No ruling on trial move in Paxton pretrial hearing

A pretrial hearing in McKinney in the criminal case against Attorney General Ken Paxton ended Thursday without a ruling from the judge on whether to move Paxton’s trial out of Collin County.

State District Judge George Gallagher said, however, that he would like to try to pick a jury in Collin County, the Texas Tribune reported.

Prosecutors also sought to separate the three charges against Paxton into two trials, the Tribune reported. Defense lawyers strongly opposed the request, which would set the first trial on the lesser charge of failing to register with state securities regulators, with the second focusing on two counts of securities fraud. Gallagher also declined to immediately rule on the request.

Prosecutors pressed to move the trial from Paxton’s home county, arguing that Paxton and his supporters have engaged in a long-running “crusade” to influence potential jurors by seeking to discredit prosecutors, evidence and Paxton’s accusers.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/ruling-trial-move-paxton-pretrial-hearing/rMTbdGGY6KsxglHkMBViVO/