quote:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35655684

the presiding judge in the state's highest court said a governor's power to exercise a veto "may not be circumscribed by the legislature, by the courts, or by district attorneys".

"When the only act that is being prosecuted is a veto, then the prosecution itself violates separation of powers," Judge Sharon Keller added.

quote:

On August 15, 2014, Texas Governor Rick Perry was indicted by a Travis County grand jury, but has since been cleared on all charges.[2][3] The first charge of the indictment was abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony, for threatening to veto $7.5 million in funding for the Public Integrity Unit, a state public corruption prosecutors department. The second charge, which has since been ruled unconstitutional,[4] was coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony,[5] for seeking the resignation of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat,[6] after she was convicted of drunk driving, and incarcerated. Perry pleaded not guilty to both charges.

On July 24, 2015, the Texas Third Court of Appeals dismissed the indictment for coercion of a public official, on the basis that the indictment violates his First Amendment rights to free speech.[4] The indictment for abuse of power, a charge which his lawyers said is a misdemeanor,[7] was dismissed in February 2016.[8][9] The latter charge carried a potential prison sentence of 5 to 99 years.[4][10]