A Fort Worth jury acquitted Mr. Deeb in January after he had spent six years on death row for the 1982 slashing murders of three Waco-area teen-agers.
"He's a very talented trial lawyer," said Mike Hinton, a Houston defense lawyer who once worked as an assistant district attorney.
"He is very aggressive. He's well-prepared. He's intense. He's bright," Mr. Hinton said. "No one has ever referred to Dick as afraid of anything."
State District Judge Joe Kegans contrasted Mr. DeGuerin with his mentor, Mr. Foreman.
"Percy had that compelling personality and that ability to take a courtroom literally in his hands," Judge Kegans said. "Dick is real thorough, but he's not flashy."
Even so, Mr. DeGuerin has a certain style. He jogs with his black Labrador retriever, has been seen driving a gold Mercedes Benz and has made at least one best-dressed list in Houston.
"He can afford some expensive clothes," said Chuck Rosenthal Harris County assistant district attorney.
In a 1989 profile, Texas Lawyer reported that Mr. DeGuerin regularly charges $100,000 for his services.
Mr. DeGuerin had a long winning streak in the 1980s, but lately he has lost some cases.
He represented a lawyer convicted of buying babies in an adoption business. He represented a former policeman convicted of raping a handcuffed prisoner. His client in a pair of love-triangle stabbing deaths received a life sentence in a plea bargain.
Mr. DeGuerin's involvement in the Waco cult standoff "is real unusual," said Mr. Rosenthal, who has handled similar situations in Houston.
"There's very little negotiation between any client and law enforcement officers prior to arrest," Mr. Rosenthal said.
But parts of the situation will be familiar to Mr. DeGuerin, said Joe Magliolo, a former Harris County assistant district attorney who is now an assistant U.S. attorney in Houston.
"Ninety percent of a defense lawyer's job is negotiation," Mr.
Magliolo said. "Most cases are pled. It's only when negotiations break down that you go to trial."
Mr. Hinton said there is no inherent conflict in Mr. DeGuerin's going into the compound to talk to his client.
"I would imagine Dick DeGuerin would say I'm here with the permission of law enforcement people to tell you your rights in the criminal justice system, but it doesn't start until we get you out of here," Mr. Hinton said.
But Mr. Rosenthal said Mr. DeGuerin could be risking his role as a defense lawyer by going in. "You could put yourself in a position of not being able to be a lawyer if you're a witness to various aspects of the case," Mr. Rosenthal said. "Of course, he may not care (if he represents anyone at trial)," Mr. Rosenthal said.
Fellow defense lawyer Allen Isbell of Houston said he didn't see much risk of Mr. DeGuerin becoming a witness rather than a lawyer because lawyers always investigate their cases and have information prosecutors would like to have.
He also said he doubted that there had been any negotiation of outcome between Mr. DeGuerin and the federal officials.
"I can't imagine them negotiating the outcome at this early stage because that would be sort of risky for everybody. It's been a botched deal already. I can't imagine the federal government with dead agents on their hands agreeing to anything Dick would agree to. Maybe it's negotiating the surrender," Mr. Isbell said.
One lawyer who asked not to be quoted by name said it is hard for a lawyer with a small firm to take on a case such as the Branch Davidians, which could go on for months. Despite the publicity, the payoff might not cover the costs, he said.
Mr. DeGuerin has shown a willingness to take risks before. "He's very confident of himself," Mr. Rosenthal said.
After graduating from the University of Texas Law School in 1965, he worked for the Harris County district attorney's office for three years, then joined the firm now known as Butler & Binion.
The job with a major Houston firm promised security, Mr. DeGuerin has said, but he preferred criminal defense law, which then paid less.
So, he joined Mr. Foreman in 1971 and stayed until 1982, when he decided to leave and go out on his own-a parting that caused some hard feelings but was "as friendly a divorce as you could expect," Mr. DeGuerin told Texas Lawyer.
DICK DeGUERIN
Occupation: Lawyer, DeGuerin & Dickson.
Born: Feb. 16, 1941, Austin.
Career highlights: Harris County assistant district attorney, 1965-68;
Butler, Binion, Rice, Cook & Knapp (now Butler & Binion) 1968-71; associate professor, South Texas College of Law, 1969-70; Foreman & DeGuerin, 1971-82' DeGuerin, Dickson and Szekely, 1982-84; DeGuerin & Dickson, 1984-present.
Academic: B.A., University of Texas, 1958; law degree, Texas, 1965.
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