It is a political prosecution. The politics of the different participants is in play. A judge who supports moveon.org is unlikely to be unbiased. It is like having your DWI case tried by a judge who is a financial supporter of MADD. The idea that future scrutiny in appeals will control his actions is doubtful. It would certainly control obviously biased actions, such as asking "How does the guilty party plead?", but most of his procedural decisions come in a large gray area, and he could consistently rule at one end of the gray area without exposing himself too much to reversal. And even if he is reversed, the object of the prosecution is attained - the removal of Delay as a factor in the '06 elections. It not about whether they win or lose the case - they win just by keeping the player (DeLay) out of the game. The Dems would like to stretch this out for a year, say to mid-November, then maybe drop the case. Who is it pushing for speed?

Just find another Judge and convict the SOB.