LoStracco Interview - Justin Spears

Nicole LoStracco, 37, is running as a Republican for office District Attorney in Nacogdoches in March.She served eight years as assistant district attorney in Nacogdoches under Tim James. In 2004, she resigned from this position and opened her own criminal defense practice.

“People were wondering why I was going from prosecuting criminals to defending criminals,” said LoStracco. LoStaracco was born in San Francisco, but moved to Belgium when she was two. “We were suppose to move for only two years, but we moved back to San Francisco in time for third grade,” said LoStracco.

When it came time for LoStracco to graduate from high school, she remained undecided about what college to attend. Shortly after graduating, she chose Mills College, a liberal arts women’s university, in San Francisco.

“When I moved to college, my parents moved to Honolulu, Hawaii,” said LoStracco. “I visited them for a month and a half during Christmas break and three months during the summer.”

After graduating from Mills College, she decided to attend Texas Tech University Lubbock to receive her law degree. “Choosing law school was hard,” said LoStracco, “but I had a boyfriend who stayed in Amarillo and it made my choice easier.”
She is no longer with the guy she relocated to Texas for; however, she is now married to James R. LoStracco, of Nacogdoches.

“I met James during my junior year of law school,” said Nicole. “He was a year behind me, so he graduated before me.”
Nicole sped up the process of graduating and within six months, she also had a law degree from Texas Tech University.
“James was from Nacogdoches and said that if I wanted, I could move in with him in Nacogdoches,” said Nicole. “So I followed him here and we’ve been together ever since.”

Nicole studied family law in college, but found that there was no opportunity to have a family law practice in Nacogdoches. She decided to commute to Lufkin for her first year of practice. After a year, she quit that job to work closer to her family, but there was one problem: she had no where to work just yet.

She discovered the District Attorney’s office was searching for an assistant district attorney. Tim James, the district attorney at the time, gave her pay that was reserved for a paralegal. After she took the job, he assured her that the pay would be raised to the appropriate level the next year. She handled cases on battered women.

In October 2004, she left the District Attorney’s office and opened her private criminal defense practice in Nacogdoches.
“The only think that I had to realize when I became a defense attorney was that all cases cannot be tried in court,” said Nicole. “Most of the cases end by reaching a plea bargain.”

Nicole was one of the speakers in a SFA’s Risk Management Training on September 24 about sex, drugs, and alcohol. She immediately captured the audience’s attention when she mentioned her topic. All Greek organizations were there along with some other organizations to take part in this training.

Ten days after her talk with the students, Nikolas Gallegos died of alcohol poisoning. Immediately following the death of Gallegos, LoStracco visited campus again to speak with students about alcohol and hazing. Nicole looks at deaths from alcohol from the perspective of parents, because she is a parent.

“I am scared because I don’t know who to warn my children about situations like that,” said LoStracco. Nicole stresses that when someone gets in trouble with the law regarding alcohol, should hire a lawyer. “Do not work on your own when trying to fight an alcohol charge,” said Nicole. “You will screw up your permanent record in some shape or form.”

Nicole said there is a big difference between how the criminal justice system and the universities define hazing. “The university believes if you feel uncomfortable in a situation to make you join an organization, it can be considered hazing,” said Nicole. “The criminal justice systems believes you were injured or threatened to do something you wouldn’t normally do is hazing.”

Nicole is running for District Attorney in March against the incumbent, Stephanie Stephens, Republican. The primary will be March 4, 2008. Since there is no Democratic opponent, the winner of the primary will be the winner of the general election also. The winner will take office in January 2009.

Nicole LoStracco wore professional clothing. She shared her stand on issues and gave reasons why people approach her.
“I believe I am easily approachable,” said LoStracco. “I’m not nervous about speaking to large crowds.”

LoStracco resides in Nacogdoches with her husband, James and 2 children: Juliett, 4, and Trey, 2.