EURESTI SETS APRIL 9 FOR CARLOS ELIZONDO THEFT TRIAL

By Juan Montoya
A plea by attorney Eddie Lucio that he needs more time to review the evidence he got from the state through discovery has set back the jury trial of former Brownsville Fire Chief Carlos Elizondo on his charges of theft and misappropriation of fiduciary funds.

The hearing before 107th District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr. was held Tuesday,  Jan. 9. Both parties were to make announcements before the trial which was set for a week after Tuesday. Instead, as a result of Lucio's plea for more time, a new announcement date was set for April 3 and the trial date set for April 9.

Meanwhile, Lucio has been busy filing motion after motion. Before Tuesday, had had filed at least 10 motions, including one to quash count two of the indictment alleging that the state had not given him access to the contents of the 19 CDs of financial records listing alleged illegal withdrawals from a firefighters' union PAC's bank account through ATM machines.

The rest dealt with production of state witnesses, their criminal records, exculpatory evidence, etc.

Lucio alleged that the state had withheld the password to the CD that held the information and the state – through Asst. D.A. Art Teniente – said Lucio had been given the password but had misplaced it. Euresti ordered the state to give him the password again and deferred on the motion pending further discovery.

The latest wrinkle was a writ of  habeas corpus challenging the neutrality of 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo in issuing a search warrant for Elizondo's home.

Lucio is claiming that the fact that Elizondo is a member of the board of the Brownsville Independent School District where Crnejo-Lopez has 13 grievances pending on the alleged discriminatory treatment of her two children played a part in her issuing the search warrant.

Lucio also alleged on the motion filed Dec. 27 that the investigator who prepared the warrant did not provide sufficient facts to establish probable cause and that Cornejo-Lopez was not neutral because of her relationship with the BISD board members. Cornejo-Lopez, in her capacity as a parent, filed a federal lawsuit against BISD over how the grievances she filed against the district was handled by school administrators and trustees.

This latest wrinkle apparently will not deter the trial for Elizondo. Federal Judge Andrew Hanen gave the attorneys for the BISD and Cornejo-Lopez's counsel time to reach an agreement on when the board could provide her with a hearing. If that is resolved by March 16, it is probable that the rest o the suit will be declared moot and dropped from the federal docket.

Cornejo-Lopez has contended that BISD board counsel told her she would never get a chance to address the board in executive session to address her grievances.

Court observers see the use of the grievance issue in federal court in Elizondo's felony cases defense as a red herring that has no bearing on the state charges. However, Euresti has set a court date for announcements and trial until after the March 16 date when Cornejo-Lopez's federal case will be considered.