COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS TO REHEAR CHARETTE CAMPAIGN CASE

  

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has granted a motion to rehear the case of former Washington County Court at Law candidate Robbie Gail Charette.

In September, the Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the dismissal of four grand jury indictments against Charette that accused her of misdemeanor campaign law violations during her run for Court at Law Judge in March 2018.  The court stated in its ruling at the time that because no complaint was filed with the Texas Ethics Commission, which has oversight of campaign law violations, the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction.

The State Prosecuting Attorney, Stacey Soule, filed a motion on October 11^th for the court to rehear the case, arguing that the court’s opinion “delays justice and poses a threat to the integrity of Texas’ election process.”  On October 28^th, 33 elected district attorneys submitted amicus briefs in support of the motion for rehearing.

On Wednesday, the court granted rehearing of its previous decision in the case.

Austin County District Attorney Travis Koehn was appointed as a special prosecutor to conduct the original investigation. 

When asked how the court’s initial ruling on subject matter jurisdiction would be evaluated in this rehearing, Brandy Robinson, First Assistant District Attorney in the Austin County District Attorney’s Office, told KWHI that “the entirety of the previous decision is open to reconsideration by the judges.” 

Robinson said since the matter remains open and pending, they cannot comment on the content of the case.

Charette has previously argued that the charges are politically motivated.