By Juan Montoya
Cameron County taxpayers are probably hoping the John Allen Rubio saga would get the seven-year itch and just go away.
Listen to what a denizen of 14th Street – not exactly a learned barrister – has to say:
"Ese bato mato a sus hijos. Ya deben de darle la abuja y mandarlo a ch----r su ma---e."
The woman, not exactly a homeowner or model citizen (she has a girlfriend with an 18-year-old son who lives with her), is not above selling a bag of coke now and then to make ends meet. However, even among these petty criminals, there are certain lines they will not cross. One of these is the murder of innocent children.
"I remember being at the Sportsman Lounge when a friend of his came in to the bar the night before this happened and told us that John was sharpening some knives and that he had threatened to kill him if he didn't leave the house," she remembered. "He's not crazy. He was planning to do it for at least a day before it happened."
Regardless, the cost of the capital murder case is rising. As the new appeals and motions for change of venue mount, the money meter keeps running and county taxpayers continue to pay the bill, now hovering pas the $1 million mark.
The cost for Rubio's first trial has not been fully released by the auditor's office, but it is estimated to have been more than $500,000. The retrial, after his conviction was reversed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals September 2007 has been climbing well past $226,000, according to the Cameron County Auditor's Office.
Now, as defense attorneys come up with novel ways to drag out the case, it is likely that after expert witnesses are called by the prosecutors and defense attorneys, that bill will keep on climbing.
Rubio's trial was being heard before Cameron County State District Judge Arturo C. Nelson. However, Nelson recused himself from hearing the trial earlier this week amid charges by both the defense and prosecution that Nelson had favored one over the other.
Visiting District Judge Noe Gonzalez, of Hidalgo County, has been attempting to move the process along. But, as with all capital murder cases, there are a lot of "i"s to be dotted and "t"s to be crossed in order to reach a non-overturnable verdict.
Rubio, a former Porter graduate, is accused of murdering his three children in Brownsville on March 2003. The children were smothered, stabbed and mutilated, according to investigators. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity during the trial, but a jury convicted him and he was sentenced to death.
An appeals court overturned the conviction because his wife – who was there at the time the murders were committed – did not have an attorney present when she made statements incriminating Rubio. Also, defense attorneys successfully argued that Rubio was not given the chance to cross-examine her testimony because it was presented as a recording by the prosecution in court.
A former prosecutor said Nelson had held conferences and hearings in chambers without notifying the lead prosecutor. He said that when prosecutors protested, Nelson disregarded the protest and continued.
Three months ago, auditor figures indicate that defense attorney Ed Stapleton and Nat Lopez have each earned more than $150,000. As the trial continues to the next step, it is almost impossible to estimate what the costs incurred as a result of Nelson's recusal will be.
"If the costs keep on climbing, we will have to bear the expenses for Rubio's defense because he is an indigent defendant," said a former prosecutor. "That's you and me."
"Pa que tanto pedo?" said the hermaphrodite on 14th. "Matenlo a la ve--a."
Cameron County taxpayers are probably hoping the John Allen Rubio saga would get the seven-year itch and just go away.
Listen to what a denizen of 14th Street – not exactly a learned barrister – has to say:
"Ese bato mato a sus hijos. Ya deben de darle la abuja y mandarlo a ch----r su ma---e."
The woman, not exactly a homeowner or model citizen (she has a girlfriend with an 18-year-old son who lives with her), is not above selling a bag of coke now and then to make ends meet. However, even among these petty criminals, there are certain lines they will not cross. One of these is the murder of innocent children.
"I remember being at the Sportsman Lounge when a friend of his came in to the bar the night before this happened and told us that John was sharpening some knives and that he had threatened to kill him if he didn't leave the house," she remembered. "He's not crazy. He was planning to do it for at least a day before it happened."
Regardless, the cost of the capital murder case is rising. As the new appeals and motions for change of venue mount, the money meter keeps running and county taxpayers continue to pay the bill, now hovering pas the $1 million mark.
The cost for Rubio's first trial has not been fully released by the auditor's office, but it is estimated to have been more than $500,000. The retrial, after his conviction was reversed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals September 2007 has been climbing well past $226,000, according to the Cameron County Auditor's Office.
Now, as defense attorneys come up with novel ways to drag out the case, it is likely that after expert witnesses are called by the prosecutors and defense attorneys, that bill will keep on climbing.
Rubio's trial was being heard before Cameron County State District Judge Arturo C. Nelson. However, Nelson recused himself from hearing the trial earlier this week amid charges by both the defense and prosecution that Nelson had favored one over the other.
Visiting District Judge Noe Gonzalez, of Hidalgo County, has been attempting to move the process along. But, as with all capital murder cases, there are a lot of "i"s to be dotted and "t"s to be crossed in order to reach a non-overturnable verdict.
Rubio, a former Porter graduate, is accused of murdering his three children in Brownsville on March 2003. The children were smothered, stabbed and mutilated, according to investigators. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity during the trial, but a jury convicted him and he was sentenced to death.
An appeals court overturned the conviction because his wife – who was there at the time the murders were committed – did not have an attorney present when she made statements incriminating Rubio. Also, defense attorneys successfully argued that Rubio was not given the chance to cross-examine her testimony because it was presented as a recording by the prosecution in court.
A former prosecutor said Nelson had held conferences and hearings in chambers without notifying the lead prosecutor. He said that when prosecutors protested, Nelson disregarded the protest and continued.
Three months ago, auditor figures indicate that defense attorney Ed Stapleton and Nat Lopez have each earned more than $150,000. As the trial continues to the next step, it is almost impossible to estimate what the costs incurred as a result of Nelson's recusal will be.
"If the costs keep on climbing, we will have to bear the expenses for Rubio's defense because he is an indigent defendant," said a former prosecutor. "That's you and me."
"Pa que tanto pedo?" said the hermaphrodite on 14th. "Matenlo a la ve--a."
4 comments:
Crazy bastard, he should be rotting in a jail somewhere. I get sit looking at that s.o.b.
It's a business and they still got more milking to do...
cj
What a shame, taxes just went up in the county, and we are paying taxes to defend a looser.
they are not paying to defend him..they are paying to prosecute him. they say they need money to hire expensive expert witnesses to counter rubios high profile expert witnesses. the question is, how is rubio paying for his high powered expert witnesses?
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