No Halloween Hearing for Perry

Gov. Rick Perry won't be making a Halloween court appearance after all.

The Oct. 31 hearing that had been scheduled in Perry's criminal case has been rescheduled for Nov. 6 at 10 a.m., a court employee confirmed. 

Perry will be attending the hearing because his legal team is raising an evidentiary issue and visiting Judge Bert Richardson has ruled that requires the governor's presence.

Perry's defense attorneys have made a motion that the indictment against the governor should be dismissed, alleging that San Antonio lawyer Michael McCrum was improperly sworn in to prosecute the criminal case. They say McCrum is "acting illegally" because procedural requirements were "overlooked."

Richardson and McCrum have said the oath of office was properly administered.

Perry is charged with abusing his official power by threatening to veto $7.5 million in state funds for the state's public integrity unit unless Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat, stepped down following a 2013 drunken driving conviction. The Travis County DA's office oversees the public integrity unit. Lehmberg refused to resign, and Perry vetoed the money.