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Judge bows out of DeLay associates' trialReason for removing self remains secret; trial set for April is likely to be postponed. By Laylan Copelin AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Updated: 10:26 p.m. Thursday, March 10, 2011 The judge who sentenced former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to three years in prison removed himself Thursday from the upcoming trial of two DeLay associates, John Colyandro of Austin and James Ellis of Washington. A few hours later, Senior District Judge Pat Priest denied DeLay's motion for a new trial, kicking off DeLay's appeal of his felony conviction. In those two separate actions, Priest apparently...

With Texas judge Pat Priest imposing a sentence of three years in prison on former House majority leader Tom DeLay, it is not an exaggeration to say that this is the culmination of an undeserved, unjustified, and unconscionable act of political persecution. It is the result of an abusive prosecution that exemplifies the drive to criminalize politics and to make the ordinary processes of raising and spending funds for political campaigns a crime. The man who should be on trial in Texas is Ronnie Earle, the unethical Travis County prosecutor who went after DeLay as part of a political vendetta...

AUSTIN, Texas - A judge dismissed a conspiracy charge Monday against Rep. Tom DeLay but refused to throw out far more serious allegations of money-laundering, dashing the congressman's hopes for now of reclaiming his post as House majority leader. Texas Judge Pat Priest, who is presiding over the case against the Republican, issued the ruling after a hearing late last month in which DeLay's attorney argued that the indictment was fatally flawed. When he was indicted in September, DeLay was required under House rules to relinquish the leadership post he had held since 2003. While Monday's ruling was a partial...

The judicial carousel in U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's conspiracy case almost spun out of control Thursday as the search for a judge beyond the hint of any political taint reached the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, a Republican, named Pat Priest, a retired Democratic judge from his hometown of San Antonio, to hear the case — but not before Jefferson's own multiple ties to DeLay's political operation were questioned. Jefferson waved off questions about those ties Thursday afternoon as he searched for a judge to hear the biggest political trial in Texas for this...

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...