Records suggest improper notification for hearing in public corruption case

RAYMONDVILLE — Defense attorneys for several high-profile public officials may have jumped the gun Wednesday when they went before a judge and asked him to quash indictments against their clients, court records suggest.

Judge J. Manuel Bañales had only planned to review the indictments against the defendants, determine bail, and schedule the cases for arraignment, pretrial hearings and trial when he went to the Willacy County Courthouse on Wednesday, according to court documents.

Instead, the judge ended up presiding over an impromptu hearing at which some 13 defense attorneys - representing Vice-President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. and several others - asked him to dismiss the indictments against their clients.

No notice of the proceeding was given, the court documents state. Some of the defense attorneys said they showed up at the courthouse after they learned by word of mouth the judge would be there at that time.

Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra was not present for the hearing.

Some of the defense attorneys also wanted Bañales to hold Guerra in contempt of court and to sanction him for not being at the proceeding.

"It is insulting to the court and every one of us," Tony Canales, an attorney for Cheney, Gonzales and private corrections company GEO Group Inc. - formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp. - told the judge.

"He should be man enough to be here," Luis Saenz, an attorney for 103rd state District Judge Janet Leal, said of the district attorney. Lucio attorney Michael Cowen, meanwhile, suggested Guerra likely had known of the proceeding through media reports.

Bañales was in court Thursday in Kingsville and was not available for comment.

When reached Thursday, Guerra said he was out of town and had not been provided notice of any proceeding. Though he didn't say where he was, he did say he was returning to the Rio Grande Valley.

"I heard rumors (there would be some proceeding on Wednesday), but I don't go by rumors," he said. "I go by the dockets."

And at any rate, he said, a judge doesn't need a district attorney to be present when the judge determines bail or schedules arraignments.

Bañales has set a hearing for 10:30 a.m. today to address challenges to the validity of the indictments and - if those indictments stand - to conduct arraignments and pretrial proceedings.

Other officials under indictment include 197th state District Judge Migdalia Lopez; Mervyn Mosbacker Jr. and Gustavo Garza, both of whom have served as special prosecutors; and Willacy County District Clerk Gilbert Lozano.

Cowen said in an e-mail late Thursday that Bañales had entered an order disqualifying Guerra as prosecutor in the cases against Leal, Lopez, Mosbacker, Garza and Lozano.

Guerra said he would likely attend today's court hearing out of respect for Bañales and the court, although the district attorney said he didn't understand why 72 hours notice had not been provided as required.

"Why the urgency?" he said.

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Emma Perez-Treviño is a reporter for The Brownsville Herald.