Rick Perry Ordered to Appear in Court to Address Procedural Issues

A judge has ruled that Governor Rick Perry must appear at a pretrial hearing to discuss procedural issues in an abuse of power case.

One issue is whether or not Perry was properly sworn in at the beginning of procedures. Perry, who was in Europe Monday, must appear in court on October 31st. Meanwhile, special prosecutor Michael McCrum has until November 7 to respond to two motions to have the case dismissed. Perry’s attorney’s are calling the case an unconstitutional political attack and are moving to have it dismissed on technicalities.

Perry was indicted by a grand jury in August on felony counts of abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant. Perry is accused of threatening to veto $7.5 million in funding for the Travis County Public Integrity Unit if Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg didn’t resign following a drunk driving arrest.