Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is calling on state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, to step down after it was revealed that Leach texted a judge asking her to reconsider the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson.
Roberson was scheduled to be executed in October but was given a reprieve when the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, on which Leach serves, issued Roberson a subpoena to testify.
“It’s a bit of a messy situation. Representative Leach sent a text message to Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Michelle Slaughter asking her to reconsider the case because, as you mentioned, he’s been a huge advocate of Roberson, saying that there are too many holes in the case,” said James Barragán, politics reporter for The Texas Tribune.
Paxton has called on Leach to resign, saying that by messaging the judge, the lawmaker demonstrated “that he is unfit to serve” in the Texas House.
“Obviously, that tries to influence the judge. And Leach has said as much, and he’s apologized for doing it,” Barragán said. “But Attorney General Paxton has said that, you know, it’s not good conduct. He’s asked him to resign. He’s asked House Speaker [Dade] Phelan to remove him as a chairman.”
Paxton has also made a criminal referral against Leach. It’s worth noting, Barragán said, that Paxton and Leach were already at odds.
“There’s a lot of bad blood, because Leach is a former friend of Attorney General Paxton who last year was among the group of lawmakers who led the House impeachment of Paxton and helped try him in the Senate. So that’s a little bit of the undercurrent here as well.”
Hear more stories from the week in Texas politics in the audio player above.
