Retired Bell County District Judge C. W. Duncan will hold a hearing Tuesday in Austin on whether the judge assigned to handle the trial of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land should be removed from the case.

Dick DeGuerin, DeLay's attorney, says the Texas Republican will appear at the hearing.

Defendants are required to appear at hearings unless a waiver is signed. No waiver was sought.

DeLay stepped aside as majority leader after he was indicted by separate grand juries in Travis County on conspiracy and money laundering charges.

The indictments stem from an investigation into campaign fundraising for the 2002 election races for the Texas Legislature.

Prosecutors allege corporate donations were funneled illegally to Republican candidates in those races.

DeLay is asking that the presiding judge, Bob Perkins, recuse himself from the case. DeLay's legal team says Perkins has made 34 political contributions to Democrats and their allies.

Duncan, who’s also a Democrat, will decide who presides over DeLay’s trial.

Duncan, 81, has a reputation as a non-political mediator.

DeLay’s Legal Expense Trust reported Monday it had raised $318,000 in the third quarter of the year.

The fund spent more than $278,000 during the three-month period ending Sept. 30.

Most legal costs for the Texas case are yet to come.