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Gov. Rick Perry in court: 'I would do it again'
By Peggy Fikac | November 6, 2014 | Updated: November 6, 2014 2:40pm
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Photo By Bob Daemmrich/TEXAS TRIBUNETexas Governor Rick Perry appears in Travis County Court on Thursday to answer charges in an indictment rregarding his veto of funding for the Travis County Public Integrity Unit.
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Photo By Bob DaemmrichTexas Governor Rick Perry appears in Travis County Court on Thursday to answer charges in an indictment rregarding his veto of funding for the Travis County Public Integrity Unit.
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Photo By Bob DaemmrichTexas Governor Rick Perry appears in Travis County Court on Thursday to answer charges in an indictment rregarding his veto of funding for the Travis County Public Integrity Unit.
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Photo By Bob DaemmrichJudge Burt Richardson as Texas Governor Rick Perry appears in Travis County Court on Thursday to answer charges in an indictment rregarding his veto of funding for the Travis County Public Integrity Unit.
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Photo By TOM REELAttorney Michael McCrum, with attorney David Gonzalez, speaks for the prosecution following Gov. Rick Perry's remarks after appearing at a hearing in the 390th District Court at the Travis County Courthouse on November 6, 2014.
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Gov. Rick Perry shared this photo from his wedding day Nov. 6, 2014.
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Photo By Eric Gay/Associated PressWith a backstory as rich as an episode of "House of Cards," the Rick Perry indictment can be a challenging case to keep up with. Here are some things you should know about who's involved, why and what happens next.
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Photo By Uncredited/ASSOCIATED PRESSWho is Rosemary Lehmberg? Lehmberg is the Travis County District Attorney. In 2013, she was arrested for drunk driving. After her arrest, a complaint was filed and Perry threatened to veto funding if she did not resign from the DA position. Lehmberg plead guilty to driving while intoxicated and served 45 days in prison, but kept her job.
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Photo By HANDOUT/AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMANHow did it start?While Lehmberg was in jail, the political pressure to resign from the district attorney position began to mount. Perry threatened to veto funding for the Public Integrity Unit if Lehmberg didn’t resign. On June 14th, 2013, Perry followed through on the threat. A special grand jury was called to look into both Perry’s veto threat and Lehmberg’s arrest. It later found Lehmberg did not commit any wrongdoing in the process of her arrest and jail time and a judge ruled she was allowed to stay in office.
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Photo By Stewart F. House/Getty ImagesWhat is Perry's history? Rick Perry has been the Republican Governor of Texas since 2000 and is widely believed to be planning for another presidential run after his failed attempt in 2012. This indictment is the first of a Texas governor since 1917.
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Photo By Ralph Barrera/Associated PressWho is on Perry's legal team?
Mark Fabiani is the latest addition to the legal “Dream Team” Perry has assembled to fight his indictment. Fabiani comes to the team with experience working with Democrats, having served President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Ben Ginsberg is most famous for working for President George W. Bush during his 2000 election run. Ginsberg and Fabiani fought on opposite sides of the fence for their candidates. Tony Buzbee, a Houston-area attorney, leads the Perry legal team. Buzbee is often described as a tough and mean trial lawyer highly experienced with taking on big businesses and winning. David Botsford is an Austin attorney specializing in criminal defense. Bobby Birchfield, like Ginsberg, also is a former general counsel to President George W. Bush. Tom Phillips rounds out the legal team as a retired Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. From left, David Botsford, Tony Buzbee, Bobby Birchfield and Ben Ginsberg (not pictured: Mark Fabiani) -
Photo By Ralph Barrera/Associated PressWhat is the Public Integrity Unit? The Public Integrity Unit is a department under the Travis County District Attorney’s office. The role of this unit is to look into cases involving government crime such as corruption and fraud.
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Photo By Handout/Getty ImagesWhat is the governor being charged with? A Travis County grand jury indicted the governor on two felony charges. Abuse of official capacity is a first-degree felony and carries a five-to 99-year prison sentence while coercion of a public official is a third-degree felony and is punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
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Photo By Eric Gay/Associated PressWhat is Perry's take on the indictment?On the day Gov. Perry arrived at the Travis County Jail to take his booking photo and get fingerprints done, he delivered a short statement to the public saying, "I'm going to enter this courthouse with my head held high knowing that the actions I took were not only lawful and legal but right. If I had to do so, I would veto funding for the public integrity unit again. I’m going to fight this injustice with every fiber of my being. And we will prevail. This indictment is fundamentally a political act that seeks to achieve at the courthouse what could not be achieved at the ballot box."
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Photo By Eric Gay/Associated PressHow are the gubernatorial candidates reacting? In a press conference in Dallas, the former attorney turned state senator Wendy Davis said, “These are serious charges. I trust the justice system to do its job and I won’t presuppose what the outcome will be."
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Photo By Joel Martinez/Associated PressAs the current attorney general, Abbott has been fairly quiet on Perry’s indictment but in agreement saying, "The governor was using his veto authority."
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Photo By Stewart F. House/Getty ImagesWhat's next for Perry? The governor has already gone through the booking process, and entered a plea of “not guilty.” His legal team has also asked a judge to dismiss his indictment, claiming the case is an attack on his free speech rights.
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Public officials are not infallible, and sometimes they get caught by the law. Here are some notable examples.
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Photo By Associated PressGovernor Rick Perry: A grand jury indicted Perry on Aug. 15, 2014, on one count of abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony, and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony.
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Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg pleaded guilty to drunken driving on Friday, April 19, 2013, in court in Austin, Texas. Lehmberg was sentenced to 45 days in jail.
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Photo By Carolyn Kaster/Associated PressFormer House Majority Leader Tom DeLay: A Texas appeals court tossed the criminal conviction of DeLay on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, saying there was insufficient evidence for a jury in 2010 to have found him guilty of illegally funneling money to Republican candidates.
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Photo By Pool/Getty Images43rd U.S. President George W. Bush: Bush was arrested on Sept. 4, 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. It was revealed just days before the 2000 presidential election.
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Photo By courtesy, McAllen Police13th Court of Appeals judge Nora Longoria: Longoria was arrested on suspicion of DWI on July 12, 2014 in McAllen. She showed an officer her badge and asked him to let her go home, according to court documents. Longoria was charged with DWI, a class B misdemeanor, and posted a $2,000 bond.
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Photo By Robin Jerstad / For the Express-NewsFormer state district court judge Angus McGinty: A federal grand jury on June 19, 2014, indicted McGinty on 15 counts related to allegations of bribe-taking and misdeeds. He faces 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
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Photo By Evans Caglage / Dallas Morning NewsDallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price: The 11 counts against him charge that he accepted gifts from two political consultants in exchange for giving them insider information and voting for certain projects. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
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Photo By Gabe Hernandez/Associated PressFormer Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino: Trevino pleaded guilty in April 2014 to money laundering. He was sentenced to five years in prison on July 17, 2014.
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Photo By Courtesy PhotoFormer Guadalupe County Judge Mike Wiggins: Wiggins was arrested after marijuana was found in his hotel room in College Station. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in February 2013 and was placed on six months deferred adjudication, fined $1,000 and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
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Photo By Yvette Vela/Associated PressFormer 404th state District Judge Abel Limas: Limas, who turned his courtroom into a money-making operation, was sentenced Aug. 21, 2013, to six years in prison followed by three years of unsupervised release on one count of racketeering in Brownsville.
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Photo By Yvette Vela/Associated PressFormer State Rep. Jose Santiago "Jim" Solis: In August 2013, the ex-state lawmaker was convicted of aiding and abetting the extortion by former state district judge Abel Corral Limas and sentenced to 47 months in federal prison.
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Former Maverick County Commissioner Rodolfo Heredia: In June 2013, Heredia pleaded guilty in connection with a bribery, kickback and bid-rigging scheme.
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Photo By Deborah Cannon/Associated PressTexas State Rep. Naomi Gonzalez: The representative from El Paso was charged with driving while intoxicated in March 2013 after a crash that injured two other people.
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Photo By Uncredited/Associated PressFormer Kaufman County Precinct 1 justice of the peace Eric Williams: Williams and his wife, Kim, are accused of slaying Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse on Jan. 31, 2013, and District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, on March 30, 2013.
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Photo By Jay Janner/Austin American-StatesmanFormer State Rep. Kino Flores: The South Texas lawmaker was accused of using his elected position to sell legislative favors and was convicted Oct. 27, 2010, on all 11 counts of tampering with government records and perjury.
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Photo By handoutState Rep. Ron Reynolds: The Houston-area state representative and seven other lawyers were charged in 2013 with an "ambulance chasing for profit" scheme, otherwise known as barratry.
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Why did #ChinaGrove #police chief's suddenly resign? Read July 9 @wcnonline. Get yours: http://t.co/xLb2R0Yku2. pic.twitter.com/DUHT9jqgZj
— Wilson County News (@wcnonline) July 8, 2014 -
Photo By Laredo Morning Times, courtesy
Ricardo Rangel, Webb County Precinct 2, Place 2 justice of the peace, pleaded guilty Thursday, Sept. 4 to one count of extortion.
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry sat in court Thursday as his lawyers tried to convince a judge to dismiss the felony case accusing him of abusing his power to try to force out Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.
The Republican governor was indicted in connection with last year's threat to veto funding for a public corruption unit overseen by the Democratic district attorney unless she resigned after a messy drunken-driving arrest and guilty plea.
Lehmberg stayed in office after serving time. Perry axed the funding for the Public Integrity Unit, saying Lehmberg had lost the public's confidence.
Perry declared after the hearing, as he has before, that he merely was exercising his veto authority.
“I stand behind my authority and I would do it again. I stand behind that veto, and I would make that veto again,” said Perry, who had entered the courtroom with security and sat between his lawyers Tony Buzbee of Houston and David L. Botsford of Austin.
In addition to being a legal landmark for Perry, it was an important personal day for him. It's his 32nd wedding anniversary. He marked the occasion with a tweet that included a wedding photo.
At the pre-trial hearing, Buzbee and Botsford argued that the case should be dismissed because, they said, proper procedures weren’t followed when San Antonio lawyer Michael McCrum was sworn in as special prosecutor in the case.
They said documents in connection with his appointment as special prosecutor weren’t properly filed.
For example, Buzbee said the Texas Constitution requires a special prosecutor to file an anti-bribery statement before filing his oath. He said that order was reversed.
Buzbee also professed alarm when a court staffer said that the only grand jury investigations to have been assigned case numbers in Democratic-leaning Travis County were those of Perry and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, both Republicans.
The staffer said that was because judges expected a number of motions to be filed in those cases. Buzbee raised eyebrows at them being treated differently, but when asked what damage could result, did not say.
McCrum said the case numbers were assigned to make it easier for everyone to find the cases and said efforts to make that appear a conspiracy were “ridiculous.”
He said matters in connection with his appointment as special prosecutor were handled properly.
Buzbee called the handing of documents in the case “a comedy of errors” but said it’s “not funny at all.”
He suggested to Senior Judge Bert Richardson of San Antonio, who is presiding over the case, that if he rules against Perry, he is ruling against the constitution.
McCrum called that “malarkey” and a “red herring.” He said Perry’s team is making inflammatory arguments that aren’t based in law to get media play.
The animosity between the two sides was evident in court. Buzbee frequently paced as he forcefully presented his arguments, at least twice stopping by McCrum’s seat to look down at him as he talked.
McCrum spoke more evenly and only left his table in the courtroom to give documents to the judge.
McCrum referred to Perry as “Mr. Perry” rather than “Gov. Perry” in court, explaining when asked afterward about that, “Any time I see evidence that a public official has committed a crime, then I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to call that public official by his title. At this time, he’s James Richard ‘Rick’ Perry, accused of committing two felonies.”
A grand jury indicted Perry on Aug. 15 on two counts: abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison; and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony carrying a punishment of two to 10 years in prison.
A government accountability group, Texans for Public Justice, initiated the case against Perry by filing a criminal complaint. It didn't question Perry's right to veto the funding, but said the governor was wrong to use his power to try to force out a locally elected official.
Richardson said he’ll rule on these matters next Wednesday or Thursday.
pfikac@express-news.net
Twitter: @pfikac