Texas AG Ken Paxton's Attempt to Indict Black Female Sheriff Backfires in Appeals Court

[Demovictory9]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/texas-ag-ken-paxton-s-attempt-to-indict-black-female-sheriff-backfires-in-appeals-court/ar-AART0oh


Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) was handed a scolding by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday, when the court ruled that Paxton had exceeded his legal authority to prosecute a fellow member of Lone Star State government.

In 2016, Zena Stephens, a Democrat and Texas’ first Black female sheriff, defeated a Republican challenger and was re-elected, in a county that narrowly voted in favor of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the same election. By early 2018, though, Stephens was indicted for accepting excessive campaign donations, courtesy of Paxton’s office. Stephens joined Vanessa Crawford (of Petersburg, Virginia) at the time as the only two Black women sheriffs in America.


Shortly after Stephens’ historic election, the FBI investigated and found that she received cash contributions in excess of $100, in violation of federal campaign-finance law. The FBI next referred its findings to the Texas Rangers, which presented the case to the Jefferson County District Attorney. That prosecutor’s office declined to prosecute Stephens, but referred the Texas Rangers to AG Paxton.

Paxton, who is himself under indictment, pursued the case against Stephens independently, presenting the case to a grand jury which in turn returned a three-count indictment. The first count was a violation of the Texas Penal Code for tampering with a government record (Stephens was accused of reporting a $5,000 individual cash contribution in the political contributions of $50 or less section of an official report). The second and third counts charged violations of the Texas Election Code for unlawfully accepting two contributions over the $100 limit.


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Texas’ highest court, however, reversed and sided 8-1 with Stephens, ruling that Paxton has no authority to unilaterally prosecute individuals.

[jaxexpat]

1. Pretty good example of how the system giveth and taketh away in the same stroke.

The governing statutes are apparently written with ample vagueness, so that the accused can be judged un-prosecutable while suffering the impunity of guilt. All while the attempted use of mislain authority by the accuser receives no real penalty. A stupid charade for the entertainment of a refined audience and disillusion for the rest.

How can so much needless public wrangling, so much wasted time, effort and treasure continue unabated in the search for quick and desperately necessary justice? Quick answer: it can't. The question should be, "who will define the correction when it comes?" Will it be a mindlessly frustrated mob who witlessly encourages and empowers fascists to redefine statutes from whole cloth? Probably. Because there may be no ample forum for a nondestructive, equilateral dissent.

[tanyev]

2. Meanwhile, Paxton still hasn't gone to trial for his securities fraud indictment from 2015.