Pat Priest (born 1940) is a Texas state court judge from San Antonio. The Senior District Judge of Bexar County (in semi-retired) status, he was appointed to preside over the Tom DeLay campaign finance trial in Austin, Texas by Chief Justice of Texas Supreme Court Wallace B. Jefferson after two judges (Administrative Judge B. B. Schraub and District Judge Bob Perkins) were recused in the case. [1][2]
Priest attended law school at St. Mary's University in the 1960s and is the author of a criminal procedure casebook.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted by a grand jury, tried, and found guilty on charges of money laundering and conspiracy in a case brought by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle. DeLay was indicted in 2005, and Jefferson appointed Priest to preside over the case on November 3, 2005. In June 2006, in response to a motion from DeLay, Priest dismissed one count of the indictment alleging conspiracy to violate election law but allowed the primary money laundering and conspiracy charges to stand. (On appeal, the Third Court of Appeals and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld that ruling).
The case went to trial in October 2010 and was convicted on November 24, 2010. Priest sentenced DeLay to three years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years' probation for the money laundering count.