Delay Turns Himself Into Harris County Officials

[Marcus Bryant]

Here is the real story of Ronnie Earle Versus Kay Bailey Hutchison - no spin!

Actually, here is the real story on Earle v. Hutchinson. Though it is from that right-wing, 'Neocon' paper known as the Austin American-Statesman.

[SpursWoman]

Though it is from that right-wing, 'Neocon' paper known as the Austin American-Statesman.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Do you understand the nature of a grand jury in Austin, Texas?


Prosecutor: "Hey, here's a Republican and we think he did some bad ."

Grand Jury: "Ok, man, sounds good to me."


Beyond that, it's not like this particular prosecutor hasn't gone on a witch hunt after a GOP politician before. Earle's case is so thin he's even had to shop around for a grand jury to indict DeLay.

Are you insinuating that Austin is known for prosecuting Republicans?

[Nbadan]

I don't see how Marcus Bryant can claim that the Austin American Statesman article he linked disputes any of the statements about Ronnie Earle in the article that I posted, in fact, they seem to jibe...

Earle, who unsuccessfully opposed Hutchison's bid to move the case out of Democrat-heavy Travis County, said a judge's refusal to rule before trial on the admissibility of evidence raised worries that the evidence wouldn't be accepted at all. The ultimate risk, he said, was that a loss could send a message to officeholders that they could abuse their workers with impunity.

Roy Minton, an Austin lawyer well-versed in defending public figures, ranks among the head-shakers at Earle's move.

"I don't know what was on his mind, but he wasn't thinking," Minton said, suggesting that Earle should have proceeded. He said the judge, John Onion Jr., probably would have admitted the do ents at issue.

Earle "would have been much better off if he did it that way rather than dismiss it," Minton said. "It would have destroyed (Hutchison) for the moment anyway."

Austin lawyer Buck Wood, an Earle supporter, suggested that even if Onion had spurned the do ents, which were gathered from the state treasury using a grand jury subpoena instead of a search warrant, Earle could have absorbed the loss knowing he'd presented witnesses including former Hutchison aides "who could have talked about how she operated her office, how she treated her people, and testified to their knowledge of her using them for things other than official business."

"He could have dirtied her up as bad as possible," Wood said. "He could have seriously damaged her. But he didn't do that. He's not partisan; he's not mean."

Onion, handling the case in a Fort Worth courtroom, reacted to Earle's refusal to proceed by swearing in the jury and directing the acquittal of Hutchison.

Onion, former presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, said last week that Earle's justification for not going to trial is "still a mystery to me."

Hutchison, who had approached the trial amid speculation that the party might need a candidate to take her place in its March primary, emerged exultant.

"I always knew that right would win," she said at the time. "The people of Texas stood with me, and right has won."

The former TV reporter and Texas House member subsequently sailed to the GOP nomination and election to her first full six-year Senate term, which was followed in 2000 by another victory. If she wins next year, she could vie for the GOP vice-presidential nod in 2008.

How it began

Hutchison's entanglement with Travis County authorities started in April 1992, when The Houston Post reported that a state aide to Hutchison had been keeping campaign fundraising records and thank-you letters to contributors on a state computer.

The aide later resigned after apologizing and giving up two vacation days and paying $45.86 for his use of the equipment.

In November 1992, Earle's office said that the facts did not warrant criminal investigation because the "misuse of state property was an isolated incident involving a very small monetary loss to the state."

Prosecutors said later that they were unaware then that three days after the newspaper report, an agency deputy oversaw the removal of computer files belonging to 10 aides from department backup tapes. Hut- chison's advocates called the act a security measure; prosecutors said it looked like criminal alteration of a state record.

In January 1993, Hutchison declared her candidacy to serve out the Senate term of Lloyd Bentsen, who had resigned to join President Clin- ton's cabinet. She out-polled 23 opponents, including, in a runoff, Bob Krueger. The New Braunfels Democrat had been appointed by Gov. Ann Richards to temporarily fill Bentsen's slot.

The Senate campaign was marked by allegations of wrongdoing, including charges from three former treasury employees that Hutchison routinely required them to perform personal and political chores on state time.

One former aide said Hutchison hit her repeatedly with a notebook one day in anger. Hutchison said any employees who did nonstate work were instructed to make up that time.

Five days after her June 1993 victory, Travis County authorities raided the state treasury headquarters, ordering employees to turn over voluminous records. Earle said the raid, which Hutchison called "outrageous," stemmed from information his office had received that records were being destroyed.

Grand jurors indicted Hutchison in September 1993. After court squabbles, the indictments were redrafted twice before Onion granted her motion to move the case from Austin.

Joe Cutbirth, then a statehouse newspaper reporter, said Earle was overwhelmed by the legal and public relations team aiding Hutchison.

Hutchison "had a legal dream team when O.J. (Simpson) was still running through airports for Hertz," Cutbirth said.

Learning from the past

At trial, she was represented by DeGuerin of Houston, DeLay's lawyer now, as well as Michael Tigar, perhaps best known for defending Black Panther activist Angela Davis and Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols, and Ron Wood, a former federal prosecutor.

In her appeals for public support, Hutchison counted on GOP consultant Karl Rove; Beckwith, former spokesman for Vice President Dan Quayle; and Karen Hughes, executive director of the Republican Party of Texas. The same year, Rove and Hughes helped George W. Bush win election as governor.

Cutbirth, a former Democratic activist who is now an adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, said Earle wouldn't be "human if he wasn't still smarting from the loss he took from Kay. I can't imagine he's not prepared" for a similar legal and media-savvy onslaught. "It's clearly the biggest case of his life."

After Hutchison's acquittal, DeGuerin called Earle "a desperate man whose career is going down the tubes because he's been exposed for this politically motivated prosecution."

So Hutchison was acquitted not because she had proven her innocence beyond a reasonable doubt, but because Karl Rove's dirty tricks against Ronnie Earle and the Travis County D.A's office muddied up the waters in the County enough that it got the case moved to a more 'Republican friendly' court where Earle would have had to fight to present hundreds of pieces of evidence he had ac ulated against Hutch. He could have nailed Hutchison, no one disputes this, but he chose not to be a bitter partisan instead.

[Spam]

Rove can't do squat right now.