Texas court dismisses charges against former governor

Texas’ highest criminal court on Wednesday dismissed the remaining felony charge against former Gov. Rick Perry in the abuse-of-power case that he blamed for his early exit from the Republican presidential race.

Henson pointed out a University of Texas poll from October 2014 that showed 42 percent of respondents – and three out of four Republicans – thought Perry was innocent of the charges, but just 12 percent said he was their first choice for president in June 2015. The charge was dismissed over concern for separation of powers under the Texas Constitution and the constitutionality of the statute under the First Amendment.

The 6-2 decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which is dominated by elected Republican judges, frees Perry from a long-running criminal case that blemished the exit of one of the most powerful Texas governors in history and hung over his second failed run for the White House.

The felony indictments against former Texas Governor Rick Perry have been dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

Mr Perry, who has twice run as a Republican presidential candidate, had been fighting the case, which he described as “unconstitutional”.

McCrum, who called the decision “tailor made for Rick Perry to get off the hook”, said he was “disheartened” but unsurprised by the outcome. 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. Perry originally faced two indictments, but one was dismissed by a lower court in July. A Travis County grand jury later indicted Perry on counts of abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public official.

Legal scholars across the political spectrum raised objections about the case. Many said Perry played hardball politics to force out county District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat, after she pleaded guilty to drunken driving. “Mr. Perry’s supporters said the charges by a grand jury in liberal Travis County were a political witch hunt and amounted to the criminalization of ordinary hardball politics”.

Perry had vetoed the $7.5 million in financing for the unit, stating that he could not support giving money to “an office with statewide jurisdiction at a time when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public’s confidence”. Perry’s successor Greg Abbott and the Texas legislature needs to look into reforming the legal system to keep politically motivated prosecutors from gaming the system and targeting political opponents.