High Texas Criminal Court Will Hear Tom DeLay Case
AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The overturned conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will be reviewed by the highest criminal court in Texas.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday agreed to hear the case after prosecutors in Austin appealed a ruling last fall that threw out a 2010 money laundering conviction against DeLay. No timetable was immediately set.
A jury had found DeLay guilty of illegally funneling corporate money to GOP candidates in Texas legislative races, where corporate money is barred. But in a 2-1 ruling in September, the Texas 3rd Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that prosecutors failed to prove that the money being laundered was illegally obtained.
DeLay had been sentenced to three years in prison, but the punishment had been put on hold pending appeal.
♦♦♦ Read the court's decision to overturn DeLay's conviction (PDF) ♦♦♦
A Texas jury had determined that DeLay conspired with two associates to use his Texas-based political action committee to send a check for $190,000 in corporate money to an arm of the Washington-based Republican National Committee. The RNC then sent the same amount to several Texas House candidates. Under state law, corporate money cannot be given directly to political campaigns.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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