Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 12, 1994 TAG: 9402120080
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FORT WORTH, TEXAS LENGTH: Short
Hutchison shook hands with the just-seated jurors, then walked out of the courthouse beaming about being cleared of charges that she used her previous office as state treasurer for personal and political purposes.
"I stood and fought because I knew I had done nothing," Hutchison said later at a news conference packed with cheering supporters.
Judge John Onion Jr. refused to rule before testimony began on whether evidence seized in a June raid of the state treasury could be used. Prosecutors said they wouldn't proceed without the ruling.
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle asked Onion to drop the charges before a jury was seated. But Hutchison's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, wanted a jury seated first so that she could not be indicted again if the charges were dismissed.
After the judge seated the jury, Earle refused to open his case. The jurors were instructed to find Hutchison innocent, and the panel acquitted her less than an hour after it was sworn in.
Her attorneys had sought to suppress evidence from the raid, saying it was illegal because authorities did not use search warrants.
Prosecutors said search warrants weren't needed because they were simply serving subpoenas issued by a grand jury.
by CNB