Special to El Rrun-Rrun
Starting with his assertion that his arrest for Driving While Under the Influence a week ago today was just a "detention" and the Brownsville Police Dept. report saying that his claims to have been at Pokey's Planet before his arrest were contradicted by a Facebook post online about an hour and a half later, the facts in the arrest of Erasmo Castro, a member of the Brownsville Independent School District board, has raised many questions.
According to Brownsville Herald's reporting of the Castro arrest, police found him sitting in the back seat of his 2016 Fiat at about 1:30 a.m., in an apparent state of intoxication. The police report that he failed several field sobriety tests and that he refused to give them breath and blood specimens.
A municipal judge issued a warrant and Valley Baptist Hospital phlebotomist drew a sample of his blood. He was then arraigned later that morning and released on $1,5000 bond.
![Image result for erasmo castro]()
He then posted that "Earlier this morning I was detained...and I understand if you opt to unfriend me."
We ran into a local attorney acquainted with DWI defenses and he said that an element of the DWI is that police arrest you behind the wheel of a car for the charges to stick.
We can imagine Castro saying that he was so drunk he fell asleep in the back seat of the car and leave the question open as to who might have been driving and how the car got to end up in a field next to Morrison Road with damage to the front on the driver's side and a flat tire.
And why was Castro in the back seat? Did he have time to call a lawyer friend who advised him to get in the rear seat. Those questions can be answered simply by checking his cell phone logs to see who he got in touch with prior to his arrest. Did someone give him legal advice on what to do in the situation to try to dodge the DWI charge?
There could not be a claim of attorney-client privilege because no one is after the content of the conversation, merely that one took place.
There is also the question of the police use of Castro's Facebook page to refute his assertions that he was at Pokey's instead of the Doghouse. Does that mean that every time someone is stopped on suspicion of DWI or even PI, the cops will visit his Facebook page of social media?
Our lawyer friend said this was more common than many people believed since a similar case based on Facebook postings were used to remove a cheerleader from the San Benito Independent School District squad based on her Facebook posting which the district considered "lewd" and inappropriate.
That case – Longoria vs. San Benito Consolidated Independent School District - heard by Federal Judge Rolando Olvera, ruled that online postings could be considered in disciplinary action by the SBISD and that the board members were entitled to qualified immunity.
But the question remains, why were Facebook screenshots included in the report? We are far from going into discovery, etc. which gives both the defendant and the authorities the opportunity to refute the other's claims. Why was this included in a simple DWI incident report? Are the BPD already trying the case before the court of public opinion?
There is another unusual angle to this. Not long after the reports of Castro's arrest, we asked for copies of the police car and body cams of officers at the scene and were told that the department was asking the Texas Attorney General' Office for an opinion on whether they could release them to the public. (Click on graphic to enlarge.)
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That's par for the course and eventually they will be released after two or three months for the AG to issue the order.
But the funny thing is that we were treated to at least one tape of a squad car cam in a local blog that showed a side shot of Castro taking the sobriety test and the car in the field. That video, by the way, has been taken down and is no longer available.
Who release that tape and why was it sent to a local blogger? Is there a custom and practice of leaks at the PD to go after particular individuals?
We remember that when former City of Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada was arrested – also for alleged DWI – tapes of the arrest appeared almost immediately and included him being handcuffed and booked at the police department.
That was very different from the DWI case involving former District 37 State Rep. Rene Oliveira, where, again, the powers that be resorted to delay the inevitable and request an opinion from the AG's Office.
"Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice..."
Starting with his assertion that his arrest for Driving While Under the Influence a week ago today was just a "detention" and the Brownsville Police Dept. report saying that his claims to have been at Pokey's Planet before his arrest were contradicted by a Facebook post online about an hour and a half later, the facts in the arrest of Erasmo Castro, a member of the Brownsville Independent School District board, has raised many questions.
According to Brownsville Herald's reporting of the Castro arrest, police found him sitting in the back seat of his 2016 Fiat at about 1:30 a.m., in an apparent state of intoxication. The police report that he failed several field sobriety tests and that he refused to give them breath and blood specimens.
A municipal judge issued a warrant and Valley Baptist Hospital phlebotomist drew a sample of his blood. He was then arraigned later that morning and released on $1,5000 bond.
He then posted that "Earlier this morning I was detained...and I understand if you opt to unfriend me."We ran into a local attorney acquainted with DWI defenses and he said that an element of the DWI is that police arrest you behind the wheel of a car for the charges to stick.
We can imagine Castro saying that he was so drunk he fell asleep in the back seat of the car and leave the question open as to who might have been driving and how the car got to end up in a field next to Morrison Road with damage to the front on the driver's side and a flat tire.
And why was Castro in the back seat? Did he have time to call a lawyer friend who advised him to get in the rear seat. Those questions can be answered simply by checking his cell phone logs to see who he got in touch with prior to his arrest. Did someone give him legal advice on what to do in the situation to try to dodge the DWI charge?
There could not be a claim of attorney-client privilege because no one is after the content of the conversation, merely that one took place.
There is also the question of the police use of Castro's Facebook page to refute his assertions that he was at Pokey's instead of the Doghouse. Does that mean that every time someone is stopped on suspicion of DWI or even PI, the cops will visit his Facebook page of social media?
Our lawyer friend said this was more common than many people believed since a similar case based on Facebook postings were used to remove a cheerleader from the San Benito Independent School District squad based on her Facebook posting which the district considered "lewd" and inappropriate.
That case – Longoria vs. San Benito Consolidated Independent School District - heard by Federal Judge Rolando Olvera, ruled that online postings could be considered in disciplinary action by the SBISD and that the board members were entitled to qualified immunity.
But the question remains, why were Facebook screenshots included in the report? We are far from going into discovery, etc. which gives both the defendant and the authorities the opportunity to refute the other's claims. Why was this included in a simple DWI incident report? Are the BPD already trying the case before the court of public opinion?
There is another unusual angle to this. Not long after the reports of Castro's arrest, we asked for copies of the police car and body cams of officers at the scene and were told that the department was asking the Texas Attorney General' Office for an opinion on whether they could release them to the public. (Click on graphic to enlarge.)
That's par for the course and eventually they will be released after two or three months for the AG to issue the order.But the funny thing is that we were treated to at least one tape of a squad car cam in a local blog that showed a side shot of Castro taking the sobriety test and the car in the field. That video, by the way, has been taken down and is no longer available.
Who release that tape and why was it sent to a local blogger? Is there a custom and practice of leaks at the PD to go after particular individuals?
We remember that when former City of Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada was arrested – also for alleged DWI – tapes of the arrest appeared almost immediately and included him being handcuffed and booked at the police department.
That was very different from the DWI case involving former District 37 State Rep. Rene Oliveira, where, again, the powers that be resorted to delay the inevitable and request an opinion from the AG's Office.
"Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice..."