Indictment of Rick Perry

Indictment of Rick Perry
Date August 15, 2014
County Travis County, Texas
Charges Abuse of official capacity
Coercion of a public servant
Plea Not guilty
Judge Bert Richardson
Prosecutor Michael McCrum
Method of securing appearance Summons[1]
Current status Objection Relating to Attorney Pro Tem Appointment Overruled, First Writ of habeas corpus petition, first motion to quash indictment, and defense motion to view grand jury testimony pending
Upcoming court date None
Next expected ruling date January 2015
This article is part of a series about
Rick Perry
Mitt Romney

2012 Presidential Campaign
Governor of Texas
Political positions
Indictment

On August 15, 2014, Texas Governor Rick Perry was indicted by a Travis County grand jury.[2] The first charge of the indictment is abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony, for threatening to veto $7.5 million in funding for the Public Integrity Unit, a state public corruption prosecutors department. The second charge is coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony,[3] for seeking the resignation of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat,[4] after she was convicted of drunk driving, and incarcerated. Perry pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Indictment

According to the complaint from Texans for Public Justice that led to the indictment, at the time of the veto, prosecutors in that unit had been investigating a state agency called the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, described by The New York Times as "one of Perry’s signature initiatives [that] came under scrutiny by state lawmakers after accusations of mismanagement and corruption."[4] According to Texas Democrats, if Perry could, he would appoint a Republican district attorney and hinder the investigation.[5] According to officials in Perry's office, Lehmberg was offered a job at the DA's office and Perry offered to appoint her top lieutenant, a Democrat, as district attorney. Perry was never a target of the probe according to an affidavit by the investigator on the case.[6][7][8] Texas Democrats have said that Perry didn't oppose other elected officials who were convicted of drunk driving in Texas. Republicans say that none of the other elected officials were responsible for an office responsible for the ethics and integrity of public officials.[5][9]

Billy Ray Stubblefield, chief judge of Texas' Third Judicial District, presides over the case.[10] Michael McCrum was appointed special prosecutor by Bert Richardson, a former judge of the 379th District Court in Bexar County and the incoming 2015 Place 3 judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Richardson had been selected by Judge Stubblefield to handle the grand jury investigation.[11] Jay Root of the Texas Tribune said "Lehmberg and other Travis County officials recused themselves from the case and are not prosecuting it" noting that the prosecutor was appointed by Bert Richardson, a "Republican judge".[11]

Response

Perry's supporters called the charges political and partisan,[12] and several Democratic commentators, including David Axelrod, Jonathan Prince, Matthew Yglesias, and Jonathan Chait have stated that they believe the charges are either weak or unwarranted.[13][14]

Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz stated that "The two statutes under which Gov. Perry was indicted are reminiscent of the old Soviet Union — you know, abuse of authority. The idea of indicting him because he threatened to veto spending unless a district attorney who was caught drinking and driving resigned, that's not anything for a criminal indictment. That's a political issue." [15] He added, "it's so important to put a stop to it now, to say the criminal law is reserved for real crimes, not for political differences where a party in power or out of power gets revenge against the other party. That's just not the way to use the criminal justice [system]."[16] On August 16, 2014, Perry called the indictment a political move and an abuse of power, and vowed to fight the charges.[17] The Texas Democratic Party asked Perry to resign.[3]

Major newspapers including The New York Times ("appears to be the product of an overzealous prosecution"), The Los Angeles Times ("the courts are the wrong place to settle political scores"), The Washington Post ("The grand jury, however, would criminalize Mr. Perry’s conduct by twisting the pertinent statutes into a pair of pretzels"), and USA Today ("Politics as usual should not be a violation of criminal law") criticized the indictment.[18][19][20][21] The Dallas Morning News editorially said that the key question for the jury to decide after hearing all the evidence is “[d]id our governor violate state law in how and why he withheld that funding?”[22]

Eugene Volokh, UCLA School of Law professor, writing in the Washington Post said that the Texas Constitution gives Perry the right to veto bills and he cannot be prosecuted for using his lawful and constitutional authority as Texas Governor.[23] Volokh said Perry's statements in the media threatening the veto are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and cited the Texas Courts of Appeals's case State v. Hansen as support for the First Amendment protection of Perry, where the court stated, "Coercion of a lawful act by a threat of lawful action is protected free expression".[23]

Other news reports, however, have highlighted the fact that that additional district attorneys in Texas, who were Republican, had also been charged with DUI's during his governorship and against whom Perry took no similar action as he directed against the Democrat, Lehmberg, of Travis county. [24] [25]

Defense

On August 19, 2014, Perry arrived at the Travis County jail where he was processed, photographed for his mug shot, finger printed, and released.[26][27] Perry pleaded not guilty, and waived arraignment.[28] On August 25, attorneys for Perry filed a writ of habeas corpus petition in state district court in Austin to dismiss the felony charges against him.[29] McCrum is to file a written response to the petition by November 7, 2014.[30]

Perry hired former Clinton White House special counsel Mark Fabiani, GOP attorney Bobby Burchfield, defense lawyer David Botsford, Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg, former Texas Supreme Court Justice Tom Phillips, and former McCain/Palin consultant Steve Schmidt to help him with legal issues and strategy around the indictment. Leading the team is Houston trial lawyer and Texas A&M University Regent Tony Buzbee.[31][32]

On September 8, 2014, in the second motion to dismiss the charges brought against the governor, lawyers for Perry referenced French King Louis XIV. Perry's lawyers stated that Perry has "no more has custody or possession of the State's general revenue funds than does any Texan. No governor can say of his or her state what the Sun King said of France: "L'etat c'est moi."[33]

On October 3, 2014, Perry's lawyers filed another motion to have the charges dismissed, arguing that Lehmberg did not file a motion to have herself recused from the case and there was never an order from a judge recusing her from the case, contrary to the requirements of Texas state law.[34] Also, Perry's lawyers argued that McCrum did not file the documentation that McCrum was required to file to take the oath of office.[34] On the oath of office form from McCrum, McCrum's signature was missing and it was signed by Judge Richardson instead of McCrum.[34] A state district judge rejected this motion to dismiss in November, while leaving all other motions to quash and writs still pending.[35]

On January 28, 2015, District Judge Bert Richardson of San Antonio again ruled that Perry's motion to quash and dismiss the indictment "does not challenge the sufficiency of the indictment." Special prosecutor Michael Crum has stated that the case is stronger than it may outwardly appear, and that it should be heard by a jury.[36]

Aftermath

In a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) in Iowa a week after the indictment, Perry’s net favorability rating among Republicans went up 7 percentage points.[37]

Mugshot photo

A Political Action Committee supporting Perry, RickPAC, used Perry's mugshot on a US$25 T-shirt to raise money, the front featuring Perry’s mugshot with a stamp that says "WANTED for securing the border and defeating Democrats", and on the back featuring Lehmberg’s mugshot with the caption "GUILTY for driving while intoxicated and perversion of justice."[38][39][40] The mugshot went viral when it was released and people added their own touches and overlays to the photo in social media.[41]

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Benjy Sarlin (August 12, 2014). "Rick Perry indicted for abuse of power by grand jury". MSNBC. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Texas Gov. Rick Perry indicted for alleged abuse of power in veto dispute". Fox News. October 1, 2006. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Manny Fernandez (August 15, 2014). "Gov. Rick Perry of Texas Is Indicted on Charge of Abuse of Power". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ed Espinoza (August 18, 2014). "Rick Perry's Inconvenient History With Republicans Charged with Drunk Driving". Progress Texas. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ Peggy Fikac (August 17, 2014). "Perry case built with staffers, lawmakers". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  7. ↑ Nolan Hicks (April 24, 2014). "Perry aides offered Lehmberg a job for resignation". MySanAntonio. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  8. ↑ Laurel Brubaker Calkins (August 21, 2014). "Perry lawyers dispute links between charges, ethics probe". Bloomberg News. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ Maeve Reston (August 21, 2014). "Rick Perry's lawyers accuse Democrats of pushing a 'red herring'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  10. ↑ Schladen, Marty. "Texas Gov. Rick Perry booked on two felony counts". El Paso Times. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Root, Jay. "Five Things to Know About Perry Indictment". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Texas Gov. Rick Perry is indicted". LA times. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Perry indicted". Washington Post. August 15, 2014.
  14. ↑ Colin Campbell (August 16, 2014). "Even Liberals Think The Indictment Of Rick Perry Looks Weak". Business Insider. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ Wanda Carruthers (August 18, 2014). "Dershowitz: Perry Indictment 'What Happens in Totalitarian Societies'". Newsmax. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  16. ↑ ABA Journal Dershowitz: Gov. Perry’s indictment is an example of ‘criminalization of party differences’ , By Debra Cassens Weiss Aug 18, 2014 7:56 AM CDT
  17. ↑ "Governor Rick Perry vows to fight charge". Texas Guardian. August 16, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  18. ↑ Is Gov. Rick Perry’s Bad Judgment Really a Crime? The New York Times, By THE EDITORIAL BOARD, AUG. 18, 2014
  19. ↑ "Rick Perry indictment: Politicians' spats don't belong in courts". LA Times. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  20. ↑ Board, Editorial. "The wrong-headed case against Texas Gov. Rick Perry". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  21. ↑ The Editorial Board (2014-08-14). "Rick Perry's flimsy indictment: Our view". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  22. ↑ "Editorial: Rick Perry case deserves fullest, fairest hearing". Dallas News. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Eugene Volokh (August 20, 2014). "Another way of thinking about the problems with the Rick Perry indictment". Washington Post. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  24. ↑ Christy Hoppe (20 August 2014). "Travis DA’s drunken-driving arrest riled Perry; others’ didn’t". Dallas Morning News.
  25. ↑ Christy Hoppe (16 November 2014). "Perry promoted aide with three alcohol offenses on record". Dallas Morning News.
  26. ↑ "'We Will Prevail:' Gov. Perry Turns Himself In At Travis County Jail". Retrieved 2014-09-09.
  27. ↑ "Gov. Rick Perry surrenders to Travis County Jail". Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  28. ↑ Fikac, Peggy. "News Perry pleads not guilty, heads out of state". My San Antonio. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  29. ↑ Weber, Paul. "Rick Perry Attorneys Want Indictment Dismissed". The Huffington Post Post. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  30. ↑ Montgomery, David. "Texas Governor’s Lawyers Seek Dismissal of Abuse-of-Power Case". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  31. ↑ "Steve Schmidt joins Rick Perry's legal team". Politico. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  32. ↑ http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/18/perrys-attorneys-address-indictment/
  33. ↑ Forsyth, Jim. "Texas Governor Perry's lawyers invoke Louis XIV to dismiss charges". Reuters. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Langford, Terri (October 3, 2014). "Perry Lawyers: McCrum Wasn't Properly Sworn In". Texas Tribune (Austin, Texas). Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  35. ↑ Sara Fischer (19 November 2014). "Judge rules he won't dismiss Rick Perry case over paperwork technicality". CNN.
  36. ↑ "Judge refuses to toss out Rick Perry charges". USA Today. 27 January 2015.
  37. ↑ "Poll: Perry favorability up among Iowa Republicans amid indictment". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  38. ↑ "Rick Perry's PAC sells Perry mugshot t-shirt". KDFX Fox.
  39. ↑ Bender, Michael. "Texas Governor Rick Perry sells mugshot T-shirts". The Sidney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  40. ↑ Brad Knickerbocker (23 August 2014). "Why is Rick Perry touting his own indictment mug shot? (+video)". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  41. ↑ "Rick Perry's mug shot quickly transforms into an Internet meme". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 August 2014.

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