Charles A. Rosenthal (February 7, 1946 - November 23, 2023) was an American lawyer and former

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, and was estimated to be 5,009,302 in 2024, making it the List of counties in Texas, most populous cou ...

Life and career

Born in

Alice, Texas Alice is a city in and the county seat of Jim Wells County, Texas, Jim Wells County, Texas, United States, in the South Texas region of the state. The population was 19,104 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Alice was established in 18 ...

, and raised

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, Rosenthal attended

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

public schools, received his undergraduate degree from

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

, and went to law school at

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1923 when the YMCA made the decision to establish a law school with a focus on offering night classes for working professi ...

. He served as Harris County assistant district attorney under Carol Vance starting in March 1977. After his predecessor, Johnny Holmes, retired, Rosenthal was elected Harris County

after facing Pat Lykos, County Attorney Michael Stafford and many others in the Republican primary. He was re-elected in 2004. Rosenthal was described as a "true believer in the death penalty," but won half as many death penalty cases as Holmes in the years leading up to his resignation. On March 26, 2003, he argued before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

in ''

Lawrence v. Texas ''Lawrence v. Texas'', 539 U.S. 558 (2003), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that U.S. state laws Sodom ...

'' that laws against

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

are constitutional. The Court disagreed, holding 6-3 that prosecutions for private sexual conduct violates the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. His performance was later described as "the worst oral argument in years", but some believe his lack of preparation reflected his lack of enthusiasm for the statute he was defending. Rosenthal's emails had been subpoenaed during an investigation into police misconduct in 2008. He was investigated for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

for destroying evidence when he deleted many of the emails. Controversy also erupted when many of his emails included racist content, misuse of his government email for campaigning, and evidence of an affair with his secretary. After an emergency meeting with local GOP leaders, the GOP asked him to step aside and to not seek reelection. On January 4, 2008, he announced that he would not seek reelection, but would finish out his current term. On February 15, 2008, Rosenthal resigned as Harris County district attorney, following the filing of a lawsuit petitioning for his removal from office. An investigation found insufficient evidence to charge Rosenthal with any crimes in December 2008.

Personal life

Rosenthal was married to Cindy Rosenthal, a retired

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Special Agent.

References

External links

Welcome to the Harris County District Attorney's Office
Note: Rosenthal has resigned as Harris County District Attorney as of February 15, 2008. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenthal, Chuck County district attorneys in Texas Living people 1946 births Baylor University alumni South Texas College of Law alumni People from Alice, Texas Texas Republicans Baptists from Texas Lawyers from Houston

Life and career

Personal life

See also

References

External links