Texas court clears ex-Gov. Rick Perry of 2nd felony charge

Texas' highest criminal court has dismissed the second and final felony charge against former Gov. Rick Perry, likely ending a case the Republican says helped sink his short-lived 2016 presidential run.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday voided an abuse-of-power charge. A lower appeals court dismissed a coercion charge against Perry in July.

Perry was indicted by an Austin grand jury in 2014. He called the case politically motivated, but the Republican trial judge refused to dismiss it on constitutional grounds, prompting Perry's appeals.

The charges stem from Perry publicly threatening, and then carrying out, a veto of state funding for public corruption prosecutors after the Democratic head of the unit rebuffed Perry's calls to resign after her arrest for drunken driving.