Montague County DA resigning after DUI arrest

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) _ The district attorney for Montague, Archer and Clay counties said he plans to resign following his drunken driving arrest in Oklahoma. <br/><br/>Tim Cole was arrested in Kingston,

Thursday, July 6th 2006, 2:08 pm

By: News On 6

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) _ The district attorney for Montague, Archer and Clay counties said he plans to resign following his drunken driving arrest in Oklahoma.

Tim Cole was arrested in Kingston, Okla., at the Lake Texoma Lodge on Wednesday morning, said a Marshall County Sheriff's Office official. His blood-alcohol level was tested at .15 percent, and he was carrying a weapon.

Cole said in a press release Wednesday that he will resign but did not say when.

``The last year has been one of great personal hardship for me, but there is no excuse for this behavior. It is a violation of the public trust in my office and, as soon as I am able to establish a law practice, I intend to offer my resignation,'' he said in the release.

Cole was involved in a domestic disturbance in early June with a Department of Public Safety trooper, but no one was arrested and no charges were filed.

Cole could not be reached for comment on the matter of his drunken driving arrest or resignation. Cole had be re-elected in the fall of 2004 to a four-year term.

The assistant district attorney, Jack McGaughey, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he did not know when Cole would resign or if the arrest would force Cole to do so.

In October Cole was set to try the murder case of Vickie Dawn Jackson, the former Nocona nurse accused of killing 10 patients. The case has been moved to San Angelo because of intense pretrial publicity.

Cole has won convictions in other high-profile cases, including the 1996 murder of Heather Rich, a 15-year-old Waurika, Okla., cheerleader and the 2001 murder of James Christmas, 76, and Ulaine Christmas, 79, by their grandson.