Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Fort Worth hearing canceled

A local court hearing scheduled for today in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s securities fraud case has been canceled, court officials say.

The issue to be addressed in the planned 1 p.m. hearing in Judge George Gallagher’s 396th district court was resolved through a telephone conference call late Thursday, court officials say.

Paxton’s attorneys had requested more information about the selection of the Collin County grand jury that indicted the attorney general earlier this year.

Paxton, who last attended a Fort Worth court hearing in this case in August, has a new legal team that includes Dallas attorney Bill Mateja and Fort Worth attorney Terri Moore, who spent years as a prosecutor in Tarrant and Dallas counties.

“Had Mr. Paxton’s defense team followed the rules regarding pretrial discovery in criminal cases, we would not have been compelled to file our motion to quash his subpoenas,” special prosecutor Brian Wice, a Houston attorney, said Friday afternoon.

“But we congratulate Mr. Paxton’s defense team on their self-styled ‘victory for transparency in the grand jury process’ and welcome the release of information revealing that absolutely nothing improper occurred in the selection and empanelment of any of the four Collin County grand juries they sought to challenge,” he said. “Perhaps now we can move on to the real issues in this case.”

The Collin County grand jury indicted Paxton on two first-degree felony counts of securities fraud and one third-degree count of failing to register with the State Securities Board.

The indictments allege that Paxton offered to sell more than $100,000 in Servergy Inc. stock to state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, and Florida businessman Joel Hochberg without disclosing that he was paid in company stock and didn’t invest his own money in the McKinney-based stock.

The alleged violations took place in July 2011, when Paxton served in the Texas House. The first-degree felonies carry a fine of up to $10,000 and a sentence of five to 99 years in prison.

Another charge, which alleges that Paxton failed to register as an investment adviser or representative with the State Securities Board, carries a fine of up to $10,000 and a sentence of two to 10 years in prison.

Last year, Paxton admitted to soliciting clients without being registered. He paid a fine and was reprimanded by the board.

Paxton is not required to leave office because of the trial. If convicted, he would no longer be able to serve as attorney general.

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Fort Worth hearing canceled."