August 06, 2007
Reconsidering the motion to reconsider

I've expressed before my skepticism that Travis county DA Ronnie Earle's request that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reconsider its decision to let stand the dismissal of the conspiracy charge against Tom DeLay would come to anything, but Paul Burka just about has me convinced that there is a fighting chance.


Motions for rehearing are always longshots. But the Court's reasoning in the original Moore and Baker cases was so flawed, and the potential policy repercussions of tying the state's hands in conspiracy prosecutions are so serious, and the argument that the change of law in the Lomax case did not violate the defendant's right to fair notice is so sound, and the margin in the first case was so narrow, that the motion for rehearing has a better chance than most of being granted.

Read the whole thing and see if you don't think so, too. By the way, if you haven't seen it, the State Prosecuting Attorney's brief is here (PDF); thanks to RG Ratcliffe for the link.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 06, 2007 to Scandalized!
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