Posted on 11/03/2005 4:01:36 PM PST by flattorney
AUSTIN — A new judge was selected to preside over Rep. Tom DeLay's conspiracy and money laundering trial today, after another judge became the second to step away from involvement in the case because of political contributions he has made.
Administrative Judge B.B. Schraub, a Republican who was to have selected the judge for the case, withdrew after Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle filed a request to have him removed. Two days earlier, District Judge Bob Perkins was removed from the case at DeLay's request because of his contributions to Democrats.
>>>Schraub asked Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson to name a judge to preside over DeLay's trial, and Jefferson selected semi-retired Senior Judge Pat Priest of San Antonio. Jefferson's involvement, however, could invite yet another challenge.<<<
Jefferson was endorsed by the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority in 2002. The Jefferson endorsement news release listed DeLay co-defendant John Colyandro as a contact for the news media. Jefferson also in 2002 actively campaigned with Texans for a Republican Majority, or TRMPAC.
One campaign trip Jefferson made on behalf of TRMPAC used an airplane provided by San Antonio lawyer James Jonas, who is law partners with another DeLay co-defendant, Jim Ellis. Jefferson also shared a campaign treasurer with TRMPAC, Bill Ceverha of Dallas. Also, Bill Ceverha of Dallas in 2002 was the campaign treasurer for both TRMPAC and Jefferson's election campaign.
DeLay, Ellis and Colyandro are accused of conspiracy to violate state elections laws, money laundering and conspiracy to money launder in connection to how TRMPAC spent corporate money in the 2002 Texas House elections.
DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin had said earlier that Jefferson's connections to TRMPAC should not matter because his job of picking a new judge for the case is just administrative. ``What you've got to do is look at the judge he appoints'' for potential bias, DeGuerin said.
The case landed in Jefferson's lap two days after DeLay's lawyers got the trial judge removed from the case because donations he had made to Democratic groups gave him the appearance of bias. Earle had challenged Schraub because of his donations to Republicans, particularly to Gov. Rick Perry.
Earle noted that Perry called the special legislative sessions in 2003 that allowed DeLay to push through congressional redistricting. Earle cited $1,500 in donations that Schraub gave to Perry in 2000 and 2001 and said Schraub is up for a reappointment from Perry next January.
You can't make this stuff up.
Who is Pat Priest?
So does this mean that the trial is in San Antonio now?
"Administrative Judge B.B. Schraub, a Republican who was to have selected the judge for the case, withdrew after Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle filed a request to have him removed."
Perfect. I had mentioned yesterday that DeLay proved how insane this situation is by having the first judge removed. Now we see the impossibility of keeping the current two party system 'as is'. One party MUST go and be replaced by a new party.
This proves further that this is a political matter, not a criminal matter. Thanks Hurl (I mean Earle)!
AUSTIN -- A judge from San Antonio will preside over the money laundering and conspiracy trial of GOP Congressman Tom DeLay.
Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson late Thursday chose semi-retired Senior Judge Pat Priest— a Democrat.
Munsters, I think . . .
>>>You can't make this stuff up.<<<
I said it when this mess started it was going to get realllll nasty, expensive, and would last well into next year. Texas politics gets that way, much less when you have the Dems-Soros-Earle Mob trying to drag down The Hammer a.k.a Teflon Tom.
I'm sure Earle and his staff are slobbering all over themselves they are so mad, as they process a new Motion to strike this latest move down, lol. Judge Schraub totally rebuffed Earle's original Motion's options and pulled this interesting punt.
Since the Democrats are the ones on life-support, I suggest that it be them.
"One party MUST go and be replaced by a new party"
Judging by how BOTH parties are acting, we need to remove all of them and start all over.
Where's George Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and the rest when we REALLY need them again?
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
John Stuart Mill - English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873)
"Who is Pat Priest?"
Why that's cute blonde Marilyn Munster from the 60's TV sitcom fame. Hope she is a Republican (: At least she wont be scared of the dim'Rat creatures of the dark side. ehehehehehehehehehe
Contributor Name Employer Filer Name Amount Contribution
Date Report #
Priest, Pat Mcclendon, Ruth J. $ 150.00 9/13/2004
Priest, Pat Retired Judge Martinez Fischer, Trey $ 150.00 9/13/2004
Priest, Pat And Nancy Uresti, Carlos I. $ 150.00 9/23/2004
That's all I could find on him... a Dem
If they can't find a judge willing to touch this case with a ten-foot pole who hasn't donated to DeLay's opponents, then what happens to the charges?
Every new event in this case further underlines the political nature of the allegations against DeLay. A jury of real Texans will acquit in record time just to turn off the embarassment.
10.03.05 - Adm Judge Recuses Himself from DeLay Case-TX Supreme Court Chief Justice to name Judge
The facts are:
1. Judge Schraub was appointed by Governor Rick Perry in 2002 as Administrative Judge for the Third Administrative Judicial Region and is up for re-appointment January 2006.
2. Judge Schraub donated to Rick Perry's campaign. Texas Ethics Commission Records reflect - Schraud Political Contributions: 06.30.00 - $500, Texans for Rick Perry and 09.12.01- $1,000, Texans for Rick Perry / more listed contributions State/Local - 100% to Republicans
3. Governor Perry and Ronnie Earle have been at each other throats for years.
4. Governor Perry seriously blundered, and spoke publicly on 10/24/05 about the DeLay case and was highly partisan for DeLay and against DA Earle. Read the AP article:
10.24.05 - Texas Governor Perry says DeLay Indictment Stems From Overzealous Prosecutor
5. Ronnie Earle filed a Motion and Judge Schraub recused himself, but rebuffed Earle's Motion directives for selecting a new Judge. Instead, Judge Schraub assigned the case to Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, who was appointed to this position 9/14/04 by Gov. Rick Perry. Chief Justice Jefferson made Texas history as the first African American Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.
You know judges, right? Think you could find ONE that has not made a political contribution sometime in his / her life?
Donations to individual candidates (besides DeLay himself) are much different than to MoveOn.org on the anniversary of 9/11.
The Common Law Of Texas Tune: The Yellow Rose of Texas Words: William L. Prosser They buy their bourbon by the case, and never shun the cup, They ride around in Cadillacs, and smash each other up. And when they litigate the case, it's the weirdest ever seen, Because the poor benighted courts try to follow Leon Green. It's the damndest jurisdiction This country ever saw, It has the queerest people, The most peculiar law. They have some nuts in loway, And some in Tennessee But the common law of Texas is A thing of mysteree. They enter into arguments, and then they have a fight, They call each other dirty names, and broad on it all night, Then lie in wait for sixteen hours behind an old rail fence, And shoot the fellow in the back, but it's all in self-defense. It's the damndest jurisdiction This country ever knew, And all its jurisprudence Is twisted like a screw. Connecticut's a crazy place, And so is Arkansaw, But Texas has, of all the states, The most peculiar law. They raise an oil well derrick in the city hall front yard, And when the damn thing blows to hell they take it mighty hard. Petroleum and rocks and mud are strewn all o'er the sod, It makes a most unsightly mess, but it's just an act of God. It's the damndest jurisdiction This country ever had, It has ten thousand cases. And all of them are bad, Oh, Minnesota's off the beam, And so is Idaho, But Texas has the wildest law Upon this earth below. A widow seeks indemnity upon a policee, And she recovers double, with her attorney's fee, For when she loaded arsenic into her husband's beans, The late lamented met his death by accidental means. It's the damndest jurisdiction There is from coast to coast, There's crazy law all over, But Texas has the most. They're lunatics in Michigan, Also in Delaware, But the common law of Texas Will really curl your hair. A loyal son of Texas goes out upon a spree, And perpetrates six murders, some rape and burglaree; He ends upon the gallows--it's a proper end, of course! But the reason that they hang him is, the bastard stole a horse. It's the damndest jurisdiction In the entire U.S.A., And what will happen next there No man alive can say. They do strange things in Maryland, Likewise in Oregon, But Texas has the wildest law That e'er the sun shone on. They as the jury questions, which may number twenty score, Instructions that they give them take seven days or more, And when the case comes on appeal the record grows and grows, And what the last opinion holds, alas, God only knows. It's the damndest jurisdiction Upon this planet sad, It's whole judicial process Is absolutely mad. There's schizophrenia in New York, Also in Illinois, But the common law of Texas is A psychiatric joy. Sung at the AALS meeting, 1959.
/john
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