A judge on Tuesday faulted a state attorney's behavior in the case against ousted House speaker Ray Sansom but said it did not amount to prosecutorial misconduct and declined to dismiss the charges.

That means Sansom is moving closer to a trial, to be held early next year, on grand theft charges in which he is accused of slipping $6 million into the state budget for an airplane hangar that would benefit a friend and political contributor.

Sansom, R-Destin, along with ex-college president Bob Richburg and developer Jay Odom argued that Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs acted improperly in the case, including leading the grand jury along and making inflammatory public statements. They also argued that Meggs' engaged in "prosecutorial vindictiveness." (story here)