http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060321-1929-delayindictment.html"AUSTIN, Texas – Prosecutors will try to persuade a Texas appeals court Wednesday to reinstate some of the criminal charges against Rep. Tom DeLay, who is trying to win re-election to Congress while under indictment.
In December, a judge threw out some of the conspiracy and money laundering charges against the former House majority leader, saying the conspiracy law DeLay allegedly violated did not exist at the time.
Prosecutors say that it did. Both sides will argue their cases before the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals.
DeLay, who will not attend the hearing, said charges shouldn't be restored and blamed the case on politics. He also said he's frustrated with the proceedings.
“It's been almost 120 days that this frivolous appeal has been before the 3rd Circuit,” DeLay said Tuesday in Houston. “I would hope that they would come to a speedy resolution on a matter that would, I think, take a first-year law student an hour to make a ruling on.”
Because of the dispute, no trial date has been set.
DeLay is accused of funneling illegal corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas House. The Republicans went on to win control of the Legislature in 2002 and pushed through a DeLay-engineered redistricting plan that helped Texas send more Republicans to Congress in 2004."