THE FAILED JUSTIN RAMOS GAMBIT; WHAT NOW?

By Juan Montoya
Right about now, Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz and 444th District Judge David Sanchez are probably dusting themselves off after getting run over by the testimony of convicted felon – and former Armando Villalobos confidante – Justin Ramos and wondering if anyone got his license plates.
Both these men were mentioned in the testimony of Ramos, who was called as a witness by federal prosecutors seeking to establish a link between attorney Eddie Lucio and form,er DA Villalobos that would convince a Corpus Christi jury that they were in cahoots to make money allowing convicted murderer Amit Livingston to walk following his sentencing to a 23-year prison term.
For the better part of the week before the not-guilty verdict against Lucio, the newspapers and broadcast media parroted Ramos' claims that he had not only paid off Lucio and Villalobos to pull him out of legal binds, but that Sanchez and Saenz were beneficiaries of $1,000 bribes to look the other way as special prosecutors.
Sanchez has so far refused to comment, but Saenz came back with a retort calling Ramos a "scumbag liar."
In the end, Saenz – although subpoenaed to testify in Lucio's trial – was never called by the defense. Ramos had made the allegations of the sitting Cameron  County DA out of the earshot of the jury during an
evidentiary hearing before federal judge Andrew Hanen, who eventually ruled that Ramos could testify to prove the Lucio-Villalobos relationship.
The federal jury, apparently, was not convinced that Ramos – serving a six-year sentence for trying to transport 2,000 pounds of marijuana past the Sarita checkpoint – was a credible witness.
Will the jury of public opinion be as kind to Saenz and  Sanchez?
There is also something curious about the fact that it was not the federal government attorneys who elicited the allegations about Sanchez and Saenz from Ramos, but rather, Lucio's defense attorneys. Then, having Saenz waiting in the hallway to be called in as a witness, they decided against it. So what was the purpose of the issues being raised in the first place?
Let's see.
Ramos is serving the time remaining on his sentence in a federal prison. He is surrounded by people of his ilk who relish the thought that one of them could possibly bring some lawmen down with them. Perhaps Ramos was never promised anything in return for his testimony, as federal prosecutors asserted. But someone can easily be moved from a crowded cell to a halfway house, a nicer environment, or even early parole and no one would be the wiser.
As far the court of public opinion, that is a much harder nut to crack. Comments overheard in local coffeehouses and watering holes just about convicted these men based on Ramos' published and broadcast testimony at the hearing. Neither had the opportunity, really, to counter the allegations or to face their accuser.
Did anyone get the license plates of that 18-wheeler?