The latest pleadings in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s felony case have devolved to include nasty attacks and harsh rhetoric between the special prosecutors and Paxton’s defense lawyers. Experts say that type of bickering is rare in criminal cases.
The cat fighting reached a crescendo last month when Paxton’s attorneys filed six motions to quash Paxton’s indictments and four pretrial applications for habeas corpus relief. The attorneys pro tem—Brian Wice, Kent Schaffer and Nicole DeBorde—responded to blast Paxton’s legal arguments with sarcastic wit. Paxton’s lawyers then took up the same tone in later replies. Both sides argued those matters Dec. 1 and are awaiting rulings by 396th District Judge George Gallagher of Fort Worth, who was appointed to the case.
