HOUSTON -– A Texas Court of Appeals in Austin has overturned the conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, attorney Brian Wice told KVUE sister station KHOU 11 News.
DeLay, 66, was convicted in 2010 for his alleged role in a scheme to influence Texas elections.
He was found guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering after he was accused of helping funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.
Former Rep. Tom DeLay said not much changed after a Texas appeals court overturned his conviction Thursday and acquitted him of charges he violated campaign finance laws — except that he will have a key constitutional right restored.
“I can get my concealed weapon license back,” he told reporters at the Capitol.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
He was acquitted of all charges.
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He was convicted in January 2011 and sentenced to three years in prison but was free on bail while appealing his conviction, which was overturned on 19 September, 2013, with a ruling that "the evidence in the case was 'legally insufficient to sustain DeLay’s convictions.'"
I am not a lawyer. This is NOT legal advice.! Nothing tempers idealism quite like the cold bath of reality.... SQLGeek
Always a good thing when the innocent is set free.
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I am glad things have been straightened out finally. But how much time and treasure has he spent having to try and clear his good name. Did the DA have to go grand jury shopping to indite (spelling?) him to begin with. I am not familiar with the whole argument, but I remember at the time it seemed to be a politically motivated shakedown.
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mamabearCali wrote:I am glad things have been straightened out finally. But how much time and treasure has he spent having to try and clear his good name. Did the DA have to go grand jury shopping to indite (spelling?) him to begin with. I am not familiar with the whole argument, but I remember at the time it seemed to be a politically motivated shakedown.
Delay said he raised and spent 12 mil since the whole thing started and it took something like 7-8 years of his life. The situation is political because of the way the system is set up. The DA for Austin, notorious for being much more liberal that the rest of Texas, ends up being the Dthat prosecutes all State wide misconduct and corruption cases. That's right a locally elected official gets State wide prosecutorial discretion. Austin being so liberal surprise, surprise they elected a flaming liberal who used politics to determine who to charge.
mamabearCali wrote:I am glad things have been straightened out finally. But how much time and treasure has he spent having to try and clear his good name. Did the DA have to go grand jury shopping to indite (spelling?) him to begin with. I am not familiar with the whole argument, but I remember at the time it seemed to be a politically motivated shakedown.
Odd how a man who lives and works in DC and Dallas can be accused of commiting crimes in Austin, isn't it?
I recall that impression being widespread before the trial, in Hippy Hollow.
Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.
mamabearCali wrote:I am glad things have been straightened out finally. But how much time and treasure has he spent having to try and clear his good name. Did the DA have to go grand jury shopping to indite (spelling?) him to begin with. I am not familiar with the whole argument, but I remember at the time it seemed to be a politically motivated shakedown.
Delay said he raised and spent 12 mil since the whole thing started and it took something like 7-8 years of his life. The situation is political because of the way the system is set up. The DA for Austin, notorious for being much more liberal that the rest of Texas, ends up being the Dthat prosecutes all State wide misconduct and corruption cases. That's right a locally elected official gets State wide prosecutorial discretion. Austin being so liberal surprise, surprise they elected a flaming liberal who used politics to determine who to charge.
Tom Delay mentioned in an interview on Fox they intend to challenge the immunity of prosecutors with a lawsuit. I don't think he will prevail, but it will be interesting. The current DA was complaining the appeal judges weren't from Austin so to speak and plans to appeal; in so many words she thought they shouldn't be making such decisions. How ironic.
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JALLEN wrote:She might just as well have said that non-Democrats should not be on the bench.
Isn't this the gal who just got out of the pokey?
Yes, it is. The drunken "Do You Know Who I Am?" Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. And she leads by example! In August Travis County Assistant District Attorney Brandon Grunewald was also arrested for DWI. I've not heard any updates in his case.
JALLEN wrote:She might just as well have said that non-Democrats should not be on the bench.
Isn't this the gal who just got out of the pokey?
Yes, it is. The drunken "Do You Know Who I Am?" Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. And she leads by example! In August Travis County Assistant District Attorney Brandon Grunewald was also arrested for DWI. I've not heard any updates in his case.
Yup if I didn't have to do business in Austin I would stay away because of all the liberals. Don't get me wrong I love Austin it's beautiful but now is overrun with libs in all the local government positions.
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Now, see, at the risk of initiating a political cat fight or something, this is one of the prime reasons one should never vote for Democrats, or they should be barred from holding office in the first place.
When a Republican gets caught in some unseemly conduct, (s)he almost invariably resigns in disgrace and either serves whatever punishment results or disappears from public view, or both. My former Congressman, Duke Cunningham, recently residing in the Federal pokey in Tucson, is a regrettable example.
When a Democrat gets caught, first they deny it. Then, they attack the accusers. Next, they concede that perhaps they were involved peripherally, but the misconduct certainly isn't of a nature or degree that should interfere with the important work they are engaged in for the public. Then, they elect to go into rehab for whatever it was, booze, drugs, sex, gambling, etc. By the time a Grand Jury gets around to it, they are almost cleansed of guilt.
Shall I list the instances:
The Mayor of San Diego until recently, before which he was a Democrat Congressman, Bob Filner
Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Bill J. Clinton
Assorted Kennedys
For those of us of a certain age, the Abscam Defendants, 1 Senator and a softball team of Congressmen
Wilbur Mills
Congressman William Jefferson with the cold hard cash in his freezer
and my favorite, The Honorable Alcee Hastings, one of the very few Federal judges in US history to be impeached by the House and removed from office by the Senate, for bribery, after which, apparently on the theory that if you can 't beat 'em, join 'em, he has served in the House for 11 or 12 terms now.
There are many, many more, of course.
Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.
JALLEN wrote:She might just as well have said that non-Democrats should not be on the bench.
Isn't this the gal who just got out of the pokey?
Yes, it is. The drunken "Do You Know Who I Am?" Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. And she leads by example! In August Travis County Assistant District Attorney Brandon Grunewald was also arrested for DWI. I've not heard any updates in his case.
Indeed for a while it was a conga line of DA's getting zapped. One of them was pulled over and arrested in our church parking lot. I so wish I had seen that.
Texas_Blaze wrote:Always a good thing when the innocent is set free.
Too bad thats not Tom Delay.
You might be right, but convict him of that, not bull campaign finance violations.
Back in 2004 when the Assault Weapon Ban was up for renewal, Delay was the politician I heard who actually came out and said "it won't pass" (referring to the renewal). Everyone else I heard on the national scene was giving lip service to anti-gun sympathies.
On the other side, he helped lead the Republican spending increases among other domestic bills that led to the 2006 loss of Congress to the Democrats.
