After a court hearing earlier this week in the securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Harris County District Judge Andrea Beall has ruled on the matter of delayed prosecutorial payment, which is now in the hands of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
In a filing by special prosecutors Brian Wice and Kent Schaffer made to the appellate court, a written order by Beall states that the prosecutors should be paid the $300 hourly rate they initially requested and that she would not issue new payment orders in accordance with the Collin County fee schedule.
Beall added that the fee schedule, which sets a $2,000 cap for all pretrial work done in noncapital cases, was “wholly unreasonable” given the amount of investigation, evidentiary review and complexity of the case.
This brings the ongoing payment dispute one step closer to a potential resolution, which will be determined by the appellate court. According to Wice, the prosecutors have worked on the case without compensation since 2016.
At a press conference after Monday’s court hearing, where a trial date was set for April 15, Wice addressed reporters and said he was unwilling to withdraw from the case despite the lack of payment.
Schaffer did not indicate whether or not he was deterred by failing to receive compensation for his work on the case and added that he would have to see what happens moving forward.
In a joint statement in response to Beall’s decision, both prosecutors said they were confident that the appellate court would enforce Beall’s order to put an end to Collin County’s attempts to derail Paxton’s prosecution by defunding it.
Paxton’s lead defense attorneys, Dan Cogdell and Philip Hilder, fired back by saying that the prosecutors were making it clear that the case was all about money, not justice. They added that Wice and Schaffer have already received $242,000—an amount Cogdell and Hilder said exceeded fee guidelines—yet are asking for a “do-over” in their new appeal.
Cogdell and Hilder said that the appellate court had previously declined the special prosecutors’ request for another $200,000 in 2019. They characterized Wice and Schaffer’s new appeal as a “dilatory sideshow” that could push Paxton’s day in trial court back further, which has already been delayed for over eight years.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
