By Juan Montoya
Like the proverbial beast slouching toward Bethlehem, the corruption trial of Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre is still on schedule for January 23 at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi.
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Before the hearing, the Cameron County courthouse was rife with rumors that his bond would be revoked for having posted his performance bond with the county clerk and taken the oath of office.
However, visiting judge Manuel Bañales left his bond in place and heard the rest of the pre-trial motions by the state and the defendant.
Yzaguirre – the Democratic Party nominee – beat two write-in opponents in the November election.
This morning his lawyers filed a flurry of motions to dismiss the charges filed against him last year.
The Texas Department of Public Safety worked with the District Attorney's Office and other law enforcement agencies on the investigation. They called the case "Operation Dirty Deeds."
Yzaguirre faces 11 counts of abuse of official capacity, 10 counts of bribery, one count of engaging in organized criminal activity and one count of official oppression.
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One of Yzaguirre's attorneys – Eddie Lucio – argued that multiple charges for the same offenses constituted double jeopardy and should be dismissed, that the court should throw out the evidence gathered by a state trooper who testified that he falsified car titled of junked vehicles to acquire legitimate titles and forged people's names on them to pass them through the tax office, and that prosecutors be ordered to return his client's personal effects, documents, computers, laptops and Ipads they removed from his home and office during court-ordered searches.
Cameron County Asst. District Attorneys countered that they had given the defense a partial inventory list of the items seized from his office and home and that they did not have physical possession of the items.
"They're in a room – the property room – at the DPS in Brownsville," said lead prosecutor Peter Gilman. "All they have to dos is ask for permission from the DPS to see them."
The defense put forth arguments on why evidence gathered by a DPS sting operation should be thrown out, making most of the state case untenable. They argued that the investigator who used junked cars to get new titles license plates had violated the Texas Criminal Code by tampering with a government document. They further listed other acts which included forging the names of other people on the titles and passing them off as legitimate owners so they could register them with the county tax office.
"When they were rejected, he testified he went back and got legitimate names and registration numbers and then they passed," Lucio said. "The code is very specific when it says you cannot violate the law to move the process along."
Lucio also said that the prosecution had been cagey about letting him know about the tax office employees that would be subpoenaed which would have an effect of the ability of the office to transact normal business. He said that if the prosecution would let him know who it was calling on specific days, he would work them into the trial to lessen the impact of their absence from their work at the various tax offices in the county.
Since a change of venue was granted to the defense, the tax workers subpoenaed to appear at the trial would have to be transported there to testify.
"This case was changed in venue at the request of the defense," he reminded Lucio.
However, he said that he would not require the tax workers to be present during jury selection (voir dire) to lessen the impact of the trial on the workers and the residents of Cameron County.
There were two pre-trial hearing scheduled to be heard in Brownsville on Jan. 13 and January 19 to iron out the differences and motion between the state and the defense. Both said that they would need about four days each to complete their arguments in the trial.
"It is clear that this is an extraordinary case," Bañales told the lawyers. "It is going to affect the workers in the tax office and the people of this county."
Like the proverbial beast slouching toward Bethlehem, the corruption trial of Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre is still on schedule for January 23 at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi.
However, visiting judge Manuel Bañales left his bond in place and heard the rest of the pre-trial motions by the state and the defendant.
Yzaguirre – the Democratic Party nominee – beat two write-in opponents in the November election.
This morning his lawyers filed a flurry of motions to dismiss the charges filed against him last year.
The Texas Department of Public Safety worked with the District Attorney's Office and other law enforcement agencies on the investigation. They called the case "Operation Dirty Deeds."
Yzaguirre faces 11 counts of abuse of official capacity, 10 counts of bribery, one count of engaging in organized criminal activity and one count of official oppression.
One of Yzaguirre's attorneys – Eddie Lucio – argued that multiple charges for the same offenses constituted double jeopardy and should be dismissed, that the court should throw out the evidence gathered by a state trooper who testified that he falsified car titled of junked vehicles to acquire legitimate titles and forged people's names on them to pass them through the tax office, and that prosecutors be ordered to return his client's personal effects, documents, computers, laptops and Ipads they removed from his home and office during court-ordered searches.
Cameron County Asst. District Attorneys countered that they had given the defense a partial inventory list of the items seized from his office and home and that they did not have physical possession of the items.
"They're in a room – the property room – at the DPS in Brownsville," said lead prosecutor Peter Gilman. "All they have to dos is ask for permission from the DPS to see them."
The defense put forth arguments on why evidence gathered by a DPS sting operation should be thrown out, making most of the state case untenable. They argued that the investigator who used junked cars to get new titles license plates had violated the Texas Criminal Code by tampering with a government document. They further listed other acts which included forging the names of other people on the titles and passing them off as legitimate owners so they could register them with the county tax office.
"When they were rejected, he testified he went back and got legitimate names and registration numbers and then they passed," Lucio said. "The code is very specific when it says you cannot violate the law to move the process along."
Lucio also said that the prosecution had been cagey about letting him know about the tax office employees that would be subpoenaed which would have an effect of the ability of the office to transact normal business. He said that if the prosecution would let him know who it was calling on specific days, he would work them into the trial to lessen the impact of their absence from their work at the various tax offices in the county.
Since a change of venue was granted to the defense, the tax workers subpoenaed to appear at the trial would have to be transported there to testify.
"This case was changed in venue at the request of the defense," he reminded Lucio.
However, he said that he would not require the tax workers to be present during jury selection (voir dire) to lessen the impact of the trial on the workers and the residents of Cameron County.
There were two pre-trial hearing scheduled to be heard in Brownsville on Jan. 13 and January 19 to iron out the differences and motion between the state and the defense. Both said that they would need about four days each to complete their arguments in the trial.
"It is clear that this is an extraordinary case," Bañales told the lawyers. "It is going to affect the workers in the tax office and the people of this county."