ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, SAENZ IS OUT TO BEAT YZAGUIRRE

By Juan Montoya
Still smarting from the decision by visiting Judge Manuel Bañales to allow indicted Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre have his trial in Corpus Christi instead of in District Attorney Luis V. Saenz's turf in Cameron County, the Saenz-Gonzalez clan is now out in full force being write-in candidate Leo Lopez.

In the Facebook chat at right, Saenz's wife, Delia Saenz (nee Gonzalez) shares a sample ballot favoring Leo Lopez as a write-in candidate against Yzaguirre.
Leo is the husband of 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez, who is herslef up to reelection to that position. As the Democratic nominee for the 404th, Cornejo-Lopez has no Republican opposition in the general election.

Delia Saenz is a member of the Gonzalez clan who at one time had one of the daughters (Aurora) as Cameron County District Clerk, one of its sons as Pct. 2 Constable (Arturo) and numerous other family members occupying positions in various departments.
The family's patriarch was a barber downtown where the political movers and shakers congregated to see who they would support for political posiiotns. In fact, the Gonzalez family is responsible for getting Saenz elected to the school board in his first foray into local politics. Once he got his law license, they propelled him to the DA's Office.

Just recently, after a jury convicted Marco Antonio Gonzalez of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and retaliation against law enforcement officers during a seven-hour standoff, the jury sentenced him to five years in prison. His trial was held in the 404th, where Leo's wife Elia presides.

Since Gonzalez had already served 840 days, this amounts to about two and one-half years.
In the public outrage that followed, Saenz held a press conference accompanied by Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez and said that there had been "miscommunication" between Cornejo-Lopez (the judge in the case) that resulted in Gonzalez serving his sentence for the nine charges concurrently instead of consecutively.

Only later did transcripts of the sentencing process reveal that the DA's Office represented by Lead Prosecutor Peter Gilman did not object to a charge prepared by the defense for the jury. While two jurors said they would favort probation for the defendant, 10 others wanted to give him 45 years.
The "miscommunication" assertion by Saenz sought to divert attention away from the sorry prosecution by his office and shift it to the bench.

Now, as if to make amends to Cornejo-Lopez and Leo, the Saenz-Gonzalez clan is out campaigning for Lopez, although it seems a bit much to expect him to get the 50 percent plus 1 vote necessary to upset Yzaguirre, who as the Democratic Party nominee, is the only name ont he ballot. If someone wants to vote for Leo, they will have to write in his name on the line below Yzaguirre's name.

With another write-in candidate shooting for the incumbent, it is doubtful that either one will garner the necessary votes to oust Yzaguirre.
Yzaguiree, meanwhile, prevailed in getting his motion for a change in venue moved to Nueces County citing extensive negative pre-trial publicity. Yzaguirre was indicted (and publicy arrested) weeks before the party primary and won anyway.

Many local political observers say that Saenz accelerated and jumped the gun in the Yzaguirre arrest and the arrest of three others to ease his way to victory over his nemesis Carlos Masso, a local attorney, former Asst. DA. and also a commissioner on the board of the Brownsville Navigation District.
The charges against the three other defendants have been dismissed by the DA and Yzaguirre is to be tried in Corpus Christi. So if Luis didn't get him in his own turf, the chances he will successfully prosecute him in Nueces County seem a far reach.

Anyway, Yzaguirre has to be pleased. The lead prosecutor in his own case is none other than Peter Gilman, the same guy who took the Gonzalez slam-dunk case and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Yzaguirre's defense attorney Robert Garza just happens to have been Saenz's mentor when he started his law practice, so he knows all of the DA's bag of tricks.
The score so far? Yzaguirre 4, Saenz 0.