Rick Perry charges: Court dismisses criminal charge - CNNPolitics

Court dismisses one criminal charge against Perry

By Eugene Scott, CNN

Updated 1815 GMT (0215 HKT) July 24, 2015

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry addresses the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) February 27 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry addresses the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) February 27 in National Harbor, Maryland.
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Former Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks to guests at the Iowa Freedom Summit on January 24 in Des Moines, Iowa. The summit is hosting a group of potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates to discuss core conservative principles ahead of the January 2016 Iowa Caucuses.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks to guests at the Iowa Freedom Summit on January 24 in Des Moines, Iowa. The summit is hosting a group of potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates to discuss core conservative principles ahead of the January 2016 Iowa Caucuses.
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Former Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks during the victory party for Texas Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott after an apparent victory over Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis on November 4, 2014, in Austin, Texas.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks during the victory party for Texas Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott after an apparent victory over Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis on November 4, 2014, in Austin, Texas.
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Perry was booked on August 19, 2014, on two felony charges related to his handling of a local political controversy. He vowed to fight the charges.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Perry was booked on August 19, 2014, on two felony charges related to his handling of a local political controversy. He vowed to fight the charges.
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Perry compares alcoholism to homosexuality at an event in San Francisco on June 11, 2014. "I may have the genetic coding that I'm inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that - and I look at the homosexual issue the same way," he said.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Perry compares alcoholism to homosexuality at an event in San Francisco on June 11, 2014. "I may have the genetic coding that I'm inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that - and I look at the homosexual issue the same way," he said.
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Perry greets President Barack Obama as he arrives in Dallas on July 9, 2014, for a meeting with local elected officials and faith leaders about the humanitarian situation at the Southwest border.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Perry greets President Barack Obama as he arrives in Dallas on July 9, 2014, for a meeting with local elected officials and faith leaders about the humanitarian situation at the Southwest border.
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Perry salutes after announcing on January 19, 2012, that he's suspending his presidential campaign just days before South Carolina's GOP primary. Perry finished sixth in the New Hampshire primary earlier that month.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Perry salutes after announcing on January 19, 2012, that he's suspending his presidential campaign just days before South Carolina's GOP primary. Perry finished sixth in the New Hampshire primary earlier that month.
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Perry runs the Veterans Day parade route in Columbia, South Carolina, while local media and his security detail jog along to keep up on November 11, 2011.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Perry runs the Veterans Day parade route in Columbia, South Carolina, while local media and his security detail jog along to keep up on November 11, 2011.
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At a GOP presidential debate on November 9, 2011, Perry fails to remember the third of three agencies he would cut if elected president. With self-deprecation he uttered "oops," a word that has since made him the butt of jokes, including his own.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
At a GOP presidential debate on November 9, 2011, Perry fails to remember the third of three agencies he would cut if elected president. With self-deprecation he uttered "oops," a word that has since made him the butt of jokes, including his own.
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Perry labels Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" at a GOP primary debate on September 7, 2011, in Simi Valley, California. "Anybody that's for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids, and it's not right," he said.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Perry labels Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" at a GOP primary debate on September 7, 2011, in Simi Valley, California. "Anybody that's for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids, and it's not right," he said.
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In the inaugural stages of his 2012 presidential run, Perry mingles with a breakfast crowd during a campaign stop at Bazen's Family Restaurant in Florence, South Carolina, on August 19, 2011.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
In the inaugural stages of his 2012 presidential run, Perry mingles with a breakfast crowd during a campaign stop at Bazen's Family Restaurant in Florence, South Carolina, on August 19, 2011.
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During a Florida primary debate, Perry defended a Texas program that allows students without legal documentation to take advantage of in-state tuition and argued those who disagree with him are heartless.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
During a Florida primary debate, Perry defended a Texas program that allows students without legal documentation to take advantage of in-state tuition and argued those who disagree with him are heartless.
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Perry, then the lieutenant governor of Texas, hugs George W. Bush before being sworn in as governor on December 21, 2000, in Austin. Bush had been elected president and was resigning as governor.
Photos: Moments from Rick Perry's career
Perry, then the lieutenant governor of Texas, hugs George W. Bush before being sworn in as governor on December 21, 2000, in Austin. Bush had been elected president and was resigning as governor.
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(CNN)A Texas appeals court dismissed one of two criminal charges Friday against Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry.

The court agreed with the argument from Perry's legal team that a Texas law concerning "coercion of a public servant" violated Perry's First Amendment freedom of speech rights. It did, however, allow a charge related to abuse of power, to move forward.
"The statute on which the 'coercion of a public servant' is based, as written, and as we are bound to construe it, violates the First Amendment and, accordingly, cannot be enforced," the appeals court ruled according to the Austin American-Statesman.
    Perry is accused of threatening to veto funding the Travis County Public Integrity Unit unless a district attorney, who received a drunken driving conviction, resigned.
      The attorney did not resign, so Perry vetoed the funding.
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      "The Americans in this country are looking for a president that will stand up and do what's right and that's exactly what Perry did," said Tony Buzbee, lead counsel for Perry.
      Texans for Rick Perry released a statement calling the ruling a clear step towards having the second charge, a misdemeanor, dismissed.
          "We believe once we put that issue in the front of the Court of Appeals, they will throw it out on their face and Governor Perry will go on about his business," Buzbee said.
          4 reasons Rick Perry's exercise of power got him in trouble