The 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont has accelerated an appeal by the state of Texas regarding a district court judge’s ruling that resulted in the dismissal of charges against two Montgomery County elected officials and a political consultant. With his ruling, Clapp, who was acting as visiting judge in the 221st state District Court in Montgomery County, dismissed charges of conspiring to circumvent the act against County Judge Craig Doyal, Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley and political consultant Marc Davenport. “In an accelerated appeal, (the court is) putting everyone on notice, ‘Look, we are speeding everything up,” said special prosecutor Chris Downey, who confirmed to The Courier April 19 that he filed a notice to appeal the ruling that a statute in the Texas Open Meetings Act is unconstitutional. Houston-based attorney Rusty Hardin, who is representing Doyal, had little to say Wednesdasy about the appeals court’s decision to expedite the case.
Source: Appeals court fast-tracks Montgomery County Open Meetings case