In 2024, the firm welcomed former long-time North Texas prosecutor Kerye Ashmore. With more than 40 years of criminal law experience and an incredible trial record, Kerye provides clients with a valuable weapon: a courtroom hammer.
An honors graduate of Howard Payne University, and a graduate of Southern Methodist University Law School, Kerye has been practicing law since 1979. He was a partner in the Paris, Texas, law firm of Flanary, Flanary & Ashmore from 1979-1985 before operating his own private law practice for several years and beginning a long career as a prosecutor.
Kerye provides clients with an unmatched understanding of the criminal justice system. He previously served as an assistant prosecutor and as the First Assistant District Attorney in Lamar County under the legendary Tom Wells before being elected as the District Attorney in Lamar County in 1996. From 2001 until 2024, Kerye served as an Assistant District Attorney in Grayson County, working as the First Assistant District Attorney to Joe Brown, and later District Attorney Brett Smith.
During his career, Kerye has tried over 350 felony jury trials. He obtained seven death penalty verdicts from juries, over 75 life sentences, and over 70 sentences of 40 years or more. In 1989, he tried the first death penalty case using groundbreaking PCR DNA evidence. He prosecuted more than 100 murder cases during his career. He now uses that experience to protect clients with the same tenacity.
Kerye knows when law enforcement has over-reached or made a mistake on your case. And he knows how to do something about it. In addition to his decades of experience in criminal law, he has been an instructor for numerous statewide seminars and law enforcement agencies involving the use of DNA evidence in capital litigation, search and seizure, DWI prosecution, and trial preparation. From 1987-1998, he was an adjunct instructor for the East Texas Police Academy for basic law enforcement certification in arrest, search and seizure. If law enforcement does not follow the rules, or makes a mistake, Kerye will make it right.
Kerye and his wife, Kelly Ashmore, who has served as the District Clerk of Grayson County since 2010, have four sons between them, and six grandchildren.
