As one might have expected, knowing that Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price was expected in federal court Tuesday, the morning's regularly scheduled commissioners' meeting was one member short. Much to U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn's chagrin though, it wasn't Price who missed the meeting -- Theresa Daniel was absent -- he was there, in the same seat he's held for 30 years, sitting just to County Judge Clay Jenkins left.
Price was expected in court to further explain why, despite his $141,236 annual county salary, he can't afford adequate legal representation. While it's been suggested that Price's claims of indigence are just one last thumb in the eye for the local taxpayers who would be paying the bill, the idea that Price could be broke after years of less than austere living and nearly half-a-million dollars worth of federal forfeitures isn't as crazy as it sounds.
See also: John Wiley Price Wants the Government to Pay for His Lawyer. That's not as Crazy as It Sounds.
With Price absent, Lynn didn't issue a ruling as to his poverty. She ordered him to show up in her court next Tuesday afternoon -- maybe he can just skip out of his commissioner's court meeting a little early if need be -- and explained that the financial affidavit he filed in support of his indigence claim was not detailed enough.
