was dismissed. On November 28, 2005, the US Supreme Court refused to revive the lawsuit. Maurice Pierce Case On December 6, 1991, four teenage girls were murdered inside a local yogurt shop in Austin. In 1999, Earle led the "Yogurt Shop Murders" case against suspect Maurice Pierce, leading to a grand jury indicting him on four counts of first degree murder. Pierce was arrested, along with Robert Springsteen IV, Michael Scott, and Forrest Welborn, for the murders of four girls. Springsteen and Scott eventually confessed to the crime. Springsteen was convicted and sentenced to death. Scott was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Welborn was never indicted for the crime. Pierce continually maintained his innocence up until his release, occurring three years after his arrest. The state could not use Springsteen's and Scott's confessions against Pierce, so, without a confession, and only circumstantial evidence to connect him to the yogurt shop, the state had to either try Pierce or release him. Earle released him and dropped all charges citing a lack of evidence. The case against Pierce remains open. On December 24, 2010, Pierce was shot dead by Austin police officers in an incident during which Pierce allegedly stabbed a police officer with the officer's knife. 2010 Texas Elections Immediately after Earle announced his retirement as District Attorney of Travis County in December 2007, he began being mentioned as a possible statewide candidate. In the spring of 2009, Earle's name began being mentioned specifically in context with a race for either Texas Attorney General or Texas Governor. Earle said he was considering a run for one of the two posts. On June 30, 2009, an Internet draft movement, DraftRonnie.com, was launched to urge Earle to run for Texas governor. The Draft Ronnie website and draft movement ended in September 2009, when Democrat Hank Gilbert entered the race for Texas Governor. On December 18, 2009, Earle filed the necessary paperwork to run for Lieutenant Governor of Texas but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Linda Chavez-Thompson, a labor union activist. She, in turn, was defeated in the general election by the incumbent Republican David Dewhurst in November 2010. References External links Travis County District Attorney official website; accessed November 18, 2014. BREAKING: Former Travis County DA Ronnie Earle has died accessed March 6, 2020. 1942 births 2020 deaths Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives County district