George R. Dekle Sr.

George Robert "Bob" Dekle Sr. (born May 23, 1948) is an American lawyer who was an

Dekle was born May 23, 1948, in Gainesville, Florida, the eldest child of Donald James and Anne Coleman Dekle. He has one brother, William Ervin Dekle, and one sister, Lucy Dekle Daniels. Dekle lived with his family on a farm in Lake Butler, Union County, Florida. Dekle's mother was a teacher; his father was a deputy in Lake Butler and also a colonel with the Department of Corrections. Dekle's grandfather was a sheriff in Union County; his great-grandfather was a teacher and also a county judge.^[1] At the age of 9 or 10, Dekle was inspired about the possibility of a law career: while visiting a small town with his family, he saw a building with many books behind the picture window, and learned from his father that it was a law office. "Even at that age, I was a bookworm, and I thought it would be wonderful to have a job where you worked with so many books." In 7th or 8th grade, he skipped school to watch the closing arguments of a double murder trial in Lake Butler. "I came away knowing that I wanted to be three things: a lawyer, a trial lawyer, and a prosecutor."^[2]

In 1961 Dekle's family moved to

Education

After graduating from CHS in 1966, Dekle completed a

Dekle has lectured extensively to prosecutor's associations nationwide. He has also served as faculty at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. In an interview in 2016, Dekle summarized the hardest lesson he learned as a trial lawyer:[2]

[...] you should try your case, not fight opposing counsel. Cordiality to opposing counsel usually makes it easier to try your case. Sometimes opposing counsel won't allow you to be cordial, but whenever you can you should try your case with an air of collegial professionalism.

and a lesson that he would like to pass on to new trial lawyers:

You have a job to do as a prosecutor, and sometimes the people and incidents you deal with aren't very pretty. But you should never lose sight of the fact that a prosecutor is a minister of justice, not a vigilante avenger.

State of Florida v. Theodore Robert Bundy

The trial of

The Bundy case was Dekle's first Murder I prosecution. At age 30 and with three years experience as a prosecutor, he worked intensely on trial preparation from 1978 to 1980. He said, "That's where I learned to be a lawyer—prosecuting that case...[3] It was such a vast-sprawling case that I had an opportunity to learn all kinds of aspects of criminal trial practice and all aspects of forensic science that probably would've taken years to learn about otherwise."^[1] Of the more than 350 jury trials in which Dekle had been lead counsel, the Bundy case was his most memorable. Fibers with an unusual manufacturing flaw allowed Dekle to connect Bundy's jacket to Bundy's van and to Kimberly Leach's body. The presentation of fiber evidence was the most memorable moment in Dekle's career as trial lawyer.^[2]

The Last Murder

In his book The Last Murder: The Investigation, Prosecution, and Execution of Ted Bundy, published May 2011, Dekle conveys that a successful third conviction in the circumstantial evidence case was anything but certain. He documents the enormous amount of work and preparation needed for the high-profile case, including the intricacies and complexities of investigation and prosecution, often across multiple states and jurisdictions. According to Hon. Michael D. Marcus (ret.), author of Trial Preparation for Prosecutors:^[a]

Dekle takes the reader "behind the scenes" to show that homicide investigations are arduous, unglamorous processes that can be sidetracked by both dead end leads and bureaucratic pettiness and that the resulting trials often experience unexpected legal and evidentiary potholes. Bundy's eventual conviction is a testament to dogged hard work by Dekle, his fellow prosecutors and assisting law enforcement.^[4]

Dekle's first objective for his book was to tell a Lake City story that "needed to be told".

Dekle dedicated his book "To the memory of Kimberly Diane Leach."[6]

Other cases

Dekle was also successful as lead prosecutor in other significant Murder I cases in Florida:

• State of Florida v. Marshall Lee Gore (Columbia County, 1980)
• State of Florida v. Richard Hamilton and Anthony Wainwright (Hamilton County, 1990)
• State of Florida v. Roger Harris (Columbia County, 2000)
• State of Florida v. Charles Globe (Columbia County, 2002)

Recognitions

Dekle received awards of recognition from the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association (FPAA):

• Gene Berry Memorial Outstanding Prosecutor Award in Florida (1986)
• Distinguished Faculty Award (1996)
• Distinguished Faculty Award (2003)
• Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Educational Service in Continuing Education for Prosecutors (2005)

Civic and personal life

Sports: Dekle coached football in 1970 at his alma mater Columbia High School (CHS). He coached football for the Lake City Columbia County Boys' Club, Youth league. He also was President of CHS Wrestling Boosters Association.

Medical: Dekle has served on Florida Advisory Council on Emergency Medical Services, as well as on LCCC Advisory Committee on Emergency Medical Services, for which he was also Chairperson.

Church: Dekle was Sunday School Director for Eastside Baptist Church in Lake City, as well as budget committee Chairperson. He has also served as Chairperson of Deacons, and Trustee for the Lake City First Baptist Church.

Dekle married Lane Dicks in June 1971. Lane was a nursing instructor at

Chess

Dekle began playing chess at age 5. He became a member of the Lake City Chess Club, as well as a certified

.

Chess variants Cross Chess (1982) Masonic Chess (1983) Three-Man Chess (1984) Chesquerque (1986) Chivalry Chess (1986) Coordinator Chess (1986) Custodian Chess (1986) Immobilizer Chess (1986) Lilliputian Chess (1986) Quatrochess (1986) Triangular Chess (1986) Tri-Chess (1986) 2-player Tri-Chess (1986) 3-player Withdrawer Chess (1986) Microchess (1987) Shogi variants Hexshogi (1986) Masonic Shogi (1987) Space Shogi (1987) Trishogi (1987) Spherical Shogi (1988)

Masonic Shogi Chesquerque

Published works

• Successful Trial Strategies for Prosecutors (contributor; 2005) National District Attorneys Association.
• Prosecution Principles: A Clinical Handbook (2007) West Academic Publishing. ASIN B00RWRYA9Q
• Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion, Strategies, and Techniques (coauthor with Ronald H. Clark and William S. Bailey; 2010 pap/com edition)
  ISBN 978-073559843-0
• The Last Murder: The Investigation, Prosecution, and Execution of Ted Bundy (2011)
  ISBN 978-031339743-1
• The Case against Christ: A Critique of the Prosecution of Jesus (2011) Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  ISBN 978-144383194-9

  Dekle explained the background about writing this book:

  When I retired as a prosecutor back in 2005 and began my second career as a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, I began casting about looking for historical trials to use as illustrations of various points concerning the principles of good prosecution. One salient point that every prosecutor should know is that sometimes justice is better served by declining to prosecute an accused who is obviously guilty. The trial of Jesus appeared to be a prime example of this point. A fair reading of the Gospels seemed to indicate that Jesus was clearly guilty of violating the lex iulia maiestas, a minor form of treason, but just as clearly unworthy of punishment.^[10]

  and:

  I read every account of criminal trials of the first century that I could find. Jesus was basically charged with treason and there were about 40 of these type of trials documented, so I studied the details of these and read descriptions of 127 other similar ancient trials. I went all the way back to the trial of Socrates, around 300 B.C. and started there because his trial was very similar to the trial of Jesus.^[5]

• The Killing of Jorm Pelorvis (2013 Kindle Edition) ASIN B00EVHH150
• The Evolution of Chess (2013 Kindle Edition) ASIN B00EXCQDT8
• Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion, Strategies, and Techniques (coauthor with Ronald H. Clark and William S. Bailey; 2014 2nd Edition)
  ISBN 978-145485200-1
• Abraham Lincoln's Most Famous Case: The Almanac Trial (2014)
  ISBN 978-144083049-5
• Ted Bundy, Celebrity Slayer (2014 Kindle Edition) ASIN B00LZD5QR8
• The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case: A Critical Analysis of the Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann (coauthor with James M. Dedman III; 2016) The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.
  ISBN 978-161619533-5
• Chronicles of Crime and Criminals: Thirty Two Years in the Courtroom (2017) Independently published.
  ISBN 978-1520686332
• Prairie Defender: The Murder Trials of Abraham Lincoln (2017)
  ISBN 978-080933597-8
• The Annotated Chancellor Chess (author Ben R. Foster, with annotations and an appendix by Dekle; 2017) Independenty published.
  ISBN 978-1520905921
• Six Capsules: The Gilded Age Murder of Helen Potts (2019)
  ISBN 978-1606353707
• The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case: What the Lawyers Said (editor; 2020) Independently published.
  ISBN 978-1549535833
• The East River Ripper: The Mysterious 1891 Murder of Old Shakespeare (2021)
  ISBN 978-1606354261
• A Retired Prosecutor's Random Thoughts (2021) Independently published.
  ISBN 979-8789996980
• Variations on the Theme of Chess (2023) Independently published.
  ISBN 979-8394289873

• List of Levin College of Law graduates
• List of University of Florida faculty and administrators

Notes