THE VILLALOBOS CHRONICLES: THE CASE OF THE MISSING LOG

(Ed.'s Note: We owe ace reporter Emma Perez-Treviño a debt of gratitude for her coverage of the judiciary scandal in Cameron County. However, even with her voluminous and acerbic coverage, there was so much material there that it was not humanly possible even for Emma to publish everything. We are beginning a series today based on court transcripts highlighting little-known details of the trial of former Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos. Villalobos is currently serving a 13-year sentence for his convictions on seven counts of racketeering and extortion. The first segment deals with the testimony of Rene Gonzalez, formerly Chief First Assistant under the former DA.)
The Actors:

GONZALEZ (Witness)
AUSA Gregory J.SUROVIC (the government)
Norton A. COLVIN (Defense)
COURT: Federal Judge Andrew Hanen

(Here Surovic is cross examining Gonzalez on a computer file that went inexplicably missing from the office computer and a printed version was later found by Gonzalez in response to government subpoenas.)

SUROVIC: Mr. Gonzalez, let's go back to the Government Exhibit 321. I'll just flash it on the screen here. These are those handwritten notes of Mr. Villalobos?
GONZALEZ: Yes, sir.
SUROVIC: Based on the memorandum that were sent to him by Corina Galvan (Villalobos secretary). Who knew about these notes being generated?
GONZALEZ: I don't think there was widespread knowledge of it in the office. It was certainly Mrs. Galvan., Mr. Villalobos. I became aware of it. I became aware of the – the compilation of the notes at the time I was served with a grand jury subpoena, but I –
SUROVIC: How did you become aware of these two logs?

GONZALEZ: When I was served with the grand jury subpoena, I immediately began searching for all the files that were requested by the U.S. Attorney, and I spoke with Mrs. Galvan. One of the items that was requested was – I believe in the initial subpoena was concerning a calendar or appointment book. And I wne to Mrs. Galvan to obtain Mr. Villalobos' calendar or appointment book, and that's when Mrs. Galvan made me aware of this, this log.

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  SUROVIC: Did you talk to Mr. Villalobos about providing this as evidence to the government in response to the subpoena?
GONZALEZ: Yes, sir, I did briefly.
SUROVIC: When you first approached him about it, what was his reaction?
GONZALEZ: His reaction was that this was not a calendar or appointment book, and it should not be tendered to the government in response to the subpoena.
SUROVIC: Even though it's a regular binder with dates and times of appointments, he did not consider it an appointment book.
GONZALEZ: That's what he informed me, yes, sir.
SUROVIC: And he did not want you to turn it over.
GONZALEZ: Correct.

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SUROVIC: Okay. Did you become are of this particular – this was the log that was kept by Ms. Galvan, right, on her computer?

GONZALEZ: Yes.

SUROVIC: When did you become aware of this log?

GONZALEZ: Again, it was sometimes during the subpoena process, and I can't give you an exact date. Sometime in May or June of last year.

SUROVIC: And you were trying to find the calendars and appointment books? Is that context you were talking about?

GONZALEZ: Correct. I believe – if my recollection is correct, I believe this  actually this traffic log, I was made aware of the existence of it in response to the government's amended subpoena which changed the description a little bit, and that's when I became aware of this one.

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SUROVIC: Was Mr. Villalobos surprised to discover this log?

GONZALEZ: My understanding is that he was not aware of the existence of it, yes.

SUROVIC: And what was his reaction when it was first pointed out to him that this log existed?

COLVIN: Your Honor, I'm objecting to that. There's no predicate for that. No foundation for that at all.

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SUROVIC: Was it immediately turned over to the government?

GONZALEZ: It was turned over in response to the government's amended subpoena, yes, sir. It – well – within a matter of a day or so.

SUROVIC: I believe you testified earlier that it had been printed off, and then the document had been lost on the computer.

GONZALEZ: Yes, sir. That is correct.

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SUROVIC (after COLVIN objection): Mr. Gonzalez, were you the person that was responsible for complying with the government's subpoenas?

GONZALEZ: Yes, sir, I was.

SUROVIC: And were you the custodian for the District Attorney's Office?

GONZALEZ: Yes, sir.

SUROVIC: Were you, therefore, responsible for providing all documents that were responsive to the government's subpoena?

GONZALEZ: Yes, sir, I was.

SUROVIC: Would you, in fact, consider Government Exhibit 322 to be a – an appointment log?

GONZALEZ: I – at the time the subpoena was served upon me, there was – I was not sure. There was some debate. And in response to the FBI's questioning, they explained to me exactly what they were looking for.

And so I was – when I became aware of the existence of the subpoena, I knew exactly what they were looking for, and I asked Mr. Gripka to amend the subpoena because I felt that the subpoena did not exactly ask for this document; did not describe this document.

(Colvin objects to questions about Villalobos' reaction to the handing over of the log to the FBI. Judge Andrew Hanen overrules.)

GONZALEZ: Mr. Villalobos informed me that it did not meet the – it was not responsive to the subpoena; an therefore, they should not be turned over.

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SUROVIC: Did that – when he told you they weren't responsive, how did you feel about that?

GONZALEZ: I felt like I was put in a difficult situation because I thought perhaps – I knew  what they were asking for in my conversation with Agent Gripka and Agent Flint, and I knew that this – that they were looking for these logs, and so I was put kind of between a rock and a a hard place.

SUROVIC: Were you aware of both of these logs but hesitated to turn them over to the government after your conversation with Mr. Villalobos.

GONZALEZ: I know I was aware of the handwritten log, the one with Mr. Villalobos' handwritten notes. I became aware of the other file traffic log a little later on, sir."