LoStracco Interview - Angela Bradley

Nicole LoStracco, 37, is running as a Republican for the office of district attorney of Nacogdoches. If elected she will take office in January 2009.

LoStracco received her law degree from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She served eight years as assistant district attorney in Nacogdoches. In 2004, LoStracco opened her own private criminal defense practice in Nacogdoches.

While serving as assistant district attorney, LoStracco worked with cases that involved violence against women. “Any cases that involved women and violence were directed to me,” she said. LoStracco also specialized in child psychology cases. “Children are amazingly resilient,” she said. “Children handle cases a whole lot better than their parents.” LoStracco also practiced family law for one year in Lufkin.

When LoStracco opened her private practice she made a big change from being a district prosecutor to being a criminal defense attorney. “People ask me how I can defend criminals,” she said. “As a defense attorney 99.9 percent of my clients did something wrong. Most the time my cases involve trying to get the jury or judge to come down on the charges.”

LoStracco also said that if she didn’t believe her clients were being truthful to her she wouldn’t defend them. She also said she would not defend child offenders. “I have two children now and that changes the way you feel about these cases,” she said.

When asked how she began to practice law LoStracco said, “There is a lot of law in my family. I never wanted to practice law, I just wound up there.” LoStracco studied mostly family law in school, which was what she found to be most interesting. When she moved to Nacogdoches she found that there weren’t very many positions available for a family law attorney. This pushed her toward applying for the assistant district attorney position available through Tim James, district attorney.

Not sure about this position, LoStracco was surprised to find that she enjoyed being the assistant district attorney. “I loved doing it,” she said about prosecuting. “There is a real team feeling.” She talked about the efforts combined between the district attorney’s office and the police force.

In the 2008 election, LoStracco will be running against Republican incumbent, Stephanie Stephens. “Me and Stephanie are friends,” said LoStracco, wanting to make it clear that she thinks Stephens is a good district attorney. “The reason I am running is because the numbers are down at the D.A. office.” LoStracco explained that there was an 80 percent win rate while she was working as the assistant district attorney. Now that win rate has dropped to 50 percent. “There is some managerial systems that need to be worked better,” LoStracco said. “There is a difference between being a good lawyer and a good office manager, and you have to do both.”

LoStracco has been invited to talk with students at Stephen F. Austin State University on many occasions. She was one of the speakers at SFA’s Risk Management Training on Sept. 24, 2007. “I was given the good subjects; sex, drugs and alcohol,” she said. LoStracco hopes to start a program to let people know how to go about the judicial system once they have gotten in trouble. “Now you’re busted what should you do,” she said. LoStracco remembers what it was like to be a college student and loves getting involved in making students aware of the risks they face today.

LoStracco was born in San Francisco, California. She was raised in San Francisco as well as Belgium and Hawaii. She is married to James Robert LoStracco, with whom she owns a private law practice. They have two children, Juliette, 4, and James Robert, 2, (who they refer to as Trey).

“People say I look young for my age, although I don’t see it when I look in the mirror,” LoStracco said. She was a very down to earth woman, making fun remarks throughout the interview. LoStracco looked professional in her business casual black sweater and grey skirt, with her knee high black boots showing her lighter side.

There is not yet a Democrat district attorney running in 2008. As of now Nicole LoStracco and Stephanie Stephens are the only two on the ballet.