Posted on 12/16/2005 6:35:51 PM PST by Brilliant
AUSTIN - U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's lead lawyer accused Travis County prosecutors Thursday of trying to do an end run around the judge so DeLay would be unlikely to get a trial before summer.
District Attorney Ronnie Earle's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Senior District Judge Pat Priest had set a hearing for Dec. 27 to hear motions on DeLay's request to be tried separately on a money-laundering charge and on Earle's request to halt the proceedings while he appeals Priest's decision to throw out an accusation that DeLay conspired to violate the election code. DeLay's lead attorney, Dick DeGuerin of Houston, said Earle's assistants took actions Thursday designed to get the case before the 3rd Court of Appeals immediately and "deprive" Priest of any jurisdiction until the appeal is decided.
A quick resolution to the case has been key to DeLay's hopes of regaining his position as U.S. House majority leader. He was required to step down when he was indicted on campaign-finance charges in September, and his hope of regaining the seat depends on clearing his name before an expected leadership vote by the Republican caucus in January.
"If they put this into the court of appeals, we'll be there until next summer," DeGuerin said.
"The whole thing is about destroying Tom DeLay's political career and keeping him out of a leadership position in the House," DeGuerin said. "The way to do that is by preventing us from having a trial."
DeGuerin said Assistant District Attorney Bryan Case went to the Travis County District Clerk's Office and asked clerks to remove the case file and send it to the appeals court for a ruling on Priest's dismissal of one indictment and part of one count of another. Once the appeal is before the higher court, prosecutors get an automatic stay of the case proceedings until a higher court rules.
The indictments involve questions of how DeLay and two associates, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, handled corporate contributions to the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee in 2002 legislative races.
DeGuerin also subpoenaed members of a grand jury Thursday that rejected charges against DeLay in September. DeGuerin wants Priest to throw out the remaining charges against DeLay on the grounds that Earle "shopped" the case to multiple grand juries until he got an indictment.
Yeah, obvious. Earle knows he doesn't have a case.
There's a really simple solution to this...
It's a House Republican rule, yes? Well then, change the damn rule and reinstate him.
Surely, we can get a majority within our own party. Can't we?
The Sun will rise in the East
Yeah, and he doesn't need one and he knows that too. By keeping the case out of court and not resolved, he continues to smear Delay and keeps him from his leadership position. Who knows, by next November, he may have gotten enough mud thrown on Delay to get an adequate amount to endanger his re-election. The Democrats play for blood; the Republicans (other than a few like Delay) cower in the corner and beg for mercy.
Maybe Earle will try sky diving and forget his chute. Splat!!
This will be another blow to the liberal agenda. When all said and done, Delay will be quite loud about what has happened. It will not be a black eye for liberals, it will be completely purple.
Can't DeLay request an immediate trial?
In civil court in California it is impossible to get to the court of appeals prior to the trial being completed if one cause of action is thrown out, absent a writ of mandamus being granted, which the appellate court has the discretion to refuse. They certainly would, if they deemed the cause of action lacked merit. Such writs if denied are usually disposed of within two weeks, or a month at the most.
We tried that. The Dems, the media and half of the "conservatives" on this board were against it.
Delay/Earle ping!
I think Earle may be miscalculating, though. If DeLay is ultimately exonerated, he's going to file ethics charges against Earle.
Earle has no ethics.
So was the UN, but we all must have patience.
As long as this case sits around without going to trial, the RATS and their MSM stooges will use it to bash all Pubs. When it finally goes to court, it will either be thrown out or DeLay will be found not guilty, at which time the RATS will have to shut up. Naturally, all earle can do is stall, stall, stall.
Ashcroft / Delay 08!!!!
I like DeLay's tactics - he's being very aggressive about this case, and that's keeping Earle off center. When you're The Hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Delay has the balls to stand up to the Rats which is why they had to disable him through some means other than threats. You are correct that if he is exonerated, he will go after Earle with a vengenance, but unfortunately, that might be a long, long, long way off. Earle will drag his feet at every opportunity because once this is heard in court - Game Over!
The Democrats play for blood; the Republicans (other than a few like Delay) cower in the corner and beg for mercy.
Your post summed it up nicely. Earle's priority is forcing Delay to lose his seat, rather than prosecuting him. If Delay falls, other republicans will be hurting, too.
If Delay falls, there are gobs of other Republicans who deserve what they are going to get. They could have stopped this from happening if they had not repealed their rule about not having to step down for an indictment. If they had stood firm, there would not have been an indictment because it would not have accomplished what the Rats are after - Delay's scalp.
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