El Paso DA blames judge for mass dismissal of border riot cases, hints at political play
El Paso's District Attorney Bill Hicks is pointing fingers at a local judge for the dismissal of dozens of migrant riot cases. El Paso's District Attorney Bill Hicks has accused County Court Judge Ruben Morales of dismissing 59 cases of alleged riot charges along the border. Hicks stated that the cases were dismissed due to a clerical error and that the public defender, Kelli Childress-Diaz, had ulterior motives behind the dismissals. He also suggested that Childress had other options for her clients but didn't consider them. However, Childress responded to these allegations, calling them "silly". Attorney James Montoya, who is running against Hicks in the November election, agreed that Hicks mishandled these cases and that he won't give up the fight.
게시됨 : 10개월 전 ~에 의해 Julia Spencer, https://www.facebook.com/kfoxtv ~에 Politics
El Paso's District Attorney Bill Hicks is pointing fingers at a local judge for the dismissal of dozens of migrant riot cases.
On Monday, County Court Judge Ruben Morales dismissed 59 cases of alleged riot charges that happened along the border.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Hicks acknowledged the dismissals and said Judge Morales dismissed the cases due to a clerical error.
Hicks said Exhibit A of the case wasn't filed correctly by the County Clerk and District Clerk's offices and due to this error, Judge Morales dismissed the cases because of inaccuracies.
Hicks said during his office now has two options on how to handle the 59 cases on top of the 200 other cases that were dismissed last week.
Hicks will either go back to the grand jury to indict the 59 cases or appeal the judge's order.
Hicks also took time out of the news conference to claim the public defender, Kelli Childress-Diaz had ulterior motives behind the cases.
"I think that Ms. Childress, the public defender, has a political motive," said Hicks.
Hicks then went on to explain that Childress-Diaz had other options for her clients but didn't consider them.
"They could have gone to trial, they could have pled their case. They could have even gotten their cases, they're defending their clients out of jail. They waved several bond hearings," said Hicks.
However, the public defender refuted his allegations.
"They're absolutely silly. If I had political motivations, I wouldn't be a public defender," said Childress-Diaz.
Childress-Diaz said that Hick's mention of her other options on how to handle the case was not accurate and he has the wrong idea as to why the cases were dismissed in the first place.
"The idea that someone should plead guilty to a crime because it's easier on the attorney is a little offensive and Mr. Hicks having previously been a defense attorney it surprises me that he would say something like that," said Childress-Diaz.
Childress-Diaz also said that if the district attorney's office decides to take these cases to a grand jury then it would be a waste of resources, money, and time.
"And it seems to me as an attorney and as a taxpayer that I can't fathom what they think justifies this," said Childress-Diaz.
KFOX14 spoke with attorney James Montoya, who is running against Hicks in the November election and agrees that Hicks mishandled these cases.
"The DA's office was forced to take these misdemeanor cases to a grand jury, which is again a very unusual and abnormal procedure. And so in my opinion, these cases have been mishandled from the very beginning," said Montoya.
However, Hicks said he won't give up the fight on these cases.
"If we have to fight hard for justice, that's what we do. We fight hard to hold people accountable," said Hicks.
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