Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's legal team again argued Monday that felony abuse-of-power charges against their client should be tossed, saying that a special prosecutor's attempts to modify the original indictment seek to "substitute his own version of the facts."
Perry was indicted in August on charges stemming from a 2013 veto of state funding for a public corruption division within the office of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Special prosecutor Michael McCrum earlier this month modified a charge of coercion of a public servant in response to an order by judge overseeing the case, Republican Bert Richardson.
In 30 pages of filings Monday, Austin attorney David Botsford states that McCrum "should not be allowed to take inconsistent positions and insert facts not found by a grand jury into an indictment."
The filing also says that if it's allowed to stand, another charge Perry faces, abuse of official capacity, should be converted to a misdemeanor. That's because, the filings argue, the case centers on the veto, not the state funding. It therefore had no monetary value -- and any action worth less than $20 doesn't constitute a felony in Texas.
The charges Perry faces combined carry a maximum penalty of 109 years in prison.
Richardson refused the defense team's prior string of motions to have the case dismissed on constitutional and technical grounds, but he suggested last month that McCrum should clarify the coercion charge.
Perry's attorneys responded to the modified count Monday by saying McCrum's fixes were "woefully deficient." They argued that with the new language, McCrum attempts "to substitute his own version of the facts" and yet still fails to accuse Perry of a crime.
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The filing goes on to argue that the special prosecutor never established sufficient grounds for either count, and therefore the entire case should be thrown out.
Perry was indicted by a grand jury in Austin, a liberal enclave in mostly solidly conservative Texas. The charges stem from Perry's publicly threatening, then carrying out, a veto of $7.5 million in state funding for Lehmberg's public corruption division. That came after Lehmberg, whose county includes Austin, rebuffed Perry's calls to resign following her drunken driving conviction.
Perry left office last month. He is expected to announce a 2016 presidential run as soon as May. He has repeatedly called the case against him politically motivated.
Not addressed in his legal team's latest filing are specific allegations McCrum made in the Feb. 13 brief modifying the coercion charge, which shed light on what a trial might look like. Those included that Perry didn't approve of the district attorney's management "and therefore wanted to coerce Ms. Lehmberg into resigning her elected position and/or stymie or obstruct the continued operation of the Public Integrity Unit."
McCrum did not immediately respond to messages for comment Monday.
No trial date has been set.
