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Judge Names Special Prosecutor In Perry Coercion Complaint

rickperry.org

This week San Antonio District Judge Robert "Bert" Richardson named area attorney Michael McCrum as the special prosecutor in the criminal complainant against Gov. Rick Perry.

"We’re too early to say there is going to be a trial in this matter," McCrum said. "Just because a complaint has been filed by a citizen doesn’t mean there is actually a prosecution in place. It’s my responsibility to look into the matter and decide if something went wrong, something that needs to be addressed in criminal court and whether or not charges need to be filed."

McCrum said his experience as a federal prosecutor in white collar crimes may be the reason he was selected. He said politics will play no part in this process.

In May Perry told Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to step down from her office following her DWI arrest or face a budget line veto for the State Public Integrity Unit, a branch of her office that investigates wrongdoing within state government.

Lehmberg refused to step down and Perry kept his word by vetoing the $3.7 million in state funding for the Public Integrity Unit.

Shortly after his veto, Texans for Public Justice filed a coercion complainant against Perry.

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.