Posted on 11/23/2010 11:24:58 AM PST by a fool in paradise
Five years after former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay demanded a speedy trial on political money laundering charges, a Travis County jury is now determining his fate.
The six-man, six-woman panel showed up at court Monday with a majority of the members dressed in black. They elected one of the women as foreman. And when they returned three times to the courtroom to ask the judge questions during their four hours of deliberation, they all looked away from DeLay.
The jurors also were asking visiting Judge Pat Priest questions that indicated they were buying into DeLay's defense that no money laundering occurred in the case because corporate money was initially raised legally before being swapped for candidate eligible money raised from individual donors.
"I feel pretty good," DeLay said after Priest sent the jury home for the day. "The closing arguments by the prosecution showed there's no crime, no evidence. Their presentation was politics."
...The indictment forced DeLay to give up his House leadership position in 2005. After he failed to obtain a speedy trial, DeLay resigned his Sugar Land congressional seat in 2006.
The core argument between Travis County prosecutors and defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin in closing statements to the jury Monday revolved around whether money laundering occurred if TRMPAC originally raised the corporate money legally.
DeGuerin told jurors that the corporate money was legally raised and transferred to the RNC and legal candidate money came back from the RNC.
"No crime was committed because no corporate money went to candidates in Texas," DeGuerin said.
...DeGuerin argued the case was brought solely because Democrats were unhappy with DeLay because of a congressional redistricting he pushed through in 2003...
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Houston PING
I want to see a procession of DAs frog-marched off the tube to jail.
I’m not sure that dressed in black and won’t look at the defendent is a good sign. Time will tell.
Dick DeGuerin is possibly one of the best lawyers in the state...
You shouldn't read anything into that one way or the other.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, comprised entirely of Republicans, will be much more friendly to DeLay than a Travis County jury.
Multiple inquiries. Austin jury may WANT to find him guilty but frankly doesn’t sound like the burden of proof is there. Claim made is that the law that the prosecutor would LIKE to prosecute was passed AFTER the action occurred.
His biggest problem is that this is in Travis county...
By Mike Ward | Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 12:02 PM
UPDATED Noon: The Tom DeLay jury has ordered lunch, indicating a decision is not expected soon. The lawyers are leaving for lunch, too. (UPDATED to include information on jury’s instructions.)
With the jury in the Tom DeLay money-laundering trial struggling with how to apply Texas’ money-laundering law, the judge overseeing the former U.S. House majority leader’s trial just told jurors they will have to figure it out themselves.
State District Judge Pat Priest told the six-man, six-woman jury that the instructions they were given earlier about the law DeLay is charged with violating must govern their deliberations.
One juror laughed quietly after Priest gave jurors his answer.
I worked at the Federal Courthouse in Houston for 13 years and DeGuerin was in and out all the time....and yes, he’s one hell of an attorney....if anyone can get DeLay off, it’s going to be him....and then I hope they go after that a$$hole DA in Austin and take him down.......or maybe good old Ronnie’s already been taken down!
Travis County is home to Hippy Hollow (nekid liberals), UT diversity, “Keepin’ Austin Weird” motto, and is a blue blight on political maps.
I live right in the middle of Austin and know the system quite well.
It’s a weird place, but the economy is good and real estate prices have remained strong for those of us who own on within the city limits.
I live right in the middle of Austin and know the system quite well.
It’s a weird place, but the economy is good and real estate prices have remained strong for those of us who own on within the city limits.
Ronnie “retired” from his job but ran for Lt. Governor in the Democrat primary in 2010 (and was defeated in the Primary).
I've seen many a jury come back with a verdict immediately after lunch or dinner. I always figured they wanted one more free meal on the county's dime.
Resigned in December 2007.
Now the Republicans have a super majority in Texas they should do something about the fact that the Travis County DA can bring cases against Statewide politicos in Travis County which is by far the most leftist city in Texas.
Agree with your comments on DeGuerin if there's no case against Delay he will get him off.
I was on jury for a bail jumper one time. We had already convicted him for that and were meeting again to determine the sentencing (we could give him anywhere from the minimum to maximum term). We wanted to know if he would serve any time if he was sentenced to the minimum or would they credit him with “time served” while waiting for his bail jumping case to come to trial.
The judge told us we would have to determine the sentence without hearing that answer.
Additionally the prosecutor jeopardized the case by disclosing the in trial what he was accused of (which we were not to know in determining the bail jumping case).
DeGuerin got Bill Joe Shaver off this year and he was charged with shooting a man in the cheek following a bar dispute.
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