Rick Perry Dismissed from 2-Year Indictment

By Jackson Cote 2/24/2016

Courtesy: Wiki Commons

The indictment of Texas Governor Rick Perry was dismissed Wednesday. Perry was facing abuse of power charges and could have faced a potential maximum of 109 years in prison, had he gone to trail and been found guilty

The indictment dates back to 2014, after Perry vetoed funding for a public corruption unit. The unit’s District Attorney at the time, Democrat Rosemary Lehmberg, was convicted of drunk driving, leading Perry to seek out her resignation. The thinking that led to his indictment is that Perry used his veto power to threaten Lehmberg after her misdemeanor, overstepping his authority as governor.

Perry adamantly defied his charges from the gecko, arguing that the indictment was a partisan attack. The Texas governor made only one court appearance over the course of his two-year case. He went for ice cream after his appearance too, turning himself in for booking at an Austin jail and sported a smile in his mug shot.

The special prosecutor for Perry’s indictment, Michael McCrum argued Perry deserved to go to trial, saying that the case was about evidence not politics. The Austen court judges found his indictment to be inconsequential however, arguing that courts cannot undermine a governor’s power to veto.