Paxton trial move on hold— for now

A Houston appellate court early Thursday put on hold a lower court’s order allowing Attorney General Ken Paxton’s felony securities fraud case to move to his hometown of Collin County.

The case was moved to Harris County after a judge ruled in 2017 that Paxton’s Republican political connections in Collin County would give him an unfair advantage at trial. But that decision has been under judicial review now for three years as Paxton’s defense team and the special prosecutors appointed in the case battle over the venue.

The prosecutors applauded the latest decision by1stCourt ofAppeals Judge Gordon Goodman, a Democrat elected in 2018 as his party swept judicial races.

“The ruling of the court was not unexpected as the law and facts are very straightforward,” said Kent Schaffer, one of the prosecutors. “We are optimistic that the Court of Appeals will do the right thing, and Ken Paxton will face justice in front of a Houston jury.”

Special prosecutor Brian Wice added no matter what Paxton or his attorneys say, the prosecution is entitled to an appeal.

Paxton’s attorneys said it “defies logic” that special prosecutors would try to overturn two judges’ opinions that the case ought to move to Collin County.

“They’ve totally lost sight of justice and are needlessly delaying and wasting taxpayer resources,” the defense team said in a joint statement. “They need to

let Mr. Paxton prove his innocence, or quite frankly, step down because their own self-interests appear to be getting in the way of fundamental fairness.”

Thursday’s decision marks the latest delay in a case that’s stalled for five years without a trial over various side issues, including a dispute over prosecutor pay.

Paxton, who was indicted in 2015, has maintained his innocence. He faces allegations that he encouraged investors to buy stock in a company without telling them he was being compensated for the referrals and that he failed to register as an investment adviser representative.

Paxton’s lawyers had argued that the case should have never been moved in the first place, because the judge made the decision after his assignment to the case had expired.

In June, Harris County state District Judge Robert Johnson ruled in Paxton’s favor and moved the case to Collin County.

But the 1st Court of Appeals struck that order about a month later, after Johnson recused himself from the case because Paxton’s office is representing him in a separate suit.

The case was then reassigned to Harris County Jason Luong, a Democrat and former prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Luong agreed the case should be sent back to Collin County based on his interpretation of Johnson’s ruling, and he did not discuss where he believed Paxton would receive a fair trial.

The prosecutors had argued in their appeal that Luong misinterpreted the law.