Ronnie Earle asks Republican judge to remove himself

Now this is funny. Tom Delay and his legal team got a taste of their own medicine today. That confusing high pitched sound drifting through your living room window is not a neighborhood cat in heat, it's the howl of rage by Tom Delay at Ronnie Earle's latest checkmate.

In a move that belongs in the Tit for Tat Hall of Fame, Ronnie Earle filed a motion today asking the Republican judge who will be deciding which judge is to preside over the Delay trial to step aside.  More on the flip.

Earle doesn't want regional judge to pick court

District attorney files motion to keep Schraub from selecting judge for DeLay case

By Laylan Copelin

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, November 03, 2005

In an unprecedented move, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle filed a motion Thursday asking a Republican presiding judge to remove himself from the decision about who will be the trial judge in the conspiracy case against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

Earle, a Democrat, argued that Judge B.B. Schraub, the presiding judge for the 3rd Administrative Judicial Region, should step aside for the same reasons that state District Judge Bob Perkins, a Democrat, was removed from hearing DeLay's case: Both had given political donations.  In the retaliatory motion, Earle wrote that he was using the same rationale that DeLay's lawyers used to get Perkins removed from the case. He said Schraub of Seguin, like Perkins of Austin, is a fair and impartial judge with a "sterling reputation" of honesty and integrity.

But Earle wrote that's "unfortunately no longer the standard in our state for the judiciary."

Earle not only cites Republican donations, he brings Gov. Goodhair into the mix.

According to Earle's motion, Schraub has given $5,600 -- roughly the same amount as Perkins -- to Republican candidates, including President Bush, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Gov. Rick Perry, state Sen. Jeff Wentworth and state Rep. Ed Kuempel.

Earle wrote that the $1,500 to Perry was particularly troubling because Perry was a central player in DeLay's successful attempt in 2003 to have Texas congressional districts drawn to his liking. As governor, Perry called the special legislative sessions where the districts were redrawn to shift the balance of power in the congressional delegation from Democrats to Republicans.

Read the whole article.   Thanks to Volvo Liberal for this UPDATE: Second Judge Out for DeLay Trial AP - 1 hour, 41 minutes ago AUSTIN, Texas - Two days after U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay won a fight to get a new judge in his case, prosecutors on Thursday succeeded in ousting the Republican jurist responsible for selecting the new judge. Administrative Judge B.B. Schraub recused himself after District Attorney Ronnie Earle filed a motion asking for his removal from the case. Schraub said he will ask the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court name a judge to preside over DeLay's conspiracy and money laundering trial. I did not receive $ from Ketchum, U.S. Department of Ed or HHS to write this---though I wish I had. by Volvo Libera