[Mb-civic] DeLay's Lawyer to Ask Court for Early December Trial Date - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

DeLay's Lawyer to Ask Court for Early December Trial Date

Associated Press
Tuesday, November 15, 2005; Page A02

AUSTIN, Nov. 14 -- An attorney for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said Monday 
that he will request an early December trial date for the former House 
majority leader, if the case gets that far.

Lawyer Dick DeGuerin said in a letter that "time is of the essence" in 
the case that has forced DeLay to temporarily step down from his House post.

Judge Pat Priest has set a hearing for next Tuesday to consider requests 
to drop the charges against DeLay and his co-defendants. Defense 
attorneys have asked that the charges be dropped for various reasons, 
including alleged misconduct by a prosecutor.

"Should the indictments survive the hearings of November 22, we will 
request a trial date in early December," DeGuerin wrote in his letter to 
Priest.

DeGuerin is also asking that Priest, a visiting judge, move the trial 
out of liberal-leaning Travis County to DeLay's home county of Fort Bend.

DeLay and two of his associates are charged with criminal conspiracy and 
money laundering in the case, which stems from fundraising and spending 
in the 2002 Texas legislative races.

Corporate donations were allegedly routed through DeLay's Texas 
political action committee to the national Republican Party, which then 
gave nearly the same amount to seven Texas House candidates. Use of 
corporate donations for direct campaign expenditures is illegal in Texas.

The Washington Post reported last week that DeLay tried unsuccessfully 
in late September to head off felony criminal indictments by signaling 
that DeLay might plead guilty to a misdemeanor, according to four 
sources familiar with the events.

The lawyers' principal aim was to preserve DeLay's leadership position 
under House Republican rules that bar lawmakers accused of felonies from 
holding such posts. DeLay was forced to step down as majority leader 
Sept. 28, after the first of two grand jury indictments.

The last-minute negotiations between the lawyers and Texas prosecutor 
Ronnie Earle were arranged after DeLay made what Earle considered a 
seriously damaging admission about his fundraising activities during an 
Aug. 17 meeting with the prosecutor in Austin.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/14/AR2005111401264.html?nav=hcmodule
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