A Texas judge yesterday denied throwing out the two felony counts of abuse of power filed in August against Texas Gov. Rick Perry, reported The Huffington Post. The governor’s numerous attempts to avoid accountability have gotten stonewalled each time.
Perry’s legal defense team has been trying to get District Judge Bert Richardson to throw out the two felony charges on the basis that Perry’s special prosecutor, Michael McCrum, “wasn’t properly sworn in and some paperwork” was incorrectly filed. However, Judge Richardson, who is a Republican, still sided with McCrum, said the HuffPo.
Last month, a Texas grand jury indicted Gov. Perry on felony charges of abuse of power and coercion. The charges concern a Democratic district attorney, who directed a public corruption task force, was convicted of drunk driving. Perry cut funding from the task force after the DA refused to resign from her position as director.
Perry’s defense team says the governor’s actions are protected and constitutional. When McCrum stated that Perry should be treated equally as any other suspected criminal, Perry’s defense team took issue. The defense counsel seems apt to treating Gov. Perry as if the he is above the law, despite them saying otherwise.
“This invalid prosecution cannot go to trial – not because Governor Perry is above the law, but because everything he is accused of in this case is absolutely protected,” they said.
If that’s true, why is it that Perry tried to postpone a court hearing simply because he had plans to go out of town? If an ordinary person tried to postpone a criminal court hearing because of an upcoming trip, the judge would laugh and deny the request. Even if the defense team doesn’t think Perry is above the law, the governor himself thinks he is.
Perry is “asking for special favors, and as far as I’m concerned, he’s not entitled to it. I don’t think there’s any reason why Mr. Perry should be treated any differently from any other citizen who’s required to be in court,” said McCrum. “I’ve never seen a defendant make such a mockery of our system of justice.”
Perry has even resorted to threatening the grand jury members who initially filed the indictment. Shortly after the indictment was initially filed, Perry said “this farce of a prosecution will be revealed for what it is, and those responsible will be held accountable.” This issue is clearly personal matter for the governor, as is the action that prompted the indictment.
That Judge Richardson will continue to hear this case indicates that the arguments made by the grand jury and prosecution showed strong evidence against Perry. The governor is not above the law nor should he continue acting like he is.
