MCDONALD UP FOR REELECTION; ROBLES BACK FOR MORE

By Juan Montoya
When Arturo McDonald ran for and won the race for the Cameron County Court-at-Law position three years ago, he didn't know he was walking into a courthouse that would one day be the epitome of racketeering and corruption.
He would find out soon enough.
Early into his term, he received a visit from fellow county-court-at-law judge Danny Robles asking him that he transfer a case to his court. It had been one handled by former county-court-at-law judge Janet Leal who had granted a summary judgement to the defendants.
That was the infamous Diana Alcala et al vs Cardinal Health, Inc. et al. that later surfaced in the racketeering and corruption trials of both Jim Solis and Marc Rosenthal.
The indispensable reporter of South Texas Emma Perez-Treviño wrote during her coverage that "(Federal prosecutor Michael J.) Wynne proposes to introduce events surrounding several cases, one of which was the case of Diana Alcala et al vs Cardinal Health, Inc. et al., which was initially filed in Cameron County Court-at-Law No. 1. The presiding judge at the time was Judge Janet Leal."
To make the long story short, Wynne alleges that Solis forged an affidavit purportedly written by McDonald Jr. that allowed  then-County Court-at-Law No. 3 Judge Daniel T. Robles to vacate a Leal summary judgement on behalf of the company preventing Rosenthal's firm from going after other Cardinal Health-related entities on the theory that they had not been part of the $1.5 million settlement agreement the company had reached with his client.
The case ended up in McDonald's court, who was Leal's successor after she became a a district judge. But before she left, Emma writes that "Leal entered an order granting summary judgment for the Cardinal Health-related entities and binding the plaintiffs to the settlement. Rosenthal then filed a motion for a new trial and Leal denied it Dec. 28, 2006. She left the county court on Dec. 31, 2006, and on Jan. 1, 2007, began her term as a state district judge..
Robles, who later became Solis’ law partner, was the local presiding judge for the county courts. Wynne noted that Robles transferred the case to his own court and vacated Leal’s orders without explanation."
A secretary who spoke to the FBI told agents that she had personally witnessed Solis type out the alleged McDonald affidavit on a courthouse word processor in Robles' office authorizing the transfer of the case from McDonald to Robles. The story does not say whether the Solis affidavit was actually considered or entered by Robles into the case record as the justification for the transfer and the vacating of Leal's orders.
When defense attorneys found out, they moved to recuse Robles from the case and succeeded, but his orders remained in effect and Rosenthal eventually reached a settlement with the company when their appeal   reached the Texas Supreme Court.
Wynne also told the court that McDonald denied he ever spoke to Solis about an affidavit or signed one authorizing the transfer of the case. To the federal prosecutor, “this incident and the evidence relating to it provide additional proof of Rosenthal’s knowledge of what his subordinates were doing and his involvement and unwillingness to refrain from manipulating court proceedings."
If you remember, we always wondered why Robles resigned after 10 years on the bench in 2009 halfway through his term to go into private law practice with Solis. Here's his swan song dated Feb. 27, 2009:
“There are a few factors that have led me to this decision; the inadequate compensation of Judges is a major consideration... My wife and I have two (2) teenagers at home who are a few years away from beginning their college careers. I plan to dedicate the next few years in private practice to work tirelessly to adequately provide for them."
Having the San Benito and Harlingen buddies manipulating cases in local courts for their own benefit is one thing. It is a far reach to prove that Rosenthal was pulling the strings. Could it have been that Solis and Robles were just being Handy-Andies pulling the strings to steer cases to a profitable end for themselves?
Robles told Emma that "the truth of the matter is that the only reason that I transferred the case is because McDonald himself asked me to in his chambers,” and denied ever talking to McDonald about an affidavit.
For his part, McDonald said he was asked to testify during the trials and said that Robles had told him what to specifically write on the case docket to make it possible for the case to continue in his court. When FBI agents questioned him on the matter, his explanation satisfied them and he was asked to tell that to the jury.
He did and both Solis and Rosenthal were convicted by hte government. Despite the testimony of Robles' association with Solis, he was nevre indicted, though his association with his former law partner has dogged him since.
How is it possible that Robles now has the chutzpah to run for the public trust again?