August 27, 2014 4:43 PM

HK: Perry legal team maneuvers leave some white collar defense attorneys puzzled

The shelf life of an indicted politician is short, so why pursue slower strategy?

Armchair lawyering is about as productive as backseat driving but watching the Perry legal defense-apalooza has piqued our curiosity so this observer started talking to a handful of high profile long-time white collar defense attorneys.

So, with full knowledge that this layman is stepping into the minefield of thousands of attorneys armed with an actual legal education, here we go:

The most significant observation is how short the shelf-life of a criminally indicted elected official is. The single most dominant imperative is quick resolution before the cycle gets too far down the line and the defendant is mired in quicksand.

So at least one attorney with whom we spoke was puzzled that the defense decided to seek dismissal based on dozens and dozens of constitutional habeas challenges to the indictments. All of those challenges are appealable by both sides once the judge rules which may simply prolong the process. The sheer volume may have been intended to overwhelm the limited resources of the special prosecutor, but again, any delays of proceedings may ultimately produce success in court but does not automatically translate to a political victory.

By Harvey Kronberg