CHAMBERS POLITICAL SHOW TRIAL IS A GO IN LEAL'S COURT

By Juan Montoya
The case against former Indian Lake Police Chief John Chambers – now a candidate for the GOP nomination for Cameron County Sheriff – is a go in the 103rd District Court presided by Judge Janet Leal.
This morning the defense filed two motion charging that the charges – 14 counts of tampering with a government document – were misdemeanors under state law, and that lacking any evidence that the tampering defrauded the State of Texas the charges should be dismissed. They also asked for a continuance so that they could acquire records of the Cameron County Housing Authority and to hire a handwriting expert to impeach the credibility of Chambers' chief accuser, Alfredo Avalos III, a police officer under Chambers in Indian Lake.
Leal took the defense arguments into consideration and denied both motions signaling both prosecution and defense that the case will move forward to picking a jury.
The attorneys noted their objections to the denials on both motions in case the jury verdict goes against them as grounds for an appeal.
The charges were filed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and the Cameron County District Attorney were filed last February and allege that Chambers entered false information into
government records on January 13 about the firearms qualifications of some of his deputies.
In September 2014, Chambers was also indicted on official oppression charges after he allegedly went outside of his jurisdiction to recover a truck from his wife’s security company that an employee had failed to return.
That charge was later dismissed.
In his statements made to the local TV station at the time regarding that indictment, Chambers claimed that he was the target of selective prosecutions since he intended to run for sheriff as a Republican in the upcoming election.
Defense attorneys said that they needed to get Avalos' application for housing because he had allegedly forged Chamber' signature in it to allow him to qualify for housing assistance.
Other defense allegations against Avalos' credibility is that he and another officer at the department had applied (and received) unemployment benefits when in reality they were on the Indian Lake payroll as police officers.
Chambers claims that it was Avalos who entered the false information into the firearm certification records with the police department.
Since this is Cameron County, there is a political overtune to the Chambers case.
The investigator who initiated the presentation of evidence to a county grand jury is Victor Cortez, the former chief of the Public Integrity Unit wiht the DA's Office. Cortez is also running against Chambers and two other candidates for the Republican nomination for county sheriff.
Saenz – who is running for reelection – has been seen as a Cortez supporter and frequently invites him to official DA functions such as press conferences where Saenz makes announcements about arrests and ongoing investigations.
Chambers' defense has tried to get Leal to recuse herself claiming that as a former long-time law partner with the firm where Saenz worked before becoming DA, she could not be expected to render impartial rulings. A visiting judge denied their motion for recusal.
This morning, Saenz was conspicuous in the prosecution side, advising the Asst. DA and his Chief Appellate deputy Rene Gonzalez as they addressed the court.
The trial is expeted to continue throughout the day and into tomorrow.