White Collar Alert

The news outlets exploded this weekend with commentary on the Gov. Rick Perry indictment, and the criticism was fast and swift to deem it a very weak case. On Friday, Perry was indicted on two felony counts that arose from his decision to veto state funds for a district attorney who had been caught drunk driving but refused to resign. The felony charges include possible penalties of over 100 years in jail. Perry has called the indictment a farce and has promised to “explore every legal avenue” to fight the charges.

For those outside the realm of the legal sector, it probably seemed surprising that such paltry facts could result in serious charges with serious penalties. For those within the white collar field, it constitutes a shoulder shrug. How often do we see cases that should have been nipped in the early investigatory stages after the evidence didn’t fully support criminal activity but instead was referred to a grand jury for an even closer look? And, sadly, once a case is charged that shouldn’t have been charged, it is often a very long road to reveal the truth.