ROSENTHAL'S ATTORNEYS PUT FEDERAL PROSECUTORS' ACTIONS UDNER LENS

By Juan Montoya

In a turn of events not envisioned by the local U.S. Attorney's office, a federal judge has nixed their plans to remove local attorney Ernesto Gamez from defending Austin attorney Marc G. Rosenthal in his 13-count racketeering indictment related to the Abel Limas corruption scandal.

Judge Andrew Hanen refused to isse an order sought by U.S. Assistant Attorney Michael J. Wynne preventing Gamez from defending Rosenthal citing a potential conflict of interest if Gamez was called to the stand to testify under oath. Hanen ruled that Gamez could stay on as Rosenthal's attorney because the defendant had knowingly waived it.

The turn of events comes as Rosenthal's defense gears up to challenge the methods used by the federal government to build up their case against the Austin attorney.
So far, the defense under George Muñoz has filed at least two affidavits in the case charging that FRBI agents have intimidated and south to coerce testimony against his client by threatening prosecution. Sources now tell us that two more affidavits have been submitted in the case but have yet to be unsealed to the public charging that witnesses in Houston and Corpus Christi have been the subject of such methods by one particular FBI agent.

Efforts to confirm these reports through the ofices of Gamez and Muñoz have been unsuccessful. However, it is clear that the Rosenthal defense is not going to submit to the government's methods lying down. Rosenthal has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing in the Limas case and in the case involving former Texas State Rep. Jim Solis.

Nonetheless, his pretrial release terms prohibit Rosenthal from going near bars, submit to drug and alcohol testing and the court threatened him with home detention.

"I have done nothing wrong," the attorney told a reporter with the local daily. 

The alleged strong-arm allegations in the affidavits also give rise to questions related to the actions of another assistant U.S. Attorney who reportedly donned a KKK hood and a Mexican peon's sombrero before scores of active and retired ICE, Border Patrol and U.S. Customs officers at a La Rata fundraiser at the Brownsville Country Club in 2011.According to eyewitnesses, Asst. U.S. Attorney Jody Young wore the hood and sombrero as part of the awards section on the tournament. The move didn't sit well with many participants who thought Young's acts were tasteless and indicative of a mindset that didn't conform with his role as an officer of the federal court dispensing justice in South Texas.

"A lot of us found it highly offensive," said a tournament participant who retired from federal service. "Here's a federal prosecutor wearing a KKK hood and a ridiculous Mexican peasant sombrero in front a predominantly minority audience. It was insulting to us. We couldn't believe he was doing that."

"Maybe 99 percent of the defendants in federal court are Hispanic and – oh yeah, one Jew, that attorney from Austin," said a law-enforcement officer who participated in the event.

Taken together, these aspects surrounding the activities of FBI investigators and federal prosecutors may well play a role in the eventual outcome of the Rosenthal case as it wends its way through federal court.