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Vic Feazell
Raised in Texas, Vic Feazell has become a household name for many who’ve lived in the Lone Star State from the 1980s to today. Whether you’ve heard his name in his catchy commercials with the “Drive Laid Back” slogan or seen him on the nightly news, there’s no denying that Vic Feazell is a Texas legal legend.
At just 17 years old, Vic took the civil service exam and was hired by the Austin Police Department. When a supervisor noticed his intelligence and told him he needed to be in college, Vic took it to heart and figured out a way to make it happen. By the early 1970s, he graduated from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and in May of 1979, he earned his law degree from Baylor School of Law. Two days later, he was practicing law. Just ten days after graduation, Vic tried his first jury case—alone—and won.
Vic quickly set his sights on bigger things, like running for District Attorney of McLennan County in Waco, Texas. After a hard-fought campaign, the young underdog beat the incumbent and became one of the youngest DAs in the county’s history. During his first term, he prosecuted numerous cases, including the infamous Lake Waco Triple Murders. In 1984, a jury found David Wayne Spence guilty and sentenced him to death. While Vic believed justice had been served, he later became a vocal opponent of the death penalty. The case is detailed in the award-winning book Careless Whispers by Carlton Stowers.
Later in 1984, Vic learned that a drifter named Henry Lee Lucas was claiming responsibility for over 300 murders across the country. The Texas Rangers had Lucas in custody and were announcing new murder confessions almost daily. When Lucas confessed to three murders in McLennan County, Vic became suspicious and demanded a closer look. He didn’t believe anyone could commit that many murders without leaving behind witnesses, fingerprints, or other physical evidence.
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With the help of Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, Vic launched a grand jury investigation that led to the famous “Lucas Report.” The investigation proved that Lucas could not have committed many of the murders he confessed to. For example, he was cashing checks in Florida at the same time some murders were being committed in Texas. In one case, he was in the custody of the Texas Rangers while supposedly committing a murder in Louisiana. Thanks to Vic’s diligence, the findings in the Lucas Report continue to help law enforcement today.
But shining a light on the truth came with consequences. The Texas Rangers, embarrassed by the investigation’s findings, pushed back. A closed-door meeting was held among the top brass of the State Police and the Rangers, led by Colonel Jim Adams, a former deputy director of the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. In a private meeting at his office at State Police Headquarters, Adams told Vic, “We’re not reopening a single Lucas case—but we are investigating you.”
On the morning of September 17, 1986, Vic was blocked into his parking space at the courthouse by a coordinated team of FBI agents, State Police, and Texas Rangers. In front of live television cameras, he was arrested. Nineteen agents were sent in to arrest Vic and search his office and home—just weeks before election day. Despite the indictment, the people of McLennan County saw through the smear campaign and re-elected Vic for another term. With help from attorney Gary Richardson and the grace of God, Vic was found not guilty on all charges on June 29, 1987. Innocent and vindicated, he returned to work as District Attorney.
With his name cleared, Vic turned his focus back to justice—this time representing Henry Lee Lucas in the remaining cases he had falsely confessed to. Throughout the 1990s, Vic worked to make sure Lucas wasn’t wrongly convicted again. His efforts, along with those of others, raised enough doubt about the confessions that then-Governor George W. Bush commuted Lucas’s only death sentence—known as the “Orange Socks” case. It was the only death penalty case Bush commuted during his time as governor. That case has since been reopened and is no longer attributed to Lucas.
Vic spent the rest of the 1990s exploring new creative paths, producing films such as Rhinos, Blood, Sweat & Teeth, Rage in the Cage, and Monster Hunter, starring the late David Carradine. Around this time, Vic also embraced yoga as both exercise and a lifestyle, training with some of the best instructors in the country and practicing regularly.
Vic has worked with director Robert Kenner (Food, Inc., Command and Control) and Taki Oldham on the Netflix documentary The Confession Killer, which tells the full story of Henry Lee Lucas and the shocking criminal justice failures that surrounded him.
On September 13, 1988, Vic announced his resignation as DA. After years of hard-fought battles, he needed to focus on restoring his reputation. During the investigation, a Dallas reporter named Charles Duncan had aired a slanderous, eleven-part series on Vic for Channel 8 News. The series spread baseless rumors that fueled the indictment, and the only evidence shown to the grand jury was the Channel 8 report itself. Vic filed a lawsuit against the station’s owner, Belo Broadcasting Corporation, and on April 20, 1991, a jury awarded him a record-setting $58 million—the largest libel verdict in U.S. history. The case earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
In the early 2000s, Vic returned to his roots, founding The Law Offices of Vic Feazell, with locations in Austin and Waco. His firm focuses on personal injury cases—everything from slip-and-falls to dog bites and 18-wheeler accidents—and occasionally handles criminal defense work.
Today, Vic continues to supervise his firm, try cases, write books, and record his podcast, The Vic Feazell Show—also known as the “Vic-Cast.” And yes, he still Drives Laid Back.
