Perry attorneys ask Texas appeals court to toss felony case
AUSTIN, Texas — Attorneys for former Gov. Rick Perry have asked a Texas appeals court to dismiss felony charges against the possible 2016 presidential candidate on free speech grounds, arguing that what's "at stake is not just the freedom of one man."
Separate from a response filed in district court this week, Perry's legal team submitted more than 100 pages of briefs and proposed orders to the Austin-based Third Court of Appeals, which were processed Thursday. Perry's attorneys said he was acting within his power as the state's chief executive when he issued a 2013 veto pivotal to the case, and that anything he said on the subject is constitutionally protected since "freedom of speech protects the governor and the rest of the public from the chilling effect of vague and overbroad laws."
Perry was indicted in August on charges of abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant stemming from a veto of state funding for a public corruption division within the office of Democratic Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. That came after Lehmberg, whose county includes Austin, rebuffed the governor's calls to resign following her conviction and jail sentence for drunken driving.
He left office last month, but Perry says he'll announce as soon as May whether he'll launch a presidential bid next year. His 2012 White House campaign was derailed by a series of public gaffes, including the moment during a debate when he couldn't name the third of three federal agencies he'd promised to shutter if elected.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/top-news/perry-attorneys-ask-texas-appeals-court-to-toss-fe/nkKGK/
[font color=green]Methinks thou dost protest too much![/font]
