Texas Attorney General called for the resignation of state Rep. , R-Plano, on Tuesday, arguing that Leach cannot effectively serve in the Texas House after improperly pleading with a judge to reconsider a death row inmate鈥檚 case.
鈥淗is conduct demonstrates that he is unfit to serve in any capacity overseeing our judicial system and unfit to serve as a member of the Texas House,鈥� Paxton wrote in a statement. 鈥淗ouse Speaker Dade Phelan must immediately remove him as Chairman before he can do further damage, and Leach must resign.鈥�
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Paxton also announced that he was making a criminal referral against Leach, arguing that Leach 鈥渟ought to alter the outcome of capital punishment proceedings by criminally attempting to influence a judge.鈥�
In to Court of Criminal Appeals Judge on Oct. 24, Leach to reconsider death row inmate Robert Roberson鈥檚 case, arguing that there were 鈥渢oo many holes and too much uncertainty鈥� in the conviction and that Roberson 鈥渄eserves a new trial.鈥�
Slaughter, who voted with the court鈥檚 5-4 majority to reject Roberson鈥檚 latest appeals, declined to engage with Leach鈥檚 request and reported the messages to the court.
Leach , saying in a statement that he believed he was 鈥渋n the clear鈥� because he was not a party to Roberson鈥檚 criminal case nor to any pending matters before the Court of Criminal Appeals.
According to Texas鈥� Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, lawyers are prohibited from attempting to influence a court about a pending matter before that court, or about matters that are 鈥渞easonably foreseeable鈥� to be before that court. Violations of the rules could result in disciplinary action from the State Bar of Texas.
Leach, an attorney, serves as chair of the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence and as a member of the Texas Judicial Council.
鈥淭hese entities set the policies for the state judiciary,鈥� Paxton said. 鈥淟each cannot effectively serve as chairman of his committee: he has confessed to ethical violations and to breaking the law.鈥�
Paxton鈥檚 announcement escalates a between a bipartisan committee of Texas House lawmakers and the state鈥檚 top Republicans over Roberson鈥檚 capital murder case. The factions have traded bitter accusations of misconduct and issued competing narratives of Roberson鈥檚 case after the committee of his Oct. 17 execution.
In response to Paxton鈥檚 announcement, Leach referred to his on the text messages, adding, 鈥淭he only news worth commenting on today is that my son Brady, a golfer at Allen High School, shot a 74 and won 1st place in his tournament this morning.鈥�
Leach has been one of Roberson鈥檚 most vocal defenders, leading the to stay his execution and highlight what the death row inmate鈥檚 advocates call a failure of the courts to implement Texas鈥� pioneering 2013 junk science law.
Roberson was convicted in 2003 for the death of his chronically ill 2-year-old-daughter, Nikki. He has maintained his innocence over two decades on death row, arguing that new scientific evidence the courts have failed to properly consider shows Nikki died of natural causes.
Leach, a former Paxton ally who represents part of the attorney general鈥檚 hometown of McKinney, also played a key role in the Texas House鈥檚 effort to impeach and remove Paxton from office last year.
He served on the House board of managers, which handled Paxton鈥檚 prosecution during the Senate trial in which he was ultimately acquitted.
In the trial鈥檚 closing arguments, Leach appealed to GOP senators in an emotional speech in which he described Paxton as a one-time friend and mentor whom he nonetheless viewed as unfit to serve due to his alleged abuse of his office.
Acknowledging that senators were about to take 鈥渢he most difficult vote, the heaviest vote鈥� they would ever cast, Leach described how, after years of frequent talks with Paxton about politics, policy and family, he found the attorney general鈥檚 once-open door 鈥渨as closed, and I became increasingly concerned and alarmed at what I saw.鈥�
In March, Leach trounced a Republican primary challenger that Paxton had backed.
鈥淭his is gaslighting and nothing but a political threat,鈥� Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said about Paxton鈥檚 call for Leach to resign. 鈥淟each is a Republican 鈥� just not Paxton鈥檚 flavor of Republican.鈥�
This article originally appeared in at .
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