“Attorney General Ken Paxton’s securities fraud case can be tried in his home county in North Texas, an appeals court affirmed Thursday when it denied the prosecution’s plea to reconsider the decision. The 1st Court of Appeals in Houston denied a motion by prosecutors to hold a hearing of the full nine-justice court to review the decision made by a three-justice panel of the court in May to move the case from Harris County back to Collin County, where Paxton lives. The order avoids further delays in the six-year-old criminal case against the sitting attorney general and returns the case to what is seen as a friendlier venue to the two-term Republican incumbent.”
“Justices Gordon Goodman and Amparo Guerra dissented to the court’s opinion and Justice April Farris did not participate. Goodman, who was part of the three-justice panel that sent the case back to Collin, had dissented in part to the original decision. Paxton’s defense lawyers touted the court’s decision and prodded prosecutors to move forward with the case. Paxton is accused of persuading investors to buy stock in a technology firm without disclosing he would be compensated for it. He was a member of the Texas House at the time. Paxton denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated” – Texas Tribune.