Don’t mess with the judge!
Don’t mess with the judge!
By Vanessa Perez - In a routine case in the 105th District Court Monday, Judge Manuel Banales demonstrated that he is, in fact, a force to be reckoned with, when two Jim Hogg County Sheriff’s deputies who were subpoenaed as witnesses, did not appear as instructed. According to Assistant District Attorney Robert Flynn, the two did show up as instructed to a previous trial, but instructions for the men to appear Monday, sent to Jim Hogg County by the district attorney’s office, received no response. The trial was briefly put on hold as Kleberg County DA’s office secretaries attempted to reach the men or their superior. “Tell them either they get here or I’ll have an order sent to pick them up and hold them in jail here overnight so they’ll be safe and sound until (court) tomorrow morning,” Banales said very seriously. Once their superior was reached, Flynn told Banales that the men were working an undercover operation about 75 miles out, and would be able to appear at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Banales agreed, and the trial began. However, it recessed early in the afternoon, until the men appeared to testify Tuesday. Flynn attempted to prove that the defendant, Veronica Soto of the Rio Grande Valley, had knowledge of 83 pounds of vacuum-packed marijuana that United States Border Patrol agents found inside the gas tank of a truck in which she was a passenger in mid-July 2005. Flynn called the Jim Hogg County officers to testify because they were involved in a Jim Hogg County case in which Soto previously pleaded guilty to the same judgment. Their testimony, however, was not enough for the DA’s office to meet its burden of proof, and a jury found Soto not guilty on 2nd degree felony charges of possession of marijuana.
By Vanessa Perez - In a routine case in the 105th District Court Monday, Judge Manuel Banales demonstrated that he is, in fact, a force to be reckoned with, when two Jim Hogg County Sheriff’s deputies who were subpoenaed as witnesses, did not appear as instructed. According to Assistant District Attorney Robert Flynn, the two did show up as instructed to a previous trial, but instructions for the men to appear Monday, sent to Jim Hogg County by the district attorney’s office, received no response. The trial was briefly put on hold as Kleberg County DA’s office secretaries attempted to reach the men or their superior. “Tell them either they get here or I’ll have an order sent to pick them up and hold them in jail here overnight so they’ll be safe and sound until (court) tomorrow morning,” Banales said very seriously. Once their superior was reached, Flynn told Banales that the men were working an undercover operation about 75 miles out, and would be able to appear at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Banales agreed, and the trial began. However, it recessed early in the afternoon, until the men appeared to testify Tuesday. Flynn attempted to prove that the defendant, Veronica Soto of the Rio Grande Valley, had knowledge of 83 pounds of vacuum-packed marijuana that United States Border Patrol agents found inside the gas tank of a truck in which she was a passenger in mid-July 2005. Flynn called the Jim Hogg County officers to testify because they were involved in a Jim Hogg County case in which Soto previously pleaded guilty to the same judgment. Their testimony, however, was not enough for the DA’s office to meet its burden of proof, and a jury found Soto not guilty on 2nd degree felony charges of possession of marijuana.
posted by dannoynted1 @ 11:14 PM
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