The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday threw out the final charge against ex-Gov. Rick Perry (R) in a felony abuse-of-power case, according to the Associated Press.
The abuse-of-power charge was filed after Perry made good on his threat to veto funding for the office of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Lehmberg had refused to resign after a high-profile, drunk-driving arrest in 2013.
The original felony indictment was handed down in summer 2014 by a Travis County grand jury. A separate appeals court dismissed a charge of coercion against Perry in July, but left the abuse-of-power charge untouched.
Perry left office in January 2015, but the felony charges followed him as he launched his second presidential bid in June. His 2016 hopes seemed unattainable after lackluster debate performances and low poll numbers. He suspended his campaign in September.
His mugshot (and ice cream trip immediately after being booked and fingerprinted) made quite a splash after he was indicted. Perry’s political action committee even tried to make money off the mugshot with T-shirts.
And then, ice cream cone at #Sandy‘s pic.twitter.com/rDYW6HvoS5
— Rick Perry (@GovernorPerry) August 19, 2014
Read the dismissal below:
