JP TREJO PUBLICLY REPRIMANDED BY JUDICIAL COMMISSION FOR DISMISSING CASES OF FRIENDS AND POLITICAL CRONIES

By Juan Montoya

The Texas State Judicial Commission has issued a Public Reprimand - just short of removal from office - to Precinct 5, Place 3 La Feria Justice of the Peace Mike Trejo for dismissing certain cases based on "preferential treatment" of certain defendants and of other local constituents accompanied by local musician  Fruity Villarreal.

Trejo is said to have been assisted in the dismissals by Cameron County Ass. District Attorney Rene Garza.

Another Ass. D.A. Alexandria Salas voluntarily submitted a sworn statement in which she testified, “On one occasion, Judge Trejo asked me if I would sign some dismissals for him for some friends or people he knew.”

The commission found April 26 that Trejo failed to follow the law after a hearing was held in April based on  various complaints were filed against Trejo by two of his former court clerks.

In a complaint by Laura Sanchez she claims Trejo “would regularly recommend dismissal of traffic citations as favors for family, friends and other local constituents that would be accompanied to his court by a local musician named Fruity Villarreal.”

Salas said Trejo asked who in the AD's Office could dismiss cases.

“He asked me if the other prosecutor who reported to the JP courts, Rene Garza, would be the one to sign them, and I explained to him that I wasn’t certain but he could talk to Mr. Garza about that,” stated Salas.

 It was common knowledge in the office that [Judge Trejo] would ask the prosecutors who worked in his court to sign dismissals for people he knew,"  she said.

ADA Garza voluntarily submitted a notarized statement to the commission where he testified that he “never witnessed or participated in any disposition that was out of the ordinary or questionable.”

However, a staff review of all of the traffic cases that were dismissed in May 2018, slightly more than half of the motions to dismiss filed by ADA Garza included the initials "mt" next to the reason for the requested dismissal.

Garza testified before the Commission that when he would appear in Trejo's court, court personnel presented him with a folder of cases that had been pulled by Judge Trejo for Garza's "consideration." 

Garza testified that he would then review the files and take what he perceived to be the appropriate action. On those cases that he would recommend dismissal, Garza testified that he would write the judge's initials ("mt") next to the reason for the dismissal. 19. ADA Garza was unable to recall a single case in which he disagreed with Judge Trejo's request that a citation should be dismissed. 

The commission noted that a review of the cases involving Felipe Alaniz it found that Trejo had signed dismissal orders on seven traffic infractions from 2007 to 2017. Trejo also dismissed the case against Diana Celia Ruiz, said to be related to Cameron County Pct. 4 commissioners Gus Ruiz, and one against Joseph Palacios.

Precinct 5 Constable Eddie Solis, who testified, m pertinent part: On at least three occasions in 2017, Judge Trejo contacted me by phone and requested that my office change particular traffic citations into "warnings." 

"I specifically recall that in the summer of 2017, Judge Trejo requested that my office change the following two citations into warnings: (1) citation no. 269624 issued to Noe Aleman on a charge of speeding 64 miles per hour (m.p.h.) in a45 m.p.h. zone and (2) citation no. 171064 issued to Mandela Garcia on a charge of speeding 50 m.p.h. in a 30 m.p.h. zone. On citation no. 171064, my office complied with Judge Trejo's request and changed the citation to a warning."

In a sworn written response to the commission’s initial letter of inquiry, Trejo denied the claims that he dismissed citations for friends and family at the request of Fruity Villarreal. However, in an appearance in front of the commission, Trejo acknowledged that he would pull cases for ADA Garza’s “consideration.”

The commission found that Judge Trejo failed to follow the law and exhibited incompetence in the law when he knowingly pulled traffic citations that were pending in his court for the purpose of having ADA Rene Garza file a motion to dismiss their case and/or provide other preferential treatment. 

By requesting the prosecutor dismiss certain cases, Judge Trejo was violating the text and spirit of Art. 32.02 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure which provides that any such motion to dismiss should be filed at the discretion of the prosecutor and contain a reason for said dismissal.

The fact that a judge desires that certain traffic citations be dismissed does not usurp a prosecutor's responsibility and duty to comply with his obligations under Texas law and the Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. The Commission concludes that Judge Trejo's conduct constituted a willful violation of Canons 2A and 38(2), of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.

The commission ordered Trejo to obtain 20 hours of instruction with a mentor, in addition to his required judicial education for Fiscal Year 2019. 

In particular, the Commission desires that Judge Trejo receive this additional education in the area of Class C traffic citations and warrants. Judge Trejo shall complete the additional twenty hours of instruction recited within ninety days from the date of written notification of the assignment of a mentor.