DeLay's Judge Withholds Dismissal Ruling; No Speedy Trial Seen

[sabra]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a1ez31AdMxwI&refer=top_world_news

DeLay's Judge Withholds Dismissal Ruling; No Speedy Trial Seen

Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The Texas judge presiding over the money-laundering trial of U.S. Representative Tom DeLay withheld a decision on a motion to dismiss the charges and said if the trial goes forward, it probably wouldn't be until next year.

That timetable could dash Republican DeLay's hopes of returning to his post as House majority leader, a job he temporarily surrendered after he was indicted in September.

Judge Pat Priest gave no indication when he will rule on the motion by DeLay's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, to dismiss the charges.

``Last night, I thought it would be easy to come in and make a ruling today,'' Priest said in Travis County District Court in Austin, Texas, with DeLay present. ``But after hearing the arguments, I don't think it will be an easy decision.''

[NanceGreggs]

1. House to DeLay ...

"BUH-BYE!"

[LSparkle]

2. HA! Watch out what you wish for, Bug Man ...

You can perhaps have a change of venue ... but now the trial may be taking place during the '06 elections. HAHAHAHHAA!

[The Witch]

3. judge is stalling to get scanlon's testimony in?

hurry, georgy, pardon quick or delay's in biiiig trouble.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Tsk tsk. What a shame. The trial could jeopardize Delay's job.

From the article:

``I doubt we will get this case to trial before the first of the year,'' Priest said.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have said they may want to elect a permanent replacement for DeLay as majority leader if the trial drags into 2006. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, said he would hold elections in January if members request it, and Representative Zach Wamp of Tennessee has expressed interest in a leadership post.
(snip)

Zach Wamp!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. They basically gave him until January to resolve it from the beginning

This snip is from a September 29th article.

Still, hints surfaced of a power struggle in the near future. Several House Republicans said the power-sharing arrangement is a short-term solution, but it won't be practical for the start of the new congressional session in January.

''If this issue is not resolved by January, we need to have I think a more permanent resolution," said Representative Dave Weldon, Republican of Florida. ''Once we get beyond January, we may need to actually have an election."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/29/delay_is_indicted_leaves_post/?page=2

It's beginning to appear that Tom DeLay will indeed be replaced.

[BrotherBuzz]

7. And GOP Representatives riding on DeLay's coattails are in a pinch...

California's 4th district is just one race/seat that could flip. Doolittle (R) has the seat but he made an ass of himself when he handed out hammer pins to other congresspeople to show solidarity for DeLay, plus Doolittle is on record as very hawkish towards the Iraq (Bush*) war. Charlie Brown (D) (yep, that's his real name) is challenging him and would be foolish to not make the connection of the closeness to DeLay. Brown is retired Air Force intel officer and very anti-war. I want to think this is just one of dozens of races that could spell disaster for the pugs.

[Oceansaway]

6. Hooray !!!

[Inland]

8. Delay files motion, judge takes time to hear it, trial delayed. Simple.

Delay can't have both a speedy trial and load up the court on dispositive motions.

By the time Delay gets a ruling, he'll be indicted on something else. Wait and see.

[JudyM]

9. Not as easy a decision as the judge anticipated - because not enough evid?

Or because he had anticipating dismissing it, which seems less likely. I don't necessarily think this is good news.

[DeepModem Mom]

10. WP: Court Decision on DeLay Case Postponed (sought dismissal)

Court Decision on DeLay Case Postponed
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 22, 2005; 3:18 PM

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) went to court in his home state today to seek dismissal of the conspiracy and money laundering charges against him, but the judge in the case declined to issue an immediate ruling.

Senior Judge Pat Priest, who was recently appointed to preside over the case, did not specify when he would rule on the motion to dismiss and said that if a trial were to go ahead, it would not start before the end of the year. The statement came as a setback to DeLay's hopes of quickly regaining his post in the GOP leadership.

In a hearing in Austin, Priest said he wanted to read written responses from both sides before ruling on the defense motion to dismiss the case.

DeLay, 58, appeared in Travis County Criminal District Court before Priest, who was appointed to judge the case after DeLay's attorneys objected to the original district judge assigned to it. The defense said the first judge, Bob Perkins, should recuse himself because of his political contributions to Democratic candidates and causes, donations that totaled more than $5,000 over five years. Like Perkins, Priest, 63, is a Democrat, but his political contributions have been much smaller -- a total of $450 last year to three Democratic candidates for the state legislature.

DeLay's lead attorney, Dick DeGuerin, argued today that the case should be thrown out in part because conspiracy did not exist in 2002 as a crime under the Texas election code. A prosecutor, Rick Reed, disputed that, contending that state law has long defined conspiracy as an agreement to commit any felony, the Associated Press reported....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112200318.html

[cassiepriam]

12. What does the judge mean he thought it would be an easy decision?

[amber dog democrat]

11. Just taking him out of the game and into the penalty box

has been priceless. Looks like he is in from some frustrating times.

I savor these moments. Its not doing much to keep their legeslation from getting derailed either.

[0007]

13. more from the same article

In seeking a dismissal, DeGuerin has charged misconduct by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who obtained the indictments. On Nov. 17, DeGuerin subpoenaed members of a grand jury to testify. Earle's filings the same day denied the allegations, saying he didn't try to influence the grand jury.

``At the time the violations are alleged to have occurred, the crime of criminal conspiracy did not apply to violations of the Texas election code,'' DeLay's lawyers argued in filings.

DeGuerin wants a trial, if it is to occur, in a more Republican-friendly venue. In 2004, Travis County, which includes Austin, supported Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, while Fort Bend voters backed President George W. Bush, a Republican like DeLay.