DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin had also asked Priest to tentatively schedule a trial for the first or second week of January. Priest wrote that a trial date depends on whether the state appeals his decision earlier this week to dismiss another conspiracy charge and would not commit to a January trial. An appeal would delay the case. "I am fine with setting up the pending pretrial motions for the week between Christmas and New Year's, and with planning a trial setting early next year, but I cannot require the state not to appeal my ruling," Priest wrote.

DeGuerin had also asked the Judge to conduct separate trials on the money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges. He said if DeLay was acquitted on the conspiracy charge, the substantive money laundering charge would be moot.

But, the Judge today said in the letter,

"It is unlikely that I will grant a severance of counts or even of defendants in the absence of a compelling reason to do so," Senior District Judge Pat Priest said in letter to lawyers in the case.

DeLay's last hope may be a hearing at the end of December on his motion to dismiss the charges because of Earle's prosecutorial misconduct. Earle has up until December 20 to decide whether to appeal on last week's ruling dismissing another conspiracy count against DeLay.