Travis County DA Ronnie Earle will get one more crack at having the conspiracy charge against Tom DeLay reinstated as the Court of Criminal Appeals will hear his request.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to hear oral arguments in the case. Had the high court rejected an appeal from prosecutors, DeLay's criminal case would have returned to state district court for trial.DeLay was indicted along with two associates last year on charges of conspiring to violate the election law, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering as a result of a campaign finance investigation run by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.
State District Judge Pat Priest threw out the election law charge, agreeing with DeLay's lawyers that the statute was passed after DeLay's alleged activities in the 2002 elections.
The Third Court of Appeals upheld Priest's ruling but said Earle made some compelling arguments in favor of reinstating the charges. But the three-judge panel said reinstating the charges would require the Court of Criminal Appeals to overturn some rulings in other cases.
That prompted Earle to take the case to the all-Republican appellate court.
No date for oral arguments was set.
Were we writing on a clean slate, the State's argument would carry considerable weight because Texas has had a generally applicable conspiracy offense since the nineteenth century. However, we are bound by controlling precedent that limits the applicability of the penal code's conspiracy provision to offenses found within the penal code.