DA should step down pending trial
Express-News Editorial Board
Updated 11:14 p.m., Monday, June 4, 2012
Armando Villalobos and his wife Yolanda walk out of the Federal Courthouse in Brownsville lst month. The Cameron County DA should resign or take a leave of absence until the corruption charges against him are resolved.
Photo: Yvette Vela, Brownsville Herald / SA
Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos needs to resign his seat or, at the very least, take a leave of absence until the criminal charges against him are resolved.
The integrity of the criminal justice system of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the fastest growing areas of the state, is at stake.
Villalobos, 44, who is serving his second term as district attorney and recently lost a bid for the Democratic nomination to the newly created 34th Congressional District, is named in a 34-page indictment charging him with public corruption.
These are not flimsy charges lodged in haste to sway public opinion prior to an election.
The charges against Villalobos are the result of a four-year federal investigation that has thus far included a guilty plea from a former state district judge who is cooperating with federal authorities in their continuing investigation.
A former state representative and eight others have also entered guilty pleas.
Among the charges against Villalobos are claims he accepted more than $100,000 in bribes and kickbacks from those seeking favorable outcomes for criminal defendants.
Attempts to legally force Villalobos from office have failed. District Judge J. Manuel BaΓ±ales of Corpus Christi late last month denied a removal petition because it did not meet legal requirements.
“It may be a more prudent and honorable thing for Mr. Villalobos, under the circumstances, to voluntarily step aside on a temporary basis pending the disposition of those charges,” BaΓ±ales said in announcing his decision.
The beleaguered district attorney should follow the judge's sage advice.
Villalobos' trial was set for this month, but he was recently granted a continuance until Aug. 30.
Last month, U.S. Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis' approved the recusal of all but one attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District from the Villalobos case because of the appearance of a conflict of interest. The case is now assigned to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District, which includes San Antonio.
An effective district attorney must to be able to work will all the prosecutors and law enforcement agencies in his jurisdiction.
The three-month delay in Villalobos' trial puts the district attorney's office in a strange holding pattern for the long summer.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and they all deserve their day in court. But the Villalobos case presents a unique set of circumstances and creates unusual conflicts of interest.
It would be in the best interest of the people and the criminal justice system for him to set down.
The integrity of the criminal justice system of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the fastest growing areas of the state, is at stake.
Villalobos, 44, who is serving his second term as district attorney and recently lost a bid for the Democratic nomination to the newly created 34th Congressional District, is named in a 34-page indictment charging him with public corruption.
These are not flimsy charges lodged in haste to sway public opinion prior to an election.
The charges against Villalobos are the result of a four-year federal investigation that has thus far included a guilty plea from a former state district judge who is cooperating with federal authorities in their continuing investigation.
A former state representative and eight others have also entered guilty pleas.
Among the charges against Villalobos are claims he accepted more than $100,000 in bribes and kickbacks from those seeking favorable outcomes for criminal defendants.
Attempts to legally force Villalobos from office have failed. District Judge J. Manuel BaΓ±ales of Corpus Christi late last month denied a removal petition because it did not meet legal requirements.
“It may be a more prudent and honorable thing for Mr. Villalobos, under the circumstances, to voluntarily step aside on a temporary basis pending the disposition of those charges,” BaΓ±ales said in announcing his decision.
The beleaguered district attorney should follow the judge's sage advice.
Villalobos' trial was set for this month, but he was recently granted a continuance until Aug. 30.
Last month, U.S. Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis' approved the recusal of all but one attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District from the Villalobos case because of the appearance of a conflict of interest. The case is now assigned to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District, which includes San Antonio.
An effective district attorney must to be able to work will all the prosecutors and law enforcement agencies in his jurisdiction.
The three-month delay in Villalobos' trial puts the district attorney's office in a strange holding pattern for the long summer.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and they all deserve their day in court. But the Villalobos case presents a unique set of circumstances and creates unusual conflicts of interest.
It would be in the best interest of the people and the criminal justice system for him to set down.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/article/DA-should-step-down-pending-trial-3608230.php#ixzz1xbgUytm4
Once more, a northern city instructing Brownsville on what it must do. Pathetic. But perhaps it's true what they say - Brownsville folks have no grasp of right & wrong anymore. It is a culture rotten to the core, a slash of savage geography better suited for animals. Nothing will come of this, not from the locals anyway. They are small-minded people too-happy with a tortilla, bowl of beans and a beer. Sad, but true.
ReplyDelete2Empinate
"They are small-minded people too-happy with a tortilla, bowl of beans and a beer."
ReplyDeleteCome on Jim. How long are you going to allow this racist, intolerant yahoo to keep posting this type of comments? I was under the impression that you were moderating the comments.
Don't allow racism in your blog under the cover of freedom of speech and expression.
But it is your blog and you will decide whether you want this thrash in here, I just hope you do the right thing.
My policy, if I have one, is to ONLY allow stupid racist comments, not articulated phrased, but racially motivated ones. The "tortilla, beans and a beer" style comments simply serve as illustrative proof of the ignorance of racism. Every hispanic KNOWS he's smarter than the yokel who made that post.
DeleteIt's when racists like the former Imperial Grand Wizard of the Louisiana KKK, David Duke, are able to cloak their racial hatred in carefully contrived phrases that seem to make racism a rational point of view, that I delete the comments.
Jim
Here you go,
DeleteRace Baiting/Racist Behavior: You will not behave in an abusive, libelous, defamatory, hateful, intolerant, bigoted and/or racist manner of communication intended to anger, intimidate or incite a person or race of people.
Good god man. what do you want Jim to do, make this an AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BLOG so your pobre little ego isn't affronted by any mention of a tortilla??!!! Gilberto Hinojosa the token Hispanic yahoo elected by the Texas Democrats - Only idiots and racists can't handle the truth about their own people...... Villalobos is scum and the San Antonio people are right about him too.
ReplyDeleteVillalobos is a DICK now and has always been a DICK! He was part of Gilberto Hinojosa's Dumbokratic Party, willing to lie, cheat and steal for his Party. Villalobos, Conrado Cantu and Hinojosa were aligned in a way to take advantage of the taxpayers. They received a lot of support from lawyers who were dependent on "ad litem" cases to make a living. Able Limas was one of them and is now singing like a bird to mitigate his own corruption. Limas has made comments about other judges who were part of his corruption. He has not yet mentiong others who had to be a part of this to get cases into Limas' court...like Aurora de la Garza.
ReplyDelete