It seemed like a big deal for Tom DeLay in his never-ending drive to reclaim his House leadership post. In an email to reporters, DeLay’s office said, “The state Court of Criminal Appeals has agreed to hear Mr. DeLay’s habeas motion that was filed at the end of last week.” The message added that the Texas appeals court “could essentially decide to end Ronnie Earle’s prosecution” after the hearing.
Reporters immediately began reporting the developments. They shouldn’t have; DeLay’s office was wrong.
Media reports that U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay had convinced the state’s highest court to hear his appeal were as widely circulated as they were, well, wrong.
Justices for the Texas Court Criminal Appeals agreed merely to consider hearing DeLay’s money laundering case. They never said they would accept the case, said Edward Marty, the court’s general counsel.
The erroneous media reports, which the San Antonio Express-News published in a wire story and displayed online, come from DeLay’s spokesman, Kevin Madden, in an e-mail sent to reporters Tuesday evening, after courts had closed for the night.
Kevin Madden’s disingenuous spin notwithstanding, the actual announcement from the Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas’ highest criminal court, offered DeLay a hint of good news. The court asked prosecutors to file a brief responding to DeLay’s request for a speedy trial. Based on the response, the appeals court could cut short a Ronnie Earle effort to reinstate one of the charges against DeLay and could give the former House Majority Leader a quicker trial.
DeLay is clearly running very short on time, but yesterday’s announcement at least holds out the possibility that DeLay could have his case heard quickly enough to return to the Hill and ask for his leadership post back. It’s still a long shot, but the Court of Criminal Appeals gave DeLay a small glimmer of hope.
Did I mention that the appeals court is comprised of nine Republican judges and is widely seen as a bastion of conservatism? Just thought I’d add that small detail.