“First of all, I want to thank God, my family and everyone else who was here with us (and) my lawyer, Eddie,” Elizondo said after the trial while hugging his wife. “It’s a very hard road, and I just want to thank, again, my family, God and everyone who prayed for us. Everyone who was praying for Eddie, for the DA (District Attorney) Saenz, because we also have to thank him, he was doing his job. We are happy with what happened today, we can rest as a family today and for now, we are going to go home. We are very tired of all of this.” Former BFD Chief Carlos Elizondo after not guilty verdict
“You know, you do cases every day, you win some, you lose some and I hate to say that we lose some because we are just seeking justice and if justice is that the jury said ‘not guilty,’ I respect that,” Saenz told The Brownsville Herald.
“I wish him and his family well. I know they went through a lot. This didn’t have to happen, but this case had to be tried, and we tried and the jury spoke. I hope he can put it behind him and that he can start recovering, get back to work and move on … He was my friend, and I hope that he can be my friend again.” Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz
By Juan Montoya
It's good to see everyone is willing to let bygones be bygones, even after the fallout from the not guilty verdict issue by a jury in the trial of former City of Brownsville Fire Department Chief Carlos Elizondo on six counts of computer security breach while suspended by the city.
It didn't help that new Fire Chief Jarrett Sheldon, the person who filed the complaint against Elizondo, just ordered to “downgrade” the access and make it "view" only.
“He said, ‘I need for you just to downgrade it.’ In other words, the only thing he ever told to anybody was: don’t shut it off, just downgrade it so that now he only has access to view,” Eddie Lucio, Elizondo's attorney, told the local daily.
“He said, ‘I need for you just to downgrade it.’ In other words, the only thing he ever told to anybody was: don’t shut it off, just downgrade it so that now he only has access to view,” Eddie Lucio, Elizondo's attorney, told the local daily.
If that is so, then why file the charges? In this case, the city's policy did not enumerate what specific department assets Elizondo could not access, something Sheldon said on the stand that he was working on revamping.
But before there's a group hug of everyone involved, let's keep in mind that there are two more charges out there not related to the computer breach. He faces a separate indictment accusing him of theft and misapplication of fiduciary duty over allegations he stole from the firefighters association.
Will the DA's Office get cold feet knowing Lucio will be Elizondo's lawyer in those cases as well?
"The only way that Luis can salvage this is for him to try the two other cases personally," said a local attorney. "If they are dropped or someone else in his office is trampled by Lucio, it might not go well."
Will the DA's Office get cold feet knowing Lucio will be Elizondo's lawyer in those cases as well?
"The only way that Luis can salvage this is for him to try the two other cases personally," said a local attorney. "If they are dropped or someone else in his office is trampled by Lucio, it might not go well."