UPDATE: Prosecutors pro tem in Gov. Perry, Rosemary Lehmberg complaints present during grand-jury selection.
A Travis County grand jury has been convened by the judge overseeing an advocacy group's criminal complaint against Gov. Rick Perry. The complaint by Texans for Public Justice alleges Perry threatened to veto funding for the Travis County district attorney's Public Integrity Unit unless DA Rosemary Lehmberg resigned. Lehmberg was convicted in April of driving while intoxicated. She faces a citizen's criminal complaint regarding her alleged behavior that night.
When asked if he's convening the grand jury for the Perry and Lehmberg complaints, Senior Judge Bert Richardson of San Antonio, the appointed grand jury judge, declines comment.
Michael McCrum, the attorney pro tem for the Perry complaint, and Bill Turner, the attorney pro tem for the Lehmberg complaint, both say they're still investigating those complaints and have not yet decided whether they'll present their cases to a grand jury to seek an indictment. Both decline comment when asked whether this grand jury will hear the Perry or Lehmberg matters.
"I'm proceeding with investigating this matter and doing everything that's appropriate and necessary," says McCrum, owner of McCrum Law Office in San Antonio. He declines further comment.
Turner, who was the Brazos County DA from 1983 to 2012, says about the decision to seek an indictment, "I would not make that decision until I have talked to all the witnesses."
Perry spokesman Josh Havens says, "We haven't received any official notification this is happening. I can't really comment on something that I've not been notified about."
Lehmberg declines comment, explaining, "It wouldn't be at all appropriate for me to say anything about that."
Grand Jury Process
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