AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – As courtroom twists go, this one is practically unheard-of: On the brink of bringing Texas’ attorney general, Ken Paxton, to trial on felony securities fraud charges, the government’s prosecutors are threatening to bail out of the case unless they get paid.
Whether one of the biggest criminal cases in Texas finally goes before a jury is now in limbo over what prosecutors contend is a deliberate effort by rich supporters of Paxton, an up-and-coming firebrand in Republican legal circles, to delay justice by challenging their paychecks. So far, the tactic is working.
Paxton, who was a state lawmaker and investor on the side before being elected attorney general two years ago, was indicted for allegedly steering investors to a technology startup in 2011 without disclosing that he was being paid by the company.
A judge appointed two high-profile Houston attorneys to prosecute the case after the district attorney, a Paxton ally, recused himself. The trial is scheduled to start May 1, and the judge said Wednesday he will issue a ruling Thursday on whether to postpone the trial. He also told both sides to stop making comments to the media. Paxton’s lawyers declined comment as they left the court Wednesday.
Supporters of Paxton have made an issue of the $300-an-hour fees being charged by the special prosecutors, who are paid by the Dallas suburban county where the trial will be held. A three-judge panel of a Dallas appeals court agreed to halt payments on the $200,000 in legal bills while it considers a lawsuit filed by Jeff Blackard, a wealthy Dallas developer and onetime Paxton political donor, who has argued that the fees were excessive and costing taxpayers too much.
“Everyone in the courtroom is being paid except for us,” one of the appointed prosecutors, Brian Wice, has said. “No one expected us to work for free.”
Firing back, Paxton’s attorneys earlier this month accused prosecutors of being “financially self-serving” and argued they don’t have a right to be paid until the case is over. As of last year, Paxton had raised more than $300,000 from private sources to pay his own high-powered defense team.
(Copyright 2016. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
