RICHMOND, Texas – On Friday morning, Fort Bend County Judge K.P. George entered a courtroom just days before his criminal trial on felony money laundering charges was set to begin.
Less than an hour later, George left court with that trial postponed until March.
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The change from the original Feb. 3 start date to March 10 comes after a judge granted the defense’s motion for a continuance.
The move comes after a recently added member of George’s defense team said he is unable to make next week’s start date due to a previously scheduled trial in the San Antonio area.
The defense will also learn Monday the fate of its motion to disqualify the prosecution, after George’s team claimed an agency is investigating the district attorney and his office.
“It was last Friday when I was 100% certain that Brian Middleton is being investigated by an agency, because I was interviewed by an agent of that agency last Friday, a week ago today,” said defense attorney Terry Yates.
After making the claim, George’s team submitted what they say is evidence supporting their request for disqualification.
Yates confirmed to 2 Investigates after the hearing that the agency he referenced in court was a law enforcement agency but declined to provide further details. He did confirm he met with only one investigator.
Former Channel 2 legal analyst Brian Wice, who is serving as a special prosecutor in the case, responded after the hearing.
“The fact that Terry Yates believes that this is the second iteration of the Lindbergh kidnapping, good for him,” Wice said. “What matters is that on March 10, twelve citizens are going to be in a jury box behind me, and all the talk and all the nonsense from the defense lawyers and all their character assassinations come to an end. They can run, but they can’t hide.”
Judge George declined to answer direct questions from 2 Investigates but repeated his claim that, “This is an unjust personal vendetta against me.”
George also has a criminal misdemeanor trial scheduled for May in a social media hoax case that already resulted in the conviction of his former chief of staff, Taral Patel.