All eyes are on a Travis County courtroom, as Texas Governor, Rick Perry, makes his first pre-trial court appearance. The Governor’s attorneys are attempting a number of legal maneuvers, hoping to have the criminal abuse of power charges against their client dropped.
Gov. Rick Perry was indicted on the criminal charges of coercion and abuse of power, related to his threat of vetoing the state budget for the Texas public integrity unit, unless the person heading it up stepped down.
But inside the Austin courtroom, it wasn’t the Governor who was facing the heat and being questioned about his actions, it was the special prosecutor assigned to the case. Perry’s attorneys argued that San Antonio attorney, Michael McCrum, did not sign an oath of office after being sworn in, making his actions invalid.
“I’m not hiding from that fact, I’m not ashamed of that fact. The point is that I have the authority, that I took the oath and I’m proceeding forward,” said McCrum
They also questioned the Travis County district clerk assigned the case for created a special number and case file, similar to how former Congressman Tom Delay’s criminal case was handled.
Tony Buzbee is the lead attorney for Perry's legal team.
"This has been a comedy errors from start until now and I’m just here to tell you it’s not funny. This case should have never been brought, it should not proceed any further than this and Governor Perry should go about his business of governing the state.”, said Buzbee.
The Travis County Clerk assigned to organize and track Perry’s case, told the court that she had created a special number for the Governor’s file as a housekeeping measure, because it is a high-profile case which already has a large number of pre-trial motions.
The pre-trial hearing is the first time the Governor has appeared inside a criminal courtroom.
“The special prosecutor’s actions in this legal process are not valid due to multiple failures to comply with constitutional and statutory requirements,” said Perry.
Judge Richardson told attorneys he could provide them with an answer on the motion to dismiss now, but he expected Perry’s attorneys had more paperwork they wanted to have on file with the court before that decision was made. He also told them they could appeal his decision if they weren’t happy.
The judge is expected to decide whether to dismiss the case based on this argument by early next week.
