Judge says GOP leaders' felony trial will be fast-tracked

After more than an hour behind closed doors in the judge’s chambers, it was announced the felony trial for Bandera County Republican Party Chair Conrad Striegl and Secretary Cari Renae Leith will be fast-tracked.

Despite the lengthy conversation with Judge Keith Williams, who has been tasked with overseeing the case as a visiting judge, no ruling was made on Striegl’s motion to set aside his felony fraud indictment or to allow exceptions.

“These are important cases. They are important to you. They are important to the state,” Williams said to the roughly 15 attendees in the gallery after emerging from his chambers at 11:09 a.m. for the 10 a.m. hearing. “The reason I asked [the defense and prosecution] to come to my chambers… we had some dialogue with both the attorneys about where things stand and about the law that applies and about what’s on file and what we would be hearing today.”

Williams decreed he would like to further educate himself on the case law and legal codes that apply to both sides of the matter before making a ruling.

The judge described the motion to either set aside the indictment or allow exceptions to the indictment as “critically important,” noting that both sides of the matter “argued well back in chambers.”

However, the visiting judge said he needed to conduct more legal research before making a decision.

That decision is expected to be handed down at 10 a.m. Sept. 28 when both Striegl and Renae are set to be back before Williams at the Bandera County Justice Center.

“I hope you’re not too disappointed that we’re going to postpone the hearing to allow opportunity to have briefing on the law that applies here and have further dialogue with the attorney and the court,” Williams said, addressing those in the rows of court pews that face the bench.

The two GOP party leaders could face up to two years in jail on the accusations of fraudulently securing document execution in an amount between $2,500 and $30,000.

The motion to set aside or except the felony indictment, which was filed July 11, asserts the court charge fails to meet requirements set forth by state and federal law.

“The indictment does not allege any words or conduct by defendant that constitute ‘deception’ as defined in the statute or that would support finding of ‘intent to defraud or harm,’” the motion reads.

This is not the only charge filed against Striegl in his official capacity as the county’s party chair.

On June 13, Bandera County Attorney Janna Lindig, filed the misdemeanor charge with the Bandera courts; that same day, former Republican Chair Lynn Haueter signed a sworn affidavit accusing Striegl of altering and falsifying digital records on the Secretary of State website.