Willacy County charges dismissed against Cheney, Gonzales, others

RAYMONDVILLE — Judge J. Manuel Bañales threw out all eight Willacy County grand jury indictments against defendants that included Vice President Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. and two district judges.

At the request of several defense attorneys, Banales has scheduled a Dec. 10 hearing on motions for sanctions against Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra, including demands that Guerra pay the costs of defending against the grand jury indictments.

Bañales' action on the indictments followed a ruling by visiting Judge Michael Peden of San Antonio that Bañales could preside on the hearings on the indictments.

Peden heard four hours of testimony before ruling that Bañales is not biased against Guerra, nor is he part of a conspiracy against the DA, as Guerra claimed in his motion aimed at removing the Bañales.

Peden ended the hearing by saying, "Mr. Guerra, you made some very serious accusations (against the people indicted)."

He said Guerra had violated the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure by trying to act as victim, witness and prosecutor in the same cases.

At 3 p.m., Bañales began hearing arguments from attorneys representing Lucio, Cheney, Gonzales, GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp.,), state District Judges Migdalia Lopez and Janet Leal, former special prosecutors Mervyn Mosbacker Jr. and Gus Garza, as well as District Clerk Gilbert Lozano.

Bañales also said he agreed with lawyers' arguments that it was a violation of law and professional standards for Guerra to take cases against their clients to a grand jury as prosecutor, victim and witness.

The judge also ruled that it was improper for the indictments to be issued by a grand jury made up of 10 regular members and two alternates instead of 12 regular members.

Lopez had never made one of the alternates a permanent member after learning two of the women on the original July 2008 grand jury panel were sisters.

He had allowed one of them to resign, Guerra testified.

The judge also said it was improper that the indictments were handed to the District Clerk's office instead of to a district judge in court.

While Guerra said the method of submitting indictments to the district clerk, rather than a judge, has been used in Willacy County for 14 years, lawyers argued that all indictments presented that way were invalid.

The judge ordered Guerra, who leaves office Dec. 31, not to present any new indictments against any of the eight defendants during his remaining weeks in office.

Bañales ruled there was no probable cause to being indictments against any of the defendants, but Guerra begged the judge to hold an examining trial to determine if charges of engaging in organized criminal activity against Cheney, Gonzales, GEO Group and GEO official David Forrest.

The judge granted the request, but the hearing will be Jan. 2, after Guerra leaves office.

Guerra later told news reporters in his office that Bañales had manipulated the legal system by scheduling the examining trial two days after his term as DA expires.