DALLAS — With his job as attorney general on the line, Ken Paxton’s freedom is on the line, too.
Since 2015, he’s been under indictment, accused of breaking laws he swore to uphold.
“There is a concept that justice delayed is justice denied,” said Andrew Wheat of Texans for Public Justice, an Austin-based watchdog group.
Paxton has consistently denied the allegations and blamed politics for his legal troubles.
Paxton appeared in court Thursday before Harris County District Judge Andrea Beall for a brief hearing. The next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6, during which setting a trial date will be on the agenda.
So how’d we get here?
In 2014, Paxton acknowledged he’d failed to register with the Texas State Securities Board. He called it a paperwork error.
“Ken Paxton had essentially admitted that he had violated State Securities Act, and that he was getting a $1,000 fine, slap on the wrist for something that is a third-degree felony,” Wheat said.
Records show Paxton had been soliciting clients for an investment company called Mowery Capital Management without being registered with the board. Testimony and records show Paxton received a 30% management fee for bringing investors to the company, which was run by his friend and campaign donor Fritz Mowery.
Texans For Public Justice filed the complaint, which led to the appointment of two special prosecutors and a Texas Rangers investigation.
New allegations
While investigating Paxton, the Texas Rangers uncovered new allegations.
Those allegations to Servergy, a technology company based in Paxton’s hometown of McKinney.
The now-defunct company promised investors its computer servers would revolutionize the computer world.
While serving in the Texas House, Paxton cut a deal in 2011 with the company’s CEO, Bill Mapp, to recruit prospective investors in exchange for company stock.
He’s accused in two first-degree felony indictments of not telling investors he’d be paid with stock, and that he wasn’t investing his own money.
“This alleges a fraud and I’m not sure that in and of itself is a fraud,” said Dallas defense attorney George Milner, who is familiar with the case but not connected to it. “You're going to have to have a specific legal duty to disclose. Otherwise, that theory of fraud will never hold water.
A third, less serious indictment accused him of failing to register with the securities board.
“That one seems to have a little bit more teeth,” Milner said.
The irony of that charge: Paxton voted in 2003 along with other House members to make it a crime not to register.
So, why are the cases still pending eight years later?
It’s been a series of things:
- Lawsuits over legal fees paid to the special prosecutors.
- Efforts by Paxton’s legal team to get the charges tossed.
And since 2017, a fight over where Paxton should be tried. A district judge overseeing the case ordered the cases be moved to Harris County. In 2021, an appeals court ordered that the cases be returned to Collin County.
The special prosecutors, who are both based in Harris County, wanted the case tried in Harris County. They contended the state could not get a fair trial in Paxton’s hometown.
Not surprisingly, Paxton’s attorneys wanted the case tried in Collin County.
“If expediting resolution was a goal, they should never have removed it from Collin County,” Milner said. “We'd have had a trial years ago.
In June, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals settled the question. The case will stay in Harris County.
“Legally speaking, they just opened up the freeway,” Milner said. “I see no procedural obstacles to a trial at this point.”
So, as soon as Paxton finishes fighting for his job, the fight for his freedom likely won’t be far behind.