City drops charges against school board candidate
WESLACO - A municipal judge has dropped the charges against a school board candidate who was arrested Sunday night on suspicion of public intoxication.
The city's contracted prosecutor - the law firm Garza & Peña - filed a motion with the municipal court requesting that the charges against Richard Charles Sellman be dismissed.
The court granted that motion Tuesday, but the case's dismissal has raised questions among some of the city's politicos.
Fidel Peña, of the Garza & Peña law firm, said he sought to drop the charges after Sellman - who is running for the Weslaco school board's Place 2 seat - pleaded not guilty and requested a trial.
It was unlikely the city could win a conviction in the case, Peña said.
Frank Garza, his partner in the law firm, is closely involved in school board politics and is an ally of school board member Raymond Givilancz - Sellman's running mate.
Peña said he sought to ease the perception of a conflict of interest, however, by handling the case himself rather than leaving it to Garza.
Sellman, for his part, maintains his arrest was politically motivated and said he intends to request a formal apology from the city.
"I'm really sad that politics have stooped to this level," the 42-year-old said. "It was all political. We felt it was like a total setup."
An insurance agent by profession, Sellman is vying with attorney Ivan Perez - a one-term incumbent - and agriculture inspector Joel Casares for the school board seat.
Peña said he reviewed the police report for Sellman's arrest and followed up with witnesses, whose version of the incident contradicts details in the police report.
The city has not fulfilled a public information request The Monitor filed Monday to obtain that report.
Peña declined to say whether he believed the police made an error in judgment when they arrested Sellman. But he noted the case did not appear to meet the standard for a public intoxication charge, since Sellman was on private property when the incident occurred.
Weslaco police spokesman David Molina said prosecutors have the prerogative to drop charges if they choose.
According to his version of the incident, supporters of Sellman and other candidates were parking cars across from the school district's central administration office late Sunday night to secure spots where they could hold signs during early voting, which began Monday.
An officer approached Sellman to discuss the parking situation and then arrested him on suspicion of public intoxication, Molina said.
Sellman said he had "a couple drinks" earlier Sunday afternoon at a political rally but was neither drinking nor intoxicated when he was arrested Sunday night.
Furthermore, he said, he was not informed why he was being arrested until he arrived at the city's jail, and the arresting officer never performed a breath test or a field sobriety test.
A friend and political supporter had parked her car in the street in front of her residence near the district's central administration office, Sellman said, when an officer asked her to move her car out of courtesy for another candidate.
Sellman said he found himself under arrest after he told his friend she was legally parked in a public street and didn't have to move the vehicle.
