Judge rejects Gov. Rick Perry's effort to dump indictment on technicality

With a backstory as rich as an episode of "House of Cards," the Rick Perry indictment can be a challenging case to keep up with. With a backstory as rich as an episode of "House of Cards," the Rick Perry indictment can be a challenging case to keep up with. Photo: San Antonio Express-News Photo: San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Judge rejects Gov. Rick Perry's effort to dump indictment on technicality 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN —Senior Judge Bert Richardson on Tuesday denied Gov. Rick Perry’s effort to get the criminal indictment against him thrown out on technical grounds.

Perry lawyers had tried disqualify the special prosecutor and invalidate his actions in the case, effectively negating the two-count felony indictment charging that the Republican governor abused his authority to try to force out the Travis County prosecutor.

The Perry lawyers said special prosecutor Michael McCrum’s oath of office should have been signed by him. It instead was signed by Richardson, who is overseeing the case.

In addition, they said McCrum’s actions were invalidated because he was supposed to sign and file an anti-bribery statement before taking his oath, and that order was reversed.

Richardson overruled the Perry team’s objection, saying that "the actions taken by Michael McCrum … are valid."

Perry attorney Tony Buzbee told the San Antonio Express-News he is confident Perry will prevail and "expect(s) a favorable ruling by the end of November."

"We respectfully disagree with the judge, but as always, will respect the court’s decisions and will await his further rulings that go to the heart of the Constitution and Governor Perry’s rights and obligations under the Rule of Law," he said.

McCrum said, "I intend to keep working very hard on this matter that's important to the citizens of Travis County and the state of Texas."

The technical objections are part of a bigger effort by Perry’s team to get rid of the indictment accusing him of abusing his power to try to force out Democratic Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.

Perry, who’s considering a 2016 presidential run, last year threatened to veto funding for a public corruption unit overseen by Lehmberg unless she resigned after a messy drunken-driving arrest and guilty plea.

Lehmberg stayed in office after serving jail time, and Perry cut the funding. He said Lehmberg had lost the public’s confidence.

Texans for Public Justice filed the criminal complaint that led to Perry’s indictment.

The government accountability group didn’t question Perry’s right to veto the funding, but said the governor was wrong to use his power to try to force out a locally elected official.

A grand jury indicted Perry on Aug. 15 on two counts: abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison; and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony carrying a punishment of two to 10 years in prison. Perry repeatedly has declared that he was properly exercising his power as governor.

Richardson's Tuesday ruling addressed only the technical objections raised by Perry's team. He still is considering other objections to the indictment.

pfikac@express-news.net

Twitter: @pfikac