Court Orders Trial for Ex-President’s Heckler

TEXAS

A man who disrupted a speech being given by former President Bush should be tried for heckling, a court in Austin ruled.

Thomas Markovich was a university student in 1998 when he stood up in the House gallery and yelled at Bush, who was speaking as part of the Texas Book Festival. Markovich’s attorney, Kenneth Houp, said the outburst was prompted by a reference to Nicaragua Bush had made in his speech.

A district judge initially dismissed the charge of disrupting a meeting, calling the law too vague, but it was reinstated on appeal and the state’s highest criminal court ruled that a trial should be held.