Only one felony charge stands against Rick Perry

[Draggingtree]

Legal Insurrection: Only one felony charge stands against Rick Perry

Posted by Amy Miller Monday, July 27, 2015 at 10:00am

 

One down, one to go

 

Score one for the good guys—an appeals court in Texas has dropped one of two felony charges currently pending against former governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry.

 

Last August, a grand jury indicted Perry on two separate counts of abuse of power and coercion of a public servant after it was revealed that Perry used his veto power to address corruption in the Travis County District Attorney’s office. Perry’s political opponents cried intimidation, and managed push forward with the case.

 

Earlier this year, Perry’s team suffered a setback when an attempt to get the entire indictment dismissed proved futile; but last week, Perry scored a win on appeal, and overcame count 2—the coercion charge.

 

The court cited the First Amendment right to free speech in their opinion, saying that “[t]he statute on which the ‘coercion of a public servant’ is based, as written, and as we are bound to construe it, violates the First Amendment and, accordingly, cannot be enforced.”

You can read Legal Insurrection’s coverage of Rick Perry here.

[Draggingtree]

Perry Lawyers Ask Appeals Court to Dismiss Last Charge

 

by Patrick Svitek Aug. 18, 2015 23Comments

 

Lawyers for former Gov. Rick Perry are asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to throw out the remaining count in the indictment against him.

FULL STORY

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/18/perry-asks-court-criminal-appeals-toss-last-count/