|
 Perry, seen as a possible Republican candidate in the 2016
presidential race, has said he was within his rights as governor in
vetoing funds for a county prosecutor, a veto that resulted in the
two felony charges being laid against him.
"Reasonable people can disagree on the political tactics employed by
both Governor Perry and his opponents. But to turn political
disagreement into criminal prosecution is disturbing," said the
amicus brief filed at a court in Austin by more than a dozen
lawyers.
"Both counts of the indictment are unconstitutional and must be
dismissed," said the brief, whose signers included Kenneth Starr,
the independent counsel who investigated Democratic President Bill
Clinton, and Paul Coggins, a former U.S. attorney appointed by
Clinton.
The longest-serving governor in the state's history, Perry became
the target of an ethics investigation last year after he vetoed $7.5
million in funding for the state public integrity unit run from the
district attorney's office in Travis County, a Democratic stronghold
in the heavily Republican state.
 Perry's veto was widely viewed as intended to force the resignation
of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat,
after she had pleaded guilty to drunken driving.
Perry was indicted in August by a grand jury in Travis County over
his funding veto for the ethics watchdog, which has investigated
prominent Texas Republicans. He was charged with abuse of official
capacity, a first-degree felony that can bring up to 99 years in
prison, and coercion of a public official, a third-degree felony.
[to top of second column] |
The special prosecutor in the Perry case, Michael McCrum, has said
the grand jury found probable cause that Perry acted improperly in
trying to force out a democratically elected official from office.
Perry made his first court appearance in the case last week for a
pretrial hearing, where his lawyers sought to have the charges
dropped.
Perry did not seek re-election this month as he tests the waters for
another presidential run. He dropped out of a gaffe-filled campaign
for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination but has been
attempting a political comeback.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth in
San Antonio; Editing by Eric Beech)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
