D.A.'S NEPHEW LAST DWI SHOWS HE'S LIVED "ABOVE THE LAW"

As we see it, there can only be two explanations to the luck that Victor Allan Garcia has had in dealing with his travails with the Cameron County criminal judicial system.

One, he is either favored by God who has appointed him his personal guardian angel, or, he has a cast of supporting characters which include his uncle Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz, a judge or two, special prosecutors, and the treasury of the county which has paid for his defense on various charges including a previous DWI, and an accident involving serious bodily injury or death.

In every one of the cases (there at least five since 2006), he has been able to walk away and sin and sin again.

The latest, as has been amply reported in local blogs, was his Aug. 1 arrest by the Brownsville Police Dept. for yet another DWI.

What will happen this time?

Let's take a look through the years and see how this blessed child has tiptoed his way through this minefield of misdemeanor and felony charges to walk the streets a free man. Notice, if you will, the cast of supporting characters that seem to appear at the most opportune times to pave the way open before him.

 
The most serious felony cases cases that were dismissed stemmed from the September 2013 accident when he struck a 21 year pedestrian while driving drunk. In an effort to fool the police, Victor and his sister, Kacie, switched seats to make it appear that she was driving.

Brownsville PD said both siblings were drunk.

The victim, Gilbert Perez, suffered horrible injuries. We reported at the time that:
"Perez spent weeks in the Intensive Care Unit at Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville with broken legs, a ruptured liver, swollen brain and injured spinal cord.

After six weeks, he was still hospitalized and doctors had to implant three rods to allow him use of his crushed legs.
The victim was on life support systems and had to use machines to help him breathe."

Despite the serious charges, the DWIs, the failure to call an ambulance, the attempt to hinder the investigation, their uncle District Attorney Saenz's office bent over backwards to show extreme leniency in the case.

The cases never went to a jury because their court-appointed defense attorney Ed Stapleton worked out a deal with the Special Prosecutor Cyganiewicz. Instead the court (Betancourt) accepted his no contest plea to a misdemeanor charge (2014-CCR-03424) and granted deferred adjudication (for the second time) and 12 months probation.

Originally, the case was to be heard by 103rd District Judge Janet Leal, but she recused herself and visiting Judge Romeo Flores heard the case. Leal was Saenz's partner in their law firm along with Chester Gonzalez.

In Kacie's case, the DWI and the IntoxicaTion Assault With a Motor Vehicle were dismissed as part of the plea bargain agreement. She pleaded guilty to the felony charge of Accident Involving Injury or Death.

The DA's office (Special Prosecutor Cyganewicz) agreed to the dismissal of the two charges and to have Flores sentence her to five years probation and to apply deferred adjudication after that so that the offense would not show up on her record.

Now, a week ago, according the Brownsville Police Department website, Victor Garcia was arrested once again for DWI.

Nice to have friends (or uncles) in high places, ain't it? As long as there money for the public to pay fr your defense and your uncle to run cover for you, why worry?