Earle Will Try DeLay On Remaining Charges

We broke the story the other day about the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denying the Travis County DA’s motion for a rehearing in the case against Tom DeLay related to money laundering and conspiracy stemming from the 2002 election cycle.

Now, it is being reported that Travis County DA Ronnie Earle is ready to take DeLay to trial on the remaining charges:

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said Wednesday that his office is ready to go to trial on remaining charges against former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay after the state’s highest criminal court upheld its earlier dismissal of a separate charge.

“We’re preparing for trial,” said Earle.

A trial date, however, may still be a long way off. DeLay’s legal team clearly wants to wait for the case against DeLay’s cohorts to wind its way though the appellate courts before a trial:

But Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin, who represents DeLay, said he doesn’t expect any trial until another Texas appeals court rules on a case involving accused co-conspirators John Colyandro and Jim Ellis.

DeGuerin said Colyandro and Ellis’ case, which was argued to a panel of Austin’s Third Court of Appeals more than a year ago, “has to do with the balance of the case” against DeLay.

I’m still trying to figure out why the case against Colyandro is still pending. A motion for rehearing filed by the Travis County DA was denied by the Court of Criminal Appeals on the same day DeLay’s was.

However, there is still a motion for rehearing filed by Earle pending in the Third Court of Appeals in Colyandro’s case which was filed on July 13. This is evidntly what DeGuerin is referring to.

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