Watkins driven to be DA: New prosecutor set goals early on, silenced skeptics along the way.

Byline: Gromer Jeffers Jr.

Dec. 31--Tall and lanky, young Craig Watkins walked onto the basketball court at Adele Turner Elementary School and challenged stereotypes.

"He was the tallest guy but wanted to be the point guard," said Dwight Battle, a Houston investment banker and Mr. Watkins' childhood friend. "Even at that point, he wanted to be the leader." Despite his awkward size, Mr. Watkins silenced skeptics and handled the ball for his team, even playing the center position when necessary. "He didn't want to hear that a big man isn't supposed to handle the rock," Mr. Battle said. "He was breaking barriers even back then."

Mr. Watkins is now trying to prove himself on a different court.

On New Year's Day, he'll be sworn in as Dallas County's district attorney, a ceremony that friends and family knew would occur but one that critics dismissed as a pipe dream. After what many called an improbable victory, Mr. Watkins must sell and then implement his "smart on crime" approach to an area besieged by a high crime rate. Pockets of poverty, drug addiction and other social ills exacerbate the criminal activity. It could be tough. Mr. Watkins, a former defense lawyer, never worked in the Dallas County district attorney's office, and his prosecutorial experience is limited to an internship and misdemeanor cases from when he worked as a municipal prosecutor one year. He's the first Democrat to hold the office since the legendary Henry Wade retired in 1986. And perhaps more significantly, he's the first black district attorney elected in any county in Texas -- taking over a courthouse that has in the past been criticized for failing to put enough people of color on juries and for securing convictions for people later proved innocent. Mr. Watkins says he's up to the challenge. "I'm totally different than my opponents and predecessor," he said. "They look at the job as being a prosecutor. I don't look at it as simply being a prosecutor. Yeah, I'm going to put you in jail when you commit a crime, but at the same time I'm supposed to improve the quality of life for all the people of Dallas County." Some say Mr. Watkins' life experiences and, perhaps, his ethnicity give him a different perspective than those who had the job before him.

In Baltimore, state's attorney Patricia Jessamy, who is black, said other big cities share Mr. Watkins' approach. "There is going to be some change," Ms. Jessamy said. "Many may attribute the change to the color of his skin, but what's really happening is that it's probably time that the Dallas DA's office changes." Early life

Unlike much of his political career, Mr. Watkins' birth into this world was unplanned. His parents were only 17 years old when he arrived.…