Paxton’s special prosecutors want criminal case delayed until they are paid

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leaves the 177th District Court, after at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, Thursday, June 29, 2017, in Houston. Paxton is facing two counts of felony securities fraud, and a lesser felony charge of failing to register as an insurance adviser with the state. less Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leaves the 177th District Court, after at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, Thursday, June 29, 2017, in Houston. Paxton is facing two counts of felony securities ... more Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Paxton’s special prosecutors want criminal case delayed until they are paid 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Special prosecutors assigned to build a criminal case against Attorney General Ken Paxton are asking for a second time that a judge delay the trial until they can be paid.

The special prosecutors made the request on Thursday at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center as they and Paxton's legal defense team met Judge Robert Johnson for the first time since the case was moved out of Paxton's home base of Collin County.

A team of three special prosecutors are owed $205,000 in back pay from 2016, but the commissioners court in Collin County has refused to sign off the payments in light of a lawsuit filed by a Paxton ally who says the payments exceed the county's local cap on attorneys' fees.

Whether the special prosecutors are paid is an issue now before the 5th Court of Appeals. Any decision by the court will likely be appealed to the Criminal Court of Appeals, potentially stretching into the fall.

"We haven't been paid in 18 months," Brian Wice, one of three special prosecutors assigned to Paxton's case, said to the judge in arguing to temporarily defer scheduling the trial.

"Not my dog, not my problem," responded Dan Cogdell, one of Paxton's criminal defense attorneys. "Mr. Paxton has the right to a trial ... a speedy trial."

The prosecutors' payments first wound up in the court in lawsuits filed by Jeffory Blackard, a real estate developer and Paxton ally who argues the special prosecutors' pay rate of $300 per hour exceeds the county's cap on fees.

The Collin County Commissioners Court has since voted not to pay the special prosecutors and have filed a writ of mandamus with the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas.

Judge George Gallagher, a Tarrant County judge who was overseeing the case when proceedings were held in Collin County, denied the special prosecutors' motion to delay the trial until payment issues were resolved. However, the special prosecutors got a delay anyway when Gallagher decided to move the case to Harris County.

Paxton is charged with two counts of felony securities fraud for convincing members of his investment group to sink money into a North Texas technology company without disclosing he would make a commission. He also faces a lesser felony charge of failing to register as an insurance adviser with the state.

Paxton maintains his innocence and contends he is the victim of political retribution.

Escorted by seven officers from the sheriff's office, Paxton walked into the courtroom holding hands with his wife, Angela.

Johnson, the judge for the 177th State District Court, asked both parties to submit procedural timelines of the case by July 7 and to return to court for another hearing on July 27.

The hearing marks the first time Paxton and many of the attorneys on both sides of the case have meet Judge Johnson, a newly-elected jurist assigned to oversee the high-profile case two weeks ago.

The trial date has changed twice in recent months amid legal wrangling. Paxton was to go to trial in May before his previous judge moved the trial to Harris County and set a September trial date. That judge has since been removed from the case after losing jurisdiction to continue presiding, leading to the appointment of the new judge.