Democratic Judge Is
Removed
From DeLay Case
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
and MARIA NEWMAN, NYTimes on the Web, November 1, 2005
AUSTIN, Tex. -- A Texas court
agreed today that a Democratic judge should be removed from Representative Tom
Delay's criminal trial because of the judge's contributions to Democratic
candidates and causes.
The decision came this afternoon after several hours of testimony in which Mr.
Delay's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, said that the contributions by the judge in the
case, Bob Perkins of the 331st Judicial Criminal District Court, would create
questions "in the minds of reasonable people" that he could not rule
impartially. Mr. Delay is charged with money laundering and conspiracy,
and he was forced to step down as the Republican majority leader in the United
States House of Representatives.
The judge in today's hearing, C.W. Duncan, did not immediately indicate who
would replace Judge Perkins in the criminal trial nor when the trial would get
started. Judge Perkins had declined to recuse himself from the case.
During the hearing, Mr. DeGuerin said he was not accusing the judge of any
wrongdoing for making 34 contributions to Democratic and liberal groups since
2000. Texas law says that because judges are elected in that state, they
can contribute to candidates and political parties.
But Mr. DeGuerin and several witnesses who testified today on behalf of Mr.
Delay cited a state statute that said a judge "shall recuse himself in cases
where his impartiality might reasonably be questioned, or if he has a personal
bias or prejudice in the case."
"I think both are clearly triggered here," John L. Hill, Jr., a former Texas
Supreme Court justice, testified.
"It's very clear cut," the judge said. "We should have another judge in
this case."
Records presented by Mr. Delay's defense team show that the judge donated a
total of $5,255 to the Texas Democratic party and the liberal group MoveOn.org
from 2000 to 2005, but none of the contributions were made after Mr. Delay was
indicted.
Mr. DeGuerin said that under the statute, "a reasonable person has to be
convinced" of a judge's impartiality.
"The public perception of Judge Perkins's activities shows him to be on opposite
sides of the political fence than Tom DeLay," DeGuerin said, according to The
Associated Press.
A prosecutor in the case, Rick Reed, said that Mr. DeLay's lawyers must prove,
not speculate, that a member of the public would have a "reasonable doubt that
the judge is impartial" in order to get the judge removed from the case.
"Judges are presumed to be impartial," Mr. Reed said, according to The A.P.
Mr. DeLay was in the courtroom accompanied by his wife, Christine. He
smiled as he walked past journalists outside the hearing room but did not speak.
Mr. DeLay is accused of money laundering and conspiracy in a scheme that,
prosecutors say, funneled thousands of dollars in corporate donations to
Republican legislative candidates in 2002 in Texas in violation of the state's
century-old ban on corporate money in state campaigns. He has said he is
not guilty of any of the charges and will be exonerated.
Ralph Blumenthal reported from Austin, Tex., for this article,
and Maria Newman from New York.
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