It's bad enough for Ray Marchan's attorney Noe Garza Jr. to have been defeated resoundingly by the decision of a federal jury and have his client found guilty on all seven counts of racketeeting and bribery.
Now he has to contend with an assistant U.S. Attorney who would have his pound of flesh for statements made in the course of defending his client against the full resources of the federal government. He has asked that Garza forfeit his attorney’s fees or pay $50,000, or that the judge impose sanction him in some other way.
Not satisfied that Garza has publicly apologized, prosecutors now want to humiliate him and to make an example out of him to quell a growing sentiment in the community that the brash attorney might have been on to something and to keep others from emulating him.
To make matters worse, by pressing the issue that he wants federal judge Andrew S. Hanen to deliver him Garza's head upon a silver platter, Michael J. Wynne opens up the federal prosecutors' office to scrutiny by the local community.Not satisfied that Garza has publicly apologized, prosecutors now want to humiliate him and to make an example out of him to quell a growing sentiment in the community that the brash attorney might have been on to something and to keep others from emulating him.
We were under the impression that comments made by attorneys in the course of a trial were in some way protected and that they had some sort of immunity from prosecution. Now we see that even they could be sanctioned if the feathers of a federal prosecutors have been ruffled by a defense attorney voicing what is being said outside the court: that the prosecution of Marchan for paying a paltry $11,000 to federal witness Abel Limas while letting others walk who gave Limas bribes (inlcuding some prominent white attorneys) smacks of racism and selective prosecution.
There, we've said it. Are we also going to face the wrath of Wynne and his fellows at the federal bunker and be called before Hanen for voicing the opinion of the people on Brownsville streets?He said the statements "accused the government – including members of the prosecution and the investigating agency – of being racist, and did so publicly in Federal Court.”
The federal prosecutor states that “the accusations of racism most certainly resonated in the minds of those present in court at the time they were made, and are now memorialized in the transcript, court records, newspapers and beyond.”
As far as we can tell, the slam dunk on the Marchan verdict indicates that the men and women of the predominantly Mexican-American jury didn't buy Garza's base appeal to race, doesn't it?
Hey, Wynne, where were you when your fellow prosecutor Jodi Young donned a Ku Klux Klan hood and Mexican peon sombrero and played the clown before a mixed crowd of retired and active federal employees including U.S. Customs, ICE, and federal court clerks at a very public golf course during a charity tournament?
If Garza spoke a few words, didn't Young's actions speak volumes (never mind the thousand words) by dressing in that get up before people who are under oath to protect the civil rights of all the residents of this country?
Just a gag, you say? Perhaps it could be considered that if you weren't a member of one of the ethnic groups that have been intimidated, lynched and burned by the KKK or who are insulted by the sight of a federal prosecutor wearing the hat of a Mexican peon before them. After all, prosecutors depend on these "peons" to make them look good in court, don't they?
Where was your outrage then?
But then again, those groups don't hold the full power of our federal government in their hands and want to use it in a fashion that can only be called vindictive upon a defense attorney who knew he was defending a lost cause to begin with.
23 comments:
First of all, the federal jury was made up of local citizens...like other juries. Marchan was convicted because of the evidence and any humiliation or embarrassment he feels was the result of his corrupt actions. And you seem to excuse Noe Garza just because he apologized for his stupidity and racism. Noe is a reflection of the Democratic Party of Gilberto Hinojosa and a simple mea culpa is not enough. He should be sanctioned...and if others are smart they will watch their judicial conduct. Noe shouldn't be excused for his actions any more than a thief should not be excused for his actions, even if he apologizes. Time for the corrupt Cameron County judicial system to have some corrective action.
There is a huge difference between trying to prejudice a jury in a Federal criminal trial and horsing around at a golf tournament! I would think that is evident.
If Garza can get by with this crap, every lawyer in South Texas will feel free to use it. Then it will be turned around when a minority Gringo gets racked up by a Mexican majority Grand Jury and Mexican prosecutor. Not only is this stuff sanctionable under the law, but it cuts every way. Can't let Garza pull this stunt and get away with it.
There is just no equals sign between these two event. To try and put one there, raises questions in and of itself.
According to many locals, "well enough alone" means go back to the same corruption as before. "Well enough alone" means bring back Able Limas, Conrado Cantu, et all and just "leave us alone"...to wallow in our own corruption...the way it was. This "leave well enough alone" is why this city and county remains in the third world and cannot move forward....
SO WHO IS NEXT IN THE ALPHABET SOUP?
So this Federal prick is indignant because Noe Garza called it as he saw it in the selective prosecution of this slime ball Ray Marchan? His balls are in uproar because Garza's inflammatory of color remarks are now of record forever. Well asshole let me remind you of the despicable and deplorable act of discrimination committed by the Federal government that is of record for forever. Try shameful Executive Order 9066 that condemned Americans of Japanese descent to concentration camps during WWII. Try the United States Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case that declared that blacks were not to be given the same civil rights as that of white citizens. Try living in the South a mere 50 years ago yesterday when Jim Crow laws allowed the lynching of black civil liberties. And you are whining because Noe Garza ruffled your feathers in court during the defense of his client. Try getting your head out of your ass and look at the other world that minority citizens live in so that you can understand why Hispanics distrust the Federal government. And don't give that bullshit about America love it or leave it. I have earned my right to voice my opinion. I am a Vietnam combat veteran who fought at Hamburger Hill and I have seen the Injustice that a barrio boy like Noe Garza has seen to make him understand that discrimination exits daily in our world. You punk.
Lol, this people think that after they mess up and with a sorry apology, they want to erase all, well, they are completely wrong, this people should face and pay just like the rest, a sorry apology does not excuse them from what they did, and if they dont want to be condemn by the public, then dont do things that are not suppossed to be done.
It seems to me that, as a group, someone who was treated the way minorities were treated in this country certainly has a right to be angry and distrustful but doesn't it have to end somewhere? I mean, do you not prosecute someone because you are afraid of the social implications? Personally, I think that where the trail leads the prosecutors should follow regardless of ethnicity, political power or economic status. I expect that if a person is prosecuted unfairly because of their ethnicity that the jury will work that out and act accordingly. But, if a Hispanic is prosecuted by an Anglo authority because they are reasonably suspected of a crime and they are convicted, well, it is another rata out of the cookie jar and that is good, even if other ratas are left alone. Of course it would be better to get rid of all the ratas regardless of ethnicity and we should make sure that happens.
In regards to the white sheet and sombrero deal, that prosecutor would probably have lost his job anywhere but the Valley. Why does the community stand for stuff like that? Maybe it’s the same reason we vote for people we know are not honest and why we let them get away with so much. It's because son buena gente. Apparently we are okay with it as long as they are nice guys.
Mescalero
Hey, the last time I looked Hispanics were the majority here in South Texas. And being a minority doesn't excuse anyone (any lawyer) of being an asshole in a formal procedure. Hispanic judges in Cameron County exert their authority...usually over defendants or observers (they coddle other lawyers, but sometimes tell everyone "this is my court and I am the boss". We don't hear any complaints about them....but the outburst toward the federal judge's actions...surely demonstrate prejudice and racism. It is about time someone tried to take action against the rampant corruption in the Cameron County judicial system.
There was a day when the Gringos held all of the economic and political power here in Brownsville. Five percent controled the 95%. That was not right, no matter how you slice it. Then the 95% rose up and took the economic and political power from the 5%. In theory, that should have been a just and moral thing.
However, along with 95% rule came mordida, palanca, and the compadre system. This produced Conrado, Abel and a host of other corrupt public officials. More than just air polution blew accross the river from Mexico.
So, has progress and justice been done? Why do the 95% continue to blame the 5% for what the 95% has done? The 95% now owns Brownsville, and they now must own their own cess pool of corruption. It is up to them to fix it and not continue to whine about what the Gringos have done to them.
Juan used to know what racism was all about. Now he is defending some pendejo with a guilty client whose accusations are making Cesar Chavez spin in his grave. Being Brown don't mean Marchan isn't guilty; that's what is important.
$11,000 is a PALTRY sum?
Juanito,could you give me $11,000 to help pay for my child's college?
In my neck of the woods, that is a lot of frijoles and pappas.
Go FEDS!!!!!!!!
Don't let the local quacha smear you with their thug like antics.
Well said anonymous at 1:23am!! Mr Garza is a barrio boy who has exceeded at his profession. He is one of the best attorneys Brownsville has.
Closing arguments are a reasonable conclusions of the facts. That is what Garza did. He gave his client a zealous defense, a right we all have under the constitution. The jury determined the sanction...the guilt of his client. Now The U S Atty and Federal Judge feel they were slapped in the face because they are white and Garza pointed out that some white targets were not prosecuted. Does the USAtty believe racism doesn't exist? Does the Judge? And worse, now the the govt wants to sanction an atty because he brought up the implication! What if it was the truth! Or is that just impossible? Perhaps if one is white, and born in a weathy Houston suburb, racism doesnt exist, but some of us were born on the other side of the tracks! Leave Noe alone!
Oh please let it go on that Jodi Young thing? NAACP, Sharpton or that preacher guy didn't make a stink about it? That's the problem with this country nowadays! You can't have fun when you are with a bunch of guys who on a daily basis make some type of racial comment or thought? Why is that we can only make fun of our own race when other races make fun of themselves or make racial comments and its okay? Noe Garza screwed majorly whether it was true or not? That is his style and it got him into trouble. Hanen needs to sanction him and send a clear message that this type of courtroom demeanor will not be stood for! Bring back corporal punishment and the way we taught school back in the 60's,70's and 80's! We came out okay and with respect and manners!
Well, Mr. Garza is not to good. He put up a stupid defense and now his client is going to the grey bar hotel for many years. If the police come knocking on my door, I am not going to call him.
To the 1:38 post:
This is the best Brownsville has? Que triste, buey!
This is more like the Feds are attempting to intimidate someone to not argue the glaring selective prosecution weakness in their case. Where's the charges against Willette and his firm? Where's the charges against Michael Young? Si vas a joder al que se te antoja, don't complain when you get called out on it.
The Federal prosecutor, if this pissed him off so much, he should have at the very least objected instead of hiding behind the judge's robe to object for him. Hahahaha!
Puro bullshit....
The reason the comment was improper is because the grand jury chose who to indict, who not to indict. Blanco on the stand had nothing to do with it. If you ask me, ALL should be indicted regardless of their color or ethnicity. If one judge so much as tainted his/her judicial robe with the stench of his/her own fart, he/she should be indicted. Period. The pendulum of corruption shifted so far to one side for too many years. Now it needs to return to the extreme and clean house in Cameron County.
And who do u think chooses what and who to present to the grand jury....Blanco FBI and Blanco USA
You are awesome!
The prosecuting attorney's present who and what to the grand jury, not the blanco on the stand. That's what makes Garza's comment improper. Had he said "the white bastards prosecuting my client," then he might have been accurate. But the agent on the stand was an investigator, not prosecutor.
It is sad that we are having this dialogue about skin color. Regardless of skin color, these actions are about black hearts, black souls. We all know good, honest people of all races and nationalities. We also know corrupt ones of all races and nationalities. It is not the color of people's skin that determines their goodness. It is the action of each man and woman that reveals who they are and how society judges them.
We will never get past the color of a person's skin until we see beyond their color and judge them for their actions. As long as we continue to point fingers at one another for the sins of our fathers, we will deprive ourselves of the richness diversity brings to our world. As long as we limit our minds with the ignorance of prejudice, we will never grow as a person or a society.
Until we overcome our prejudices we will never know the justice that each of us crave in our hearts.
One, the defendant was hispanic, two, the defense attorney was hispanic, most or all of the jury were hispanics, the prosecution was white and hispanic; and the judge was white.
Weighting out the situation, I think the hispanics out numbered the whites. So, if race was a factor in this case. I'm sure the jury would have seen that and would have ruled in favor for the defendant. But, this was not race case. The defense tried to get the jury to believe that but back fired. If any body who has the right to claim racism in this area are whites and blacks.
Keeping up with the trial, the defense never argued race as part of the merits of their defense. This was the only Life Line they had, the Race Card at closing to save the defendant from rooming with a cell mate named 'Bubba in prison. (Race Unknown)
The jury ruled on the evidence presented and not on some BS race card. By the way I'm hispanic too.
Let's clean up the mess in Cameron County and move on.
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