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Keeping up appearancesBy Bill Schneider RELATED
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSWASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a high-profile political case, you don't just need a lawyer who can handle your defense. You need a lawyer who can handle your image. One who can even win the political Play of the Week. The image of Tom DeLay is not from his campaign poster. It's his mug shot. Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show," said, "It's a great shot of him. Like it's literally the best day of his life." "I find this is a very good day," DeLay said Thursday when he was booked in Texas on conspiracy and money-laundering charges. In his mug shot, a smiling DeLay is wearing a coat and tie. And the photograph doesn't have numbers below his face. How did DeLay avoid an embarrassing mug shot? He went out and got himself a high-profile Texas lawyer. Who wears a Stetson hat. And speaks with a drawl. "With a fair trail and a fair tribunal, the jury will find that Tom DeLay has not committed a crime, " his attorney said Friday. Dick DeGuerin is a celebrity defense lawyer. He once represented Branch Davidian leader David Koresh. When Travis county prosecutor Ronnie Earle brought charges against Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in 1994, DeGuerin got her acquitted. Now that same prosecutor has brought charges against DeLay. Delay and two political associates were indicted for allegedly steering corporate donations to state Republican legislative candidates. Texas law prohibits corporate donations to political campaigns. All three deny wrongdoing. DeGuerin has charged Earle with prosecutorial misconduct. "We've also filed to request to have the case moved out of Travis County," DeGuerin said. He has asked the judge, an elected Democrat, to be removed from the case. "The motion is serious," DeGuerin said. "It deals with, not just the fact that the judge is an active Democrat, as he has every right to be, but that he is supporting causes and persons that have been in direct opposition to Congressman DeLay, including Moveon.org." When reporters and photographers staked out the courthouse in DeLay's district where he was expected to surrender, DeGuerin advised his client to surrender 40-miles away in Harris County. No perp walk. Inkless fingerprints. No mug shots with numbers across the chest. And for God's sake, look happy. "This is what Ronnie Earle wanted: A mug shot of Tom DeLay that he could hand out to DeLay's political opponents," DeGuerin said. DeGuerin claims his client is being prosecuted because of his politics. So DeGuerin is playing politics right back. Skillfully enough to win the political Play of the Week. As it happens, DeGuerin is a Democrat. Who father once worked for LBJ. But he's given money to both Democrats and Republicans. Smart lawyer. 
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