An indictment for aggravated perjury against local attorney William “Bill” Ruth will be thrown out according to court records; just one week after the indictment was handed down by a Brown County grand jury.
Ruth filed a Motion to Quash the indictment last Thursday with a response from special prosecutor Evan Pierce-Jones coming on Friday stating “The state of Texas does not oppose the Defendant’s Supplemental Motion to Quash Indictment in this cause.”
Ruth said that his Motion to Quash was based on a law that states that a grand jury may not charge a defendant for aggravated perjury if it is the same jury where the alleged statement was made.
“My family has been humiliated enough by the ridiculous allegations brought against me,” Ruth said Saturday in a statement he released. “As stated in my Motion to Quash and Motion to Disqualify the Special Prosecutor, the prosecutor cannot even identify how my testimony was anything but true. So, I’m not surprised that my Motion to Quash was successful.”
The aggravated perjury indictment alleged that Ruth made statements in court under oath in a civil case on January 17, 2012 that contradicted another statement made before a grand jury on February 21, 2013 related to power of attorney to act in the interest of the Smith Family Partnership for his mother, Peggy Joyce Ruth. The aggravated perjury indictment was returned by the same Brown County grand jury against Ruth on March 1st.
In January, Ruth was also indicted for the charge of barratry which stems from the lawsuit he filed in the interest of his grandmother. This case is still pending.
Ruth maintains his innocence and says that both charges are mired in retaliation, conflicts of interests, official oppression and hypocrisy.
“Who gets thrown in jail for ‘lying’ when the prosecutor cannot even state what the lie was or how the 2 alleged statements are ‘inconsistent’ when one deals with a ‘written’ Power of Attorney and the other about ‘general’ approval attested to by my mother,” Ruth said.
