Prosecutor accuses Rick Perry of seeking "special favors"

The special prosecutor in Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry's abuse of power case said the governor is seeking "special favors" and "making a mockery" of the justice system by looking to skip a pretrial hearing when he will be traveling in Europe on Texas business.

"I don't think there's any reason why Mr. Perry should be treated any differently from any other citizen who's required to be in court," Michael McCrum, the prosecutor, told the San Antonio Express-News. "He's asking for special favors, and as far as I'm concerned, he's not entitled to it," said McCrum, a San Antonio lawyer.

Perry's lawyers have asked the judge to excuse him from a pretrial hearing scheduled for Oct. 13 because he will be traveling in Europe to court foreign investors on behalf of Texas businesses.

"I've never seen a defendant make such a mockery of our system of justice," McCrum told the San Antonio News Express, citing as an example Perry's rally at the courthouse after being booked when he said the Texas governor was "smirking."

That prompted Perry's own lawyers to fire and argue that McCrum's comments were inappropriate.

"I'm a little bit baffled that somebody who is supposed to be standing in the shoes of the Travis County DA is making comments in the newspaper about Gov. Perry's facial expressions or anything else. It would seem to me probably improper," Buzbee told the newspaper in an interview.

Perry was indicted in August on two felony counts of abuse of power. Prosecutors allege that Perry behaved illegally when he called on Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign after she was arrested for and pleaded guilty to drunk driving in April 2013. When she did not step down, Perry vetoed the $7.5 million in funding for her office.

The governor said he is being prosecuted on "baseless political charges."