July 27, 2017
HOUSTON – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has received a Dec. 11 trial date in his securities fraud case.
The trial will be on the less serious of three charges Paxton faces in the nearly two-year-old case. It’s expected to last roughly nine days.
It’s the third trial date for Paxton after two previous dates were scrapped due to pretrial disputes, first over the venue and then the judge.
The latest trial date was set at a hearing Thursday. Harris County Criminal District Court Judge Robert Johnson also scheduled jury selection for Dec. 1 and a pretrial conference for Nov. 2.
The hearing started with Johnson suggesting a trial date in December or January. Paxton’s lawyers then asked for a trial date in October, November or December at the latest – possibly Dec. 11. The prosecutors ultimately agreed to that date after a brief exchange over whether it would overlap with the holidays.
Paxton is accused of misleading investors in a company from before his time as attorney general. The charge set to come up at the Dec. 11 trial deals with Paxton’s failure to register with the state securities board.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the allegations.
Paxton has already beaten a similar, civil case on the federal level.
The trial date is also the filing deadline for the 2018 elections. Paxton plans to run for re-election but has not made it official yet. He so far has not drawn any serious challengers.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2017/07/27/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-criminal-trial-set-dec-11/.
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