DeLay booked, released on $10,000 bail

HOUSTON -- Rep. Tom DeLay turned himself in Thursday at the sheriff's office and was fingerprinted, photographed and released on $10,000 bail on conspiracy and money laundering charges.\nAccompanied by his attorney, Dick DeGuerin, the former House majority leader showed up about midday, appeared before a judge and was gone in less than 30 minutes, Sheriff's Lt. John Martin said.\n"Now Ronnie Earle has the mugshot he wanted," DeGuerin said, referring to the Travis County district attorney who brought the charges. DeLay and his lawyer have accused the district attorney of trying to make headlines for himself.\nThe Texas Republican is scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday in Austin. The charges forced DeLay to give up his House leadership post.\nLater Thursday, the defense asked Judge Bob Perkins to step aside and be moved out of Travis County for the trial. Perkins has donated to causes and people opposed to DeLay, and his impartiality might be questioned, the motion said.\nThe motion listed 34 contributions from Perkins, which included donations to John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004; www.moveon.org, a liberal advocacy group; and national, state and local Democratic committees.\nThe change-of-venue motion cited media attention and noted that Austin, widely perceived as a liberal town, is "one of the last enclaves of the Democratic Party in Texas."\nDeLay had been expected to turn himself in in his home county outside Houston, Fort Bend, where a horde of reporters awaited. But under Texas law, he could check in anywhere in the state.\nDeGuerin said he and DeLay went to the sheriff's office in Houston because it was convenient and because "I wanted to avoid the circus."\n"That's what Ronnie (Earle) wanted. He wanted a perp walk and we did not want to do it," the defense attorney said.\nDeLay and two political associates are charged in an alleged scheme to funnel corporate donations to candidates for the Texas Legislature. State law prohibits donations of corporate money for direct campaign purposes.\nWith DeLay's help, the GOP won control of the Texas House, and the Legislature then pushed through a congressional redistricting plan that sent more Republicans to Washington.