Barnhart suspended pending appeal

RAYMONDVILLE - The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct on Friday suspended Willacy County Judge Eliseo Barnhart pending his appeal of a conviction on two counts of aggravated perjury, state records show.

Barnhart remained in the Kleberg County Jail Friday afternoon, District Clerk Martha Soliz said.

He was booked into the jail Thursday evening and was awaiting a judge's approval of $5,000 bail that defense attorney Noe Garza said he would post Friday.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct's suspension stripped Barnhart of his salary of $52,000, Executive Director Seana Willing wrote in a letter to Barnhart.

The agency did not remove Barnhart from office because he has filed a notice to appeal his conviction to the Texas 13th Court of Appeals, said Bob Warneke, the agency's general counsel.

A Kingsville jury on Thursday found Barnhart guilty on two counts of aggravated perjury. State District Judge Manuel Bañales sentenced him the same day to 30 days in jail and five years on probation.

Last September, the Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended Barnhart with pay after a grand jury indicted him on a perjury charge.

County commissioners cannot appoint a replacement or place a candidate on the Nov. 2 general election ballot because Barnhart has not vacated his position, said Elna Christopher, spokeswoman for the Texas Association of Counties in Austin.

But a citizen can file a petition to remove Barnhart from office, Christopher said.

District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said he filed a petition to remove Barnhart last September.

Barnhart could resign from office to open the position, Guerra said.

"He should do the honorable thing and just vacate the position," Guerra said.

County Commissioner Emilio Vera will remain acting county judge until his term expires Jan. 1, Guerra said. Commissioners will then have to appoint a new acting judge, Guerra said.

The nine-man, three-woman jury convicted Barnhart on charges that stem from a case in which he was accused of exposing himself to his secretary.

The jury convicted Barnhart of perjuring himself before a May 2006 grand jury and in an August 2006 deposition when he testified he didn't touch Andrea Sias Espinosa.

The jury recommended that Bañales defer a four-year prison sentence to probation and a $5,000 fine.

Bañales requested Barnhart take a psychological evaluation and a polygraph test to determine whether he should be ordered into a program that treats sex offenders.

Garza's notice to appeal the conviction puts the sentence on hold.

Barnhart faced a prison term of two to 10 years and a maximum fine of $10,000
Special prosecutor Vincent Gonzalez built his case around two sworn statements Barnhart gave to Texas Rangers.

In August 2006, Barnhart denied touching Sias Espinosa in a sworn statement to Ranger Victor Escalon.

But in a second statement less than two weeks later, Barnhart told Ranger Sgt. Rolando Castañeda that Sias Espinosa let him touch her.

Publicity surrounding the case led Bañales to move the trial from Willacy County to Kingsville.

Coming Sunday
Willacy County residents speak out on Barnhart's conviction