Suspended Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's nearly decade-long delayed trial on securities fraud charges will not begin until after his upcoming impeachment trial is resolved. On Oct. 6, Harris County Judge Andrea Beall is expected to set his criminal trial for 2024.
Paxton, who has denied any wrongdoing, was also impeached by the Texas House in May on separate accusations of bribery and abuse of power. His historic impeachment trial is scheduled to start Sept. 5 in the Texas Senate.
"It's too early to tell but logically, if he's impeached in the Senate he would have greater motivation to resolve this case because his political career, one would think, would be dead," said Dan Cogdell, Paxton's defense attorney.
When asked directly if Paxton will accept a plea deal Cogdell responded: "Dismissal, settlement, resolution, who knows?"
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When special prosecutors Kent Shaffer and Brian Wice were asked directly if they will accept a plea deal they wouldn't commit but noted a removal from office would drastically change their discussions with Paxton's team.
"If Mr. Paxton becomes unemployed then obviously this case will take on a much different significance to him," said Shaffer.
"If he rolls the dice and goes to trial and gets convicted, even if he gets probation, he will lose his ability to practice law. And so if he's not willing to take that chance and he's removed from the Senate, I'm confident, and I think Kent would agree, that perhaps we can all reach an equitable disposition on these cases," Wice said.
In 2015, a Collin County grand jury indicted Paxton, accusing him of misleading investors while raising money for a McKinney technology company. He faces two first-degree felonies and one third-degree felony. Paxton pleaded not guilty. If convicted of the securities fraud charges, Paxton faces up to 99 years in prison.
“It’s a good day for Texas because it’s on the road to healing. It’s on the road to justice. It means something’s going to be done one way or another," said Shaffer.
Paxton's defense attorney added federal investigators were interviewing witnesses on other allegations, which may take priority over the state case. Federal investigators declined to comment Thursday on the status of the Paxton investigation.
Judge Beall, a Democrat, was assigned the case earlier this summer by the Criminal Court of Appeals.
Since 2015, Paxton's securities fraud case has ping-ponged between Collin County and Harris County as the sides battled over jury bias, conflict of interest of investigators and judges, and payment for the prosecutors. Hurricane Harvey and the coronavirus pandemic also played a role in delaying the case.
Years later, Beall indicated she wanted to get the trial on track in the coming weeks. Cogdell joked to the judge, “Welcome to hell, your honor" at the start of the 10-minute hearing.
“It’s just on and on and on. I’ve never seen anything like it," Cogdell told the press after the short hearing.
Prosecutors told the judge they have 19 boxes of evidence they will hand over to Paxton's team through the discovery process.
“This isn’t the beginning of the end, maybe it’s the end of the beginning," said special prosecutor Brian Wice.
Paxton, who did not say anything to reporters after Thursday's hearing, entered and left the courtroom through a separate entrance. His wife, Texas Senator Angela Paxton, did not join him in the courtroom. Earlier this year, Texas senators decided she had a conflict of interest in his impeachment case and will not vote on his removal.
Cogdell told reporters Paxton did not speak publicly because of a gag order issued by the presiding officer of his impeachment trial, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
A key issue delaying the case for years was a dispute over how much and who should pay the special prosecutors Wice and Shaffer. In 2017, Collin County Commissioners voted against paying the six-figure payment request from the prosecutors. For years Paxton represented Collin County in the Texas legislature and had many allies in county government. The Criminal Court of Appeals later decided the prosecutor's pay rate went against state law.
Wice argued the move by commissioners to cut off payment was meant to derail the case in total, saying, "It was wrong then. It's wrong now."
The judge Thursday decided payment for the prosecutors will be handled in a separate "ex parte" process but the money would come from Collin County.
Cogdell said the prosecutors' fee was too high but believed they should get paid.
“I’m not against lawyers getting paid. That would be rather hypocritical of me wouldn’t it," said Cogdell, after telling reporters that Ken Paxton was paying him.
This fall, Paxton faces a lengthy list of other accusations including Articles of Impeachment on bribery and abuse of power and a dispute over his bar license over legal action he took after the November 2020 election trying to prevent then President-elect Joe Biden from taking office. He has denied all wrongdoing, claiming the allegations against him are politically motivated.
Texas voters re-elected Paxton to another term in November 2020 after he defeated several well-funded opponents in the Republican primary.
