MICHELE NORRIS, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.  I'm Michele Norris.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And I'm Robert Siegel.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay returned to a courtroom in Austin,      Texas, today, hoping to get the indictment against him dismissed.  He is      charged with money laundering and conspiracy.  Ronnie Earle, the Travis      County district attorney, filed those charges in connection with fund      raising DeLay did for Texas legislative candidates in 2002.  Larry      Schooler of member station KUT gives us a quick update.</s>LARRY SCHOOLER reporting: Much of the hearing focused on what happened to corporate contributions      collected by the Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action      Committee, or TRMPAC, which Congressman DeLay helped start.  The district      attorney's office argues TRMPAC sent $190,000 in corporate contributions      to the Republican National Committee.  The RNC later sent an equivalent      sum back to Texas legislative candidates, which, prosecutors argue,      amounts to money laundering and a violation of the Texas Election Code.      But DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, says prosecutors blundered in      describing how TRMPAC handled the corporate contributions.</s>Mr. DICK DeGUERIN (Attorney for Tom DeLay): And I'm very encouraged,      particularly by what the state said, that this is not the same money.      It's what we've been saying all along.</s>SCHOOLER: DeGuerin was disappointed he couldn't get the judge hearing      the case, Pat Priest, to rule immediately on his motion to dismiss the      charges against DeLay.  Judge Priest wants more time to review the many      legal briefs filed in the case; the judge said he'd been up all night      doing just that. Priest says he expects to have a ruling within two      weeks.  If he rejects the motion to dismiss the charges, trial might not      begin until early next year, which further complicates DeLay's hopes of      returning to his leadership post. For NPR News, I'm Larry Schooler in      Austin.
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) must wait several more weeks to learn if a judge will dismiss conspiracy charges against him in Texas. He appeared in court in Austin today. Larry Schooler of member station KUT reports.