By Juan Montoya
Much to the chagrin of Brownsville Independent School District trustees Rick Zayas and Ruben Cortez, their motion for the court to hold Accion America's President Carlos Quintanilla in contempt for not cooperating on their depositi
on has fizzled.
Instead, in a hearing held Thursday morning in Leonel Alejandro's court, the judge decided he's had enough of the mess and recused himself from the case.
He denied the motion to declare Quintanilla in contempt of the court for his contentious responses to the BISD trustees' attorney and told the litigants to take their case somewhere else.
"They expected me to be led out in handcuffs to jail for not answering their lawyer Adrian Martinez's questions the way they wanted me to answer them," said a jubilant Quintanilla. "I've just finished leading a 50,000 protester rally against the anti-immigrant movement in Dallas. Did they think this was going to be a cakewalk?"
Zayas and Cortez charged Quintanilla had defamed them by classifying as "corrupt" the process by which a $40 million Stop-Loss insurance contract was awarded to a local broker and their political supporter and by the manner in which former BISD superintendent Hector Gonzales was terminated.
Apparently, the answers in the deposition of the fiery president of the community-action organization displeased Cortez and Zayas and their attorney.
Quintanilla charged in his counterclaim to the Zayas-Cortez defamation suit that the duo had committed “malfeasance, fail(ed) to disclose material fact(s) related to potential criminal wrongdoing and conflict of interest,” and demanded their removal for failing to
perform their fudiciary duties to the district’s 
students.
Quintanilla and Acción America also charged that the duo had engaged in “conduct unbefitting a (BISD) member elected by the citizens of Cameron County, in particular the residents of Brownsville.”
Further, the suit asked the court to remove the duo for “incompetency, official misconduct, intoxication on or off duty and conviction of a trustee for any felony or misdemeanor misconduct.”
The depositions were held in the office of McAllen attorney Martinez, and reliable reports indicate that over the course of the questioning, the two men were involved in heated exchanges and at one point the deposition threatened to turn into a slugfest.
In fact, the deposition was halted and both men went off the record, with Martinez allegedly threatening Quintanilla with arrest, unspecified bodily harm (kick your ass), and then threw the activist out of his office.
The unseeming behavior came about as Cortez, Zayas, and the court reporter and cameraman who filmed the deposition were sitting there watching, reports indicate. Questions about alleged nepotism, sweetheart contracts, and excessive legal fees to keep public documents from being released elicited heated exchanges, with Quintanilla suggesting that Martinez ask his clients about the alleged wrongdoing.
A paraphrasing of the exchanges went thus:
On Nepotism: "Why don't you ask your client Coretez about who made all those telephone calls to a principal and the superintendent trying to get (one of his relatives) hired?"
On Sweetheart contracts: "Why don't you ask Mr. Cortez who showed up at the printers and paid for his signs if it wasn't a delinquent school property tax representative?"
On suppressing public documents: "Why don't you ask Mr. Zayas, who's a lawyer, why he sued the attorney general to keep public documents secret?"
Martinez, reportedly bristling at being baited by Quintanilla replied in no uncertain terms that he wasn't going to be told what to do and warned Quintanilla he would call the judge in the case to complain about the activist's behavior.
Thereupon, Quintanilla pulled out his cell phone and himself tried to call Alejandro, only to get a busy signal. Afterward, Martinez allegedly warned Quintanilla off record that he would "kick your ass."
Observers say that Alejandro's recusal leaves the lawsuit and counterclaim on ground zero and that the process will have to begin with another judge to be appointed in the future.
"Alejandro has been known to cross the streeet when he sees a political hot potato heading toward him on the sidewalk," chuckled one. "This is about par for the course. Bring your chairs because this is going to go on for a long time."
Much to the chagrin of Brownsville Independent School District trustees Rick Zayas and Ruben Cortez, their motion for the court to hold Accion America's President Carlos Quintanilla in contempt for not cooperating on their depositi
on has fizzled.Instead, in a hearing held Thursday morning in Leonel Alejandro's court, the judge decided he's had enough of the mess and recused himself from the case.
He denied the motion to declare Quintanilla in contempt of the court for his contentious responses to the BISD trustees' attorney and told the litigants to take their case somewhere else.
"They expected me to be led out in handcuffs to jail for not answering their lawyer Adrian Martinez's questions the way they wanted me to answer them," said a jubilant Quintanilla. "I've just finished leading a 50,000 protester rally against the anti-immigrant movement in Dallas. Did they think this was going to be a cakewalk?"
Zayas and Cortez charged Quintanilla had defamed them by classifying as "corrupt" the process by which a $40 million Stop-Loss insurance contract was awarded to a local broker and their political supporter and by the manner in which former BISD superintendent Hector Gonzales was terminated.
Apparently, the answers in the deposition of the fiery president of the community-action organization displeased Cortez and Zayas and their attorney.
Quintanilla charged in his counterclaim to the Zayas-Cortez defamation suit that the duo had committed “malfeasance, fail(ed) to disclose material fact(s) related to potential criminal wrongdoing and conflict of interest,” and demanded their removal for failing to
perform their fudiciary duties to the district’s 
students.Quintanilla and Acción America also charged that the duo had engaged in “conduct unbefitting a (BISD) member elected by the citizens of Cameron County, in particular the residents of Brownsville.”
Further, the suit asked the court to remove the duo for “incompetency, official misconduct, intoxication on or off duty and conviction of a trustee for any felony or misdemeanor misconduct.”
The depositions were held in the office of McAllen attorney Martinez, and reliable reports indicate that over the course of the questioning, the two men were involved in heated exchanges and at one point the deposition threatened to turn into a slugfest.
In fact, the deposition was halted and both men went off the record, with Martinez allegedly threatening Quintanilla with arrest, unspecified bodily harm (kick your ass), and then threw the activist out of his office.
The unseeming behavior came about as Cortez, Zayas, and the court reporter and cameraman who filmed the deposition were sitting there watching, reports indicate. Questions about alleged nepotism, sweetheart contracts, and excessive legal fees to keep public documents from being released elicited heated exchanges, with Quintanilla suggesting that Martinez ask his clients about the alleged wrongdoing.
A paraphrasing of the exchanges went thus:
On Nepotism: "Why don't you ask your client Coretez about who made all those telephone calls to a principal and the superintendent trying to get (one of his relatives) hired?"
On Sweetheart contracts: "Why don't you ask Mr. Cortez who showed up at the printers and paid for his signs if it wasn't a delinquent school property tax representative?"
On suppressing public documents: "Why don't you ask Mr. Zayas, who's a lawyer, why he sued the attorney general to keep public documents secret?"
Martinez, reportedly bristling at being baited by Quintanilla replied in no uncertain terms that he wasn't going to be told what to do and warned Quintanilla he would call the judge in the case to complain about the activist's behavior.
Thereupon, Quintanilla pulled out his cell phone and himself tried to call Alejandro, only to get a busy signal. Afterward, Martinez allegedly warned Quintanilla off record that he would "kick your ass."
Observers say that Alejandro's recusal leaves the lawsuit and counterclaim on ground zero and that the process will have to begin with another judge to be appointed in the future.
"Alejandro has been known to cross the streeet when he sees a political hot potato heading toward him on the sidewalk," chuckled one. "This is about par for the course. Bring your chairs because this is going to go on for a long time."
7 comments:
Did Zayas sit quietly at the law office or did he have another slip of the tongue like he did at the last board meeting where he is heard over KBSD broadcast saying an illicit word - chin---o!
How ambarrassing to have been overheard by the community - our illustrious counselor!
I don't know who is right or wrong here. There is probably plenty to go around but it appears to me that the only thing that fizzled was Alejandro. It's hard to have respect for a judge that won't hear a case because he is afraid of the political ramifications. If that is the case with Alejandro, then he has got to go. However, because he makes decisions based on political expediancy he will probably be around for a long time.
Mescalero
Well at least Quintanilla rocked the powers that be in that south Texas town. Corruption is corruption doesn't matter where or who it is. At least Quintanilla had the guts to force those board members to realize they are not above the law!!! The good ole buddy system does not work any more!!! Not even in South Texas!!!
What is wrong with this picture? When a judge finds himself in a position where he may offend somebody, he bows out and runs like a chicken sh#$. Unless the concept has changed, a lawyer and/or a judge is to withhold and defend the constitution. Instead, he witholds and defends his pockets instead of sticking for what is right. Ponte los pantalones, Leonel Alejandro, y go after the ZayCor Corportation and it's corruption that has infested the BISD school board, hurting our children in Brownsville!!
Hope all the judges have the fortitude to deny these two clowns case and put them in their place.
Rumor is that everyone in the court system are disgusted with these two idiots.
This type of behavior should not be tolerated. If Caty had been the one using that kind of language they be after her resignation.
I vote to have Zayas removed for using faul language in public and infront of students.
Zayas must be feeling the heat. Not being able to control his anger and using faul language during a Board Meeting and knowing it is being recording only shows how scared he is running.
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