Perry booked on felony with 'head held high'

Texas Governor Rick Perry goes through the process of being booked for felony charges at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin on August 20, 2014. Texas Governor Rick Perry goes through the process of being booked for felony charges at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin on August 20, 2014. Photo: TOM REEL Photo: TOM REEL Image 1 of / 81 Caption Close Perry booked on felony with 'head held high' 1 / 81 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry has been booked at the Travis County Courthouse Complex, where he maintained that he did the right thing despite being accused of abusing his power.

The Republican governor made remarks before and after being booked Tuesday afternoon around 5 p.m., but he did not answer media questions.

Earlier, Perry was greeted by cheers and chants as he approached the courthouse before heading in to be booked on the felony indictment issued last week.

“I'm here today because I believe in the rule of law. I'm here today because I did the right thing. I'm going to enter this courthouse with my head held high knowing that the actions that I took were not only lawful and legal but right,” Perry said.

One in the crowd shouted, “We love you.”

The case stems from Perry's threat last year to veto funding for a public corruption unit overseen by Democratic Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg unless she resigned in the wake of a messy drunken-driving arrest and guilty plea.

Lehmberg stayed in office after serving jail time. The Republican governor vetoed the money for the Public Integrity Unit, saying she had lost the public's confidence.

Texans for Public Justice, a liberal government accountability group, filed a complaint against Perry, saying he was wrong to use his power to try to force out a locally elected official.

The veto threat came as the Public Integrity Unit was looking into cases including a scandal at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, whose creation was championed by Perry.

Perry was indicted Friday on one count of abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison, and one count of coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony carrying a punishment of two to 10 years in prison. Perry and his lawyers have called the indictment outrageous, saying he acted properly.

His team has spotlighted a video showing Lehmberg behaving belligerently after her arrest and being restrained, both at a news conference by his lawyers and in a video by his political action committee, RickPAC.