Text 16070, 93 rader
Skriven 2005-11-02 05:25:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Judge
=============
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,174129,00.html

Judge Removed from DeLay Case 
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
  
AUSTIN, Texas — A new judge will preside over the conspiracy case 
against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, after a motion 
was granted Tuesday to remove the appointed judge because of his 
donations to Democrat causes. 

Retired Judge C.W. "Bud" Duncan (search) granted the motion without 
comment. The case now goes back to Administrative Judge B.B. Schraub, 
who will pick the new judge.

Attorneys for DeLay had filed a motion to recuse Judge Bob Perkins 
(search) from presiding over the case, citing records that he had 
contributed to several Democratic candidates and organizations.

"The public perception of Judge Perkins' activities shows him to be on 
opposite sides of the political fence than Tom DeLay," said Dick 
DeGuerin, an attorney for DeLay, during opening statements.

Perkins, a Democrat, refused to testify in the hearing. His actions were 
called into question by DeLay's attorneys based on contributions to Sen. 
John Kerry (search), D-Mass., a former Democratic presidential candidate 
and to the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org.

Prosecutor Rick Reed countered the defense argument, saying DeLay had to 
prove that a member of the public would have a "reasonable doubt that 
the judge is impartial" before Perkins would be taken off the case.

"Judges are presumed to be impartial," Reed said.

If Perkins was left as the presiding judge, it could create an 
impression and public perception that he could not be fair, defense 
attorneys said.

Richard Keeton, an attorney for DeLay, said in closing arguments that 
too many unanswered questions remain even without putting Perkins on the 
stand to explain his contributions to Democrats.

"We don't have Perkins' testimony ... all we have is numbers of 
donations he made," Keeton said.

Since Perkins avoided taking the stand to address the motion, "those 
facts ring loud," Keeton added.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle (search), who is leading 
the investigation into DeLay's campaign finance activities, responded at 
the end of the hearing to the defense team's comments that it was a 
"political case."

"This is not a political case; this is a criminal case," Earle said. 
"Mr. DeLay stands charged with a felony."

DeLay was required to step down from his top GOP post after being 
indicted in a state fund-raising case where he allegedly helped give 
corporate campaign money to Republican candidates for the Texas 
Legislature. Texas law does not allow the direct use of corporate money 
for campaigning.

The hearing lasted more than four hours with DeLay sitting in the front 
row with his wife and aides behind defense attorneys. He often smiled 
and occasionally chuckled when Democrats said negative things about him 
in their testimony.

Once a new judge is appointed for DeLay's trial, the defense team will 
push for a hearing on their motion for change of venue, DeGuerin told 
reporters.

Judges are elected in Texas and are free to contribute to candidates and 
political parties. DeGuerin said no one contended Perkins did anything 
wrong, but "to protect the integrity" of the judicial system, he could 
not preside over a trial for someone to whom he was opposed politically.

"We got a fair hearing. We had a judge that listened to both sides. This 
will engender respect for the judiciary," DeGuerin said.

Perkins has been taken off of cases in the past. He voluntarily stepped 
aside in a 1994 case against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (search), who was 
later acquitted of misconduct charges. Perkins had contributed $300 to 
Hutchison's political opponent.

Delay's lawyers cited 34 contributions Perkins has made to Democrats 
since 2000. Perkins has said that his contributions to MoveOn.org were 
made before it launched its anti-DeLay campaign. Prosecutors also argued 
that DeLay's attorneys counted six of the contributions twice.

FOX News' Molly Hooper and The Associated Press contributed to this 
report.

--- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 10
 * Origin:  (1:226/600)