DISTRICT JUDGE RINCONES TARGET AS MARCH PRIMARIES NEAR

By now everyone knows that 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez will retire from the bench as is Judge Arturo Cisneros Nelson, of the 138th District Court. 

We had not heard of anyone else challenging sitting judges, but now we're hearing strong rumors that 445th District Judge Gloria Rincones is seen as a vulnerable incumbent by some potential candidates.

The upshot of the reason she is seen as vulnerable to (we are told) soon-to-be-named candidates is that Rincones has a string of questionable decisions that have exposed the public to a dangerous criminal by not revoking his probation as requested by the Cameron County District Attorney.

Sources say that in 2018, Rincones disregarded Luis V. Saenz's request for probation revocation of defendant Robert Galvan, then 37, despite the fact that the man had a long list of probation violations. 

Less than three weeks later, Galvan was charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the stabbing death of 54-year-old Horacio Eguia of Brownsville.

During the altercation, Galvan stabbed Brian Scott, 43, with barber scissors . Scott was sent to a Brownsville hospital where he recovered from his wounds.  

"This type of decision made by Rincones from the bench could have resulted in two fatalities," said a local attorney. "If she had granted Saenz's motion to revoke, the other guy might still be alive."

That decision alone, he said, makes Rincones vulnerable to a serious challenger.

"It would be easy to say that since she was just starting on the bench anyone can make mistakes, but the evidence presented by the DA's Office showed that Galvan was a risk to the community."

In 2016, Galvan pleaded guilty to aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury to a family member. Also, he was charged with aggravated assault of a family member with a previous conviction, which was a case from 2005, but that charge was dropped as part of the plea deal.

According to the indictment, Galvan pushed a female family member’s face against the windshield of a motor vehicle, hit her with his fist and pushed her head into the gear shift of the vehicle, causing serious bodily injury.

However, in 2017, court records indicate he violated numerous conditions of his supervised release, including being arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon Dec. 5, 2017; testing positive for cocaine Nov. 28, 2017, and admitting to using the drug; for being delinquent on $1,000 on probation fees and $755 in restitution; and for being unsuccessfully discharged from the Batterers Intervention Program on two occasions.

"People are talking very seriously about Rincones being challenged in the March primary," the lawyer said. "There's plenty of ammunition there. I heard that this was just the tip of the iceberg. She's got some problems."