Nicolas "Nico" Anthony LaHood (born September 16, 1972) is a former criminal

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Early life and education

LaHood was born on September 16, 1972, to Judge Michael Thomas LaHood Sr. and Norma Olivia (née Mendiola) in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. While in his third year at San Antonio College in 1994, LaHood was arrested for attempting to sell

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

pills worth $3,600, with a firearm to an undercover police officer at a strip club. He entered into a plea bargain in August 1994 and was given deferred adjudication and probation. LaHood graduated from St. Mary's University in 1999 and then law school in 2002.

Career

LaHood ran for district attorney in 2010 but narrowly lost to Susan Reed. Controversies that contributed to his loss included his age, past drug arrest, and firearm charges. After the election, LaHood had already decided to run again in 2014. In the 2014 Democratic primaries for the District Attorney race, LaHood faced off against Therese Huntzinger. LaHood narrowly beat his opponent: LaHood received 20,413 votes, just 47 more than Huntzinger's 20,366. In the 2014 election for District Attorney, LaHood defeated Susan Reed, the incumbent. LaHood was sworn in as the new DA on January 1, 2015. In 2017, state district judge Lori Valenzuela testified that LaHood had threatened the careers of two defense attorneys if they brought up an affair between a prosecutor in his office and a key witness for the prosecution in a murder case. Judge Valenzuela, who presided over the case, testified under oath that she had witnessed the threats made in her chambers. LaHood also testified, denying that he had made a threat. LaHood has promoted the unfounded

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

that vaccines are linked to autism. In a statement videotaped in his office for the anti-vaccine film ''

Vaxxed ''Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe'' is a 2016 American pseudoscience propaganda film alleging a cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a purported link between the MMR vaccine and autism. According to Variety ...

'', Lahood asserted that vaccines "can and do cause autism,"Brian Chasnoff
"LaHood: I 'know the truth' about vaccines and autism"
''San Antonio Express-News'' (August 29, 2016). LaHood repeated these claims in testimony to a Texas House committee. LaHood also stated that Islam is a "horrifically violent" religion. On March 6, 2018, LaHood lost the Democratic primary for district attorney to Joe Gonzales by more than 18 percentage points. In September 2018, LaHood announced he was leaving the Democratic party, saying "leftists have taken over".

Personal life

LaHood married Davida Gil on July 8, 2006. They have four children together. On August 15, 1996, LaHood's brother Michael LaHood Jr. was murdered in the driveway of his parents' house after a failed robbery. The triggerman Mauriceo Mashawn Brown, along with three other men, were later caught and tried. Under the Texas law of parties, not only Mauriceo Mashawn Brown, but also the driver of the car that carried Brown, Kenneth Foster Jr., was tried for capital murder, and in May 1997 both were sentenced to death. In July 2006, Mauriceo Brown was executed for the crime by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

. On August 31, 2007, Foster's death sentence was commuted by Governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LaHood, Nico County district attorneys in Texas American judges Living people 1972 births St. Mary's University, Texas alumni