Attorney General Ken Paxton scored another victory, but this is a loss for all Texans.
With each victory, Paxton seems more determined to exact revenge, more emboldened in his attacks on people and issues he personally finds threatening or repugnant. He does not do so in the name of justice, but for retribution, or worse, for the praise of the far-right he is trying to curry favor with. We brace ourselves for what happens next.
But perhaps even more disturbing is what Paxton’s latest victory says about our justice system: Clearly, there is one system of justice that serves ordinary Texas citizens, and another that serves the wealthy and powerful.
We’re referring to what happened in a Houston courtroom on Tuesday morning, when nearly nine years after he was indicted on three felony counts for an alleged securities fraud scheme, Paxton walked out of the courtroom a man who was essentially vindicated.
Paxton agreed with prosecutors to drop the charges against him in exchange for paying restitution to two men he suspects of defrauding, completing 100 hours of community service and taking a legal ethics class. He is being given 18 months to serve his sentence.
But far from being the fair settlement both sides claim, the agreement raises more questions than it answers. Most obviously, why would someone be indicted by a grand jury on such serious felonies, avoid trial for nearly a decade, and then let those charges go away with a light punishment?
So what about the timing? Why now, and not last year or five years ago? Special Counsel Brian Weiss said after a hearing last month that he would not accept a pretrial agreement with Paxton proposed by another special counsel, Kent Shafer.
“It was like, ‘Come on, let’s bring you cocktails and hot food and mints.’ That didn’t happen during my tenure,” Weiss told The Texas Tribune.
He also said after a hearing in which Harris County District Judge Andrea Beal denied Paxton’s motion to dismiss the charges, that the attorney general is not above the law and should face justice.
But on Tuesday he said he had changed his tune after multiple interviews with witnesses ahead of his April 15 trial date. Weiss said he was confident the jury would convict Paxton of two first-degree felony charges, but “didn’t want to gamble with the distinct possibility that the jury might or might not acquit, and as a result the victims would not receive full compensation.” Weiss also defended the agreement as much stronger than the one considered in February.
Whatever the reason, the bottom line is this: Paxton once again evaded justice through a series of strokes of good fortune that rarely occur to ordinary Texans in state courts, and rather than acting humbled in the wake of this victory, here’s hoping he acts more empowered.
We welcome your comments via letters to the editor. Please see our guidelines. Send your letter hereIf you have any problems with the form, please email us. Email:
