Burnt Orange Report

DeLay has been delayed.

By Damon McCullar

Judge Priest today decided to cancel a December 27th trial until Travis County DA Ronnie Earle's appeal of the dismissal of the Conspiracy to Violate Campaign Law has been decided.

Via QR:

Judge Pat Priest has posted, "The record on appeal will be filed with the Third Court of Appeals in Austin on Monday, 12/19/05. I will be without jurisdiction in the matter until that court has acted upon the state's appeal. The hearings previously scheduled for 12/27/05 are canceled.I will set no other hearings until the appellate court has acted."

In other words, hearings on prosecutorial misconduct and venue will be delayed until sometime in January. If the case survives the hearings, the actual trial would probably not begin until the end of January at the earliest.

Congressional Republicans are expected to hold the Majority Leader position open for Delay until late January or early February.

I don't know when leadership elections are held in the House, but it looks like there's a good chance that Rep. DeLay won't be eligible when they do come around.