By Kim Hilsenbeck

Over her eight-year stint as the District Attorney (DA) for Hays County, Sherri Tibbe, Hays County’s first female DA, tried some memorable cases.

Tibbe, who did not run for re-election in 2014, sat down with the Hays Free Press recently to talk about what it’s really like to be a DA. 

And what it’s like now that she’s on the other side of the courtroom as a defense attorney at her own firm in Austin.

In 2013, Tibbe helped convict Willie Jenkins of first-degree murder for a rape and murder that took place more than 20 years earlier. He received the death penalty.

She also prosecuted Cesar Mojica of Dripping Springs for what she called horrible child abuse of his three young children.

“He systematically abused, starved and neglected his three kids,” she recalled. “They weren’t fed, he beat them. It was one of the worst cases of child abuse I’ve ever seen.”

She proved her case beyond a shadow of a doubt to the jury.

“He received 14 life sentences,” Tibbe said. “His wife received 30 years.”

She speaks with obvious pride in her voice about those convictions.

But being the head prosecutor in a county is not all unicorns and rainbows. Tibbe said the work is hard and she missed time with her husband and children – many cases require hundreds of hours of preparation time. In addition, campaigning took a toll on her and her family.

She also said some of her darkest days were more about internal personnel issues with her staff, including allegations against the DAs office of impropriety by a colleague. But Tibbe feels she made it through two elections, allegations, long hours, lost family time and tough cases relatively unjaded about the legal system.

Tibbe said she is looking forward to her next phase of life – handling defense cases.

In her roles, first as a prosecutor and now as a defense lawyer, Tibbe deals with people who may not always speak the truth. How can she tell if someone is lying? 

“There are little triggers, things they do or say,” she said. “Sometimes [I can tell] if a story is too good.”

Tibbe said some people are skilled at lying and are very manipulative. She said repeat criminals are often liars.

“As a prosecutor I wouldn’t believe anything they said. That might be different for me now as a defense attorney,” she said with a wry smile. “But I’ve had victims that I didn’t believe as a prosecutor.”

What did she do?

“It depends on what they’re lying about,” she said. “In eight out of 10 cases, victims call the police then change their story.”

She talked about a sexual assault case she had while working as a prosecutor in Austin.

“I had issues with what she was saying,” Tibbe said. “I was concerned she wasn’t being truthful.”

Prosecutors have a moral obligation to not prosecute if they think a victim is lying.

“I had to dismiss the case,” she said.

Now that she is a criminal defense lawyer – where clients pay her to defend them against a DA – does she have a different view of the legal system?

“I’ve always had respect for strong defense attorneys,” she said. “They make sure the state is doing its job.”

Were there any cases where Tibbe looks back and wishes she had done something differently as a DA?

“Years ago we had a DWI case – I was not the DA at the time,” she said. “He had just been accepted into Navy flight school.”

He went out to celebrate and was later stopped for a DWI.

“He was well over legal limit. But he was going to be kicked out of the Navy if he didn’t get anything less than a DWI,” she said.

While Tibbe knows he was guilty of being over the legal limit for alcohol, she wishes she could have done something different to help him.

“I wished I could have been more flexible. I just felt bad,” she said.

How did she handle the stress and often heart-wrenching aspects of her professional life as a DA?

“You develop a dark sense of humor,” she said.

But for the most part, when she looks back on her run as Hays County DA, Tibbe said she has no regrets.

No “shoulda, coulda, woulda” moments?

“Not really,” she said. “You’re taking a chance on a person by giving them a good deal. If they go out and do it again, it’s not your fault. If I can go to sleep at night and there was a good reason for what I did, it’s not my fault. I did the best I could with what I had at that time.”