Texas court clears ex-Gov. Rick Perry of 2nd felony charge

On Wednesday, Perry foes were quick to bash the ruling.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the dismissal of that charge in a 6-2 ruling, but reversed an appellate determination that the government could continue to prosecute an abuse of power count against Perry. Perry was indicted for threatening – and then carrying out – a 2013 veto of state funding for public corruption prosecutors after the Democratic head of the unit refused to resign.

In July of a year ago, a state appeals court dismissed the other charge against Perry, which alleged that he engaged in coercion of a public servant when he threatened to veto state funding for the department as a result of the incident. Although it didn’t stop him from launching a brief second presidential bid, he pointed to the indictments as factors in his failure to gain traction as a candidate.

A grand jury investigation ended in August 2014 with Perry’s indictment.

Additionally, Perry stated that prosecutors merely use the court to influence the results of the elections.

“The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals tossed out decades of precedent to grant a special privilege to Rick Perry, allowing him to escape a trial before any evidence against him was heard”, he said.

Perry was accused of using his veto power to threaten a public official and overstepping his authority, but the judges ruled that courts can’t undermine the veto power of a governor. But his second White House campaign lasted barely three months, and Perry formally dropped out of the race in September. In tossing out the criminal charge of abuse of official capacity, the Court of Criminal Appeals’ said that “the mere act of vetoing legislation” is not a crime under any state law. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today all wrote op-eds denouncing the prosecution’s case as weak and politically motivated. Texans for Public Justice, a left-leaning watchdog group that filed the original criminal complaint that led to the indictment, said Perry was handed a “gift” based on his stature.

Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history, made just one court appearance in the case and was defiant from the start — he went out for ice cream after turning himself in for booking at an Austin jail, and smiled wide for his mug shot. A potential 10-year prison term was at stake.