CRTXNEWS

Republican Dominated Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Strips Atty. Gen. Paxton of Power to Prosecute Voter Fraud

Republican Dominated Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Strips Atty. Gen. Paxton of Power to Prosecute Voter Fraud,
Strikes Down Texas Election Code Subchapter B, Sec. 273.021

Steven Hotze, M.D.

Incredibly, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, composed of 9 Republicans, issued an 8-1 decision on December 15, 2021 that prohibits the Texas Attorney General from prosecuting violations of the Texas Election Code (TEC).

There is a huge problem with organized voter fraud in counties controlled by the pro-Communist Democrats. These counties are located in the major metropolitan areas of Houston, Dallas,  Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. The district attorneys in each one of these areas are Democrats who participate in and benefit from the voter fraud schemes.

If the Texas Attorney General, who is currently Republican Ken Paxton, cannot prosecute Democrat voter fraud, then we are left with the fox guarding the hen house. Evidence of voter fraud, prior to the 2020 General Election, was brought to the attention of Kim Ogg, Harris County District Attorney, and her office refused to investigate the allegations. 

So now the Republicans have no one to investigate the massive voter fraud and ballot harvesting schemes perpetrated by the pro-Communist Democrats. This gives the Democrats full rein to steal the elections without facing any consequences for their criminal activity. 

Remember, it’s not who votes, but who controls which votes are counted that determines the election.

This decision came in the case State of Texas v. Zena Collins Stephens. Zena Stephens was a candidate for Sheriff of Jefferson County who was charged by the Attorney General’s office for violating a provision of the Texas Election Code. Stephens challenged the authority of the Attorney General to bring criminal charges against her. You can read the majority opinion at this link, https://search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=7dbdaca3-3a6d-4a75-925f-883fa825acae&coa=coscca&DT=OPINION&MediaID=8976a0aa-8fa8-4814-91bb-f0d79f1108fc.

This is the background of the case. Stephens was elected to the position of sheriff of Jefferson County in 2016. While investigating someone else, the FBI uncovered information regarding potential campaign-finance violations concerning Stephens. The FBI then turned this information over to the Texas Rangers. The Rangers’ investigation concluded that Stephens received individual cash campaign contributions in excess of $100. The Rangers presented their findings to the Jefferson County District Attorney, who declined to prosecute, referring the Rangers to the Attorney General. The Rangers then presented the results of their investigation to the Attorney General, who presented the case to the grand jury in Chambers County, a county adjoining Jefferson County. See Tex. Elec. Code §273.024. The Attorney General relied on Texas Election Code section 273.021 to prosecute a criminal offense “prescribed by the election laws of this state.”

In April of 2018, the Chambers County grand jury indicted Stephens, charging her with accepting cash contributions in violation of Texas Election Code. The state district court judge quashed her indictment. The decision was appealed to the First Court of Appeals which agreed with the State and found that Election Code section 273.021(a) “clearly and unambiguously gives the Attorney General power to prosecute criminal laws prescribed by election laws generally whether those laws are inside or outside the Code.”

Article 4, Section 22 of the Texas Constitution states, “The Attorney General shall represent the State in all suits and pleas in the Supreme Court of the State in which the State may be a party…and perform such other duties as may be required by law.”

The Texas Election Code was amended by the Texas Legislature in 1951 in Subchapter B, Section 273.021, which gave the Attorney General additional authority to prosecute violations of the Texas Election Code. 

“Sec. 273.021.  PROSECUTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL AUTHORIZED.  (a)  The attorney general may prosecute a criminal offense prescribed by the election laws of this state.

(b)  The attorney general may appear before a grand jury in connection with an offense the attorney general is authorized to prosecute under Subsection (a).

(c)  The authority to prosecute prescribed by this subchapter does not affect the authority derived from other law to prosecute the same offenses.”

On December 15, 2021 the Republican controlled Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued the following outrageous decision.

“Texas Attorney General lacks constitutional authority to independently prosecute a crime in a district or inferior court without the consent of the appropriate local county or district attorney by a deputization order.”

It took mental gymnastics to come up with this decision. These 8 Republican judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, put a gun to their own heads and to the head of every statewide Republican office holder and candidate, including the 2024 Republican Presidential candidate. 

Justice Kevin Yeary wrote an excellent dissenting opinion which can be found at the following link, https://search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=8ffad780-e34c-442e-8e39-1ac7bec6ea54&coa=coscca&DT=OPINION&MediaID=65deea46-232a-4c0d-950a-7ea6afe8fb21.

Let’s put this in perspective by reversing the situation. If the Communist Democrats were in control of both the Attorney General’s office and the Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Republicans had developed a system to steal elections through voter fraud and illegal vote harvesting, and if all the District Attorneys were Republicans, do you think a Democrat controlled court would have decided to prohibit the Democrat Attorney General from prosecuting Republican voter fraud? 

We are at war for the future of our nation and the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals capitulated to the Communist Democrats. I can’t make this up! This decision has the potential of allowing the Democrats to steal elections with impunity in the future and turn Texas into a pro-Communist Democrat controlled state.

On December 30, 2021, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a motion for rehearing with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. 

You need to call the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and tell them to reverse their decision and allow the Texas Attorney General to continue to prosecute violations of the Texas Election Code. Their number is (512) 463-1551. 

The Court filed its decision on December 15, 2021, two days after the filing date for statewide offices. Had this decision been issued earlier, then the justices who are up for reelection would have drawn conservative opponents. 

Fortunately, Clint Morgan has filed to run against Judge Scott Walker, who currently holds Place 5 on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. I encourage you to vote for Clint Morgan which will send a strong message to the other justices on that Court.