DeLay Conspiracy Charge Thrown Out

June 27, 2007 --The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled today that they agreed with lower courts and upheld the quash of the conspiracy indictment against former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle investigated DeLay for three years before the sixth of six grand juries indicted DeLay for conspiracy to violate the election code. This indictment against DeLay forced him step down as Majority Leader because of an internal Republican conference rule. The Democrats have no similar rule.

It took a three-year investigation to get this one conspiracy charge against DeLay and it was handed down days before the expiration of the statute of limitations and the same day that the current grand jury considering the case was to expire. When that indictment came down on Wednesday September 27, 2005, DeLay's lawyer immediately filed a motion for an immediate quash because he knew there was no such law on the books -- that it was a made up indictment on a made up law. Earle then panicked and went grand jury shopping that weekend to get more indictments. The first jury handed a no bill and refused to indict. Visibly enraged, Earle went through two more juries before he got two indictments of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money after just five hours of hearing testimony. These indictments are the only two pending charges. Read more.

This is what Tom DeLay said at the time of the indictment in 2005.

"'I have done nothing wrong," DeLay said. 'I have violated no law, no regulation, no rule of the House. I have done nothing unlawful, unethical, or unprecedented, even in the campaigns of Mr. Earle himself.'

"DeLay said the indictment is 'one of the weakest, most baseless indictments in American history. It is a sham, and Mr. Earle knows it.'"

Well Earle knows it now because the highest court said so.

Let's also not forget that the jury foreman which handed up the first indictment (and thrown out yesterday) went on record in a radio interview at the time saying he didn't even look at the evidence in the Grand Jury room, that he didn't need to because he was mad that some political ads were produced by a whole different organization.

What?

Can we say, NIFONG?

Here is the partial transcript of the radio interview with William Gibson, the grand jury foreman: KLBJ radio on 10/05/05.

The two pending indictments are still in pre-trial appeals. Democrat Judge Priest says he will not set a court date until all appeals are exhausted. One motion before Priest's court that he will take up after the appeals are settled are prosecutorial misconduct charges against Earle. Earle charging DeLay with made up laws just may come up in those motion arguments would be my guess.