AUSTIN - A state appeals court has rejected a bid by prosecutors to keep the criminal case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in Houston.
Paxton was indicted in Collin County almost six years ago on two charges of securities fraud, but prosecutors succeeded in moving the case to Houston in 2017, arguing that they could not get a fair trial in Paxton's home county, which he represented during 12 years in the Texas House and Senate before becoming attorney general in 2015.
Paxton's legal team later objected, successfully arguing that the judge who ordered the move had lost jurisdiction over the case, and Paxton's trial was returned to Collin County.
Prosecutors appealed, temporarily halting the transfer and leading to Thursday's decision by the Houston-based 1st Court of Appeals, which said prosecutors failed to prove that the original transfer order was valid and should be enforced. The court also rejected arguments that defense lawyers waited too long to challenge the transfer to Houston.
One of the three members of the court panel, Justice Gordon Goodman, disagreed with part of the ruling, saying in a separate opinion that the order sending the case to Houston was valid because the Texas Constitution allows a district judge to hold court for another when they deem it expedient.
Prosecutors Brian Wice and Kent Schaffer said they will ask the entire appeals court to weigh in.
"We believe the disagreement between the panel members as to where this prosecution should take place warrants reconsideration of this important issue by all nine justices of the 1st Court of Appeals," Wice said Thursday.
Two of Paxton's lawyers criticized prosecutors for continuing the legal fight.
"We are gratified by the court's ruling and look forward to getting Mr. Paxton's case back on track," Dan Cogdell said.
Said Philip Hilder: "It is time that the prosecutors allow Mr. Paxton to have his day in court."
Paxton, a prominent Republican who touts his frequent lawsuits against Democrats in the White House, could find a more favorable jury pool in Collin County, where voters favored Donald Trump over Joe Biden by 5 points in 2020. In contrast, Houston's Harris County delivered a 13-point victory for Democrat Biden.
The case before the 1st Court, pending for seven months, was one skirmish in an extensive array of pretrial battles between defense lawyers and prosecutors that hae kept the criminal case against Paxton from resolution since he was arrested, booked and quickly released in August 2015, about seven months after taking office. He has since been reelected to a second four-year term as the state's top legal officer.
The securities fraud charges - first-degree felonies with a maximum punishment of 99 years in prison - stem from Paxton's efforts in 2011 to promote Servergy Inc. as an investment opportunity without disclosing that the McKinney company was paying him for the work.
Paxton also was charged with failing to register with state securities regulators, a third-degree felony with a maximum 10-year sentence.
The felony charges are unrelated to another controversy in which top officials at the attorney general's office - all of whom have since been fired or resigned - last fall accused Paxton of misusing his office to help Nate Paul, an Austin businessman and political donor. The FBI has been investigating those allegations.
Paxton has denied wrongdoing, blaming "rogue" employees for blocking the agency's investigation into Paul's complaint that federal agents had searched his home and offices without obtaining valid warrants.