Second-Year Texas Judge Takes on Long-Awaited Ken Paxton Trial

In the Houston courtroom of Judge Andrea Beall, who was recently elected on a promise to fight a backlog of cases, nine-year-old allegations of felony securities fraud against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) will be brought to trial in April.

It will be one of the most watched cases in Texas state court this year, where a Harris County jury will decide whether to send the state’s attorney general to prison.

Beall, 36, won election as a long shot in 2022 after unseating an incumbent judge in the Democratic primary. She inherited the Paxton case last summer, six months ...