For Willacy, ‘It's been a wild year'

RAYMONDVILLE - This small farming community grabbed national headlines last month when Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra led a grand jury to indict Vice President Dick Cheney and other officials.

Earlier this year, the county made statewide headlines after a grand jury convicted County Judge Eliseo Barnhart of two courts of aggravated perjury. The case stemmed from accusations by Barnhart's former secretary that he exposed himself to her in early 2006.

"It's been a wild year," District Clerk Gilbert Lozano said.

Last month, Guerra impaneled a grand jury that indicted Lozano on charges of abuse of official capacity and official oppression. A judge threw out the indictment along with seven others, including indictments against Cheney and state Sen. Eddie Lucio.

"It's been a year of many surprises," Lozano said. "Our district attorney is filling frivolous lawsuits against what he sees as his political enemies. It's been an incredible year. It's been an embarrassment to the county. The reputation of this county has suffered a lot."

Longtime Sheriff Larry Spence called the events of 2008 "just unbelievable."

"We're glad it's coming to an end but I don't think anybody's breathing a sigh of relief yet," Spence said, noting a few days remain before Guerra's fourth term expires Wednesday.

In April, Bernard Ammerman, a Cameron County assistant district attorney, won election to the office Guerra's held since 1997.

"There's a lot of anticipation," Spence said. "People are looking for a change, to get out from under this cloud that's been hanging over us.

They're looking forward to the new year and hoping it gets here fast."

In August, a Kleberg County grand jury convicted Barnhart on two counts of aggravated perjury that led the state to suspend him from office pending his appeal.

"Once I get out of this ordeal, I'll have many things to say," Barnhart only said this week.

In September 2007, Guerra led a Willacy County grand jury that indicted Barnhart on a single count of aggravated perjury in a case that stemmed from Andrea Sias Espinosa's accusation that he exposed himself to her in his office in 2006.

After the state suspended Barnhart, county commissioners appointed Commissioner Emilio Vera to serve as acting county judge.

In March, special prosecutor Vincent Gonzalez led a grand jury that re-indicted Barnhart on two counts of aggravated perjury.

Then in August, a Kleberg County 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 Sias Espinosa.

The prosecution built its case around two sworn statements Barnhart gave to Texas Rangers. In an August 2006 statement, Barnhart denied touching Sias Espinosa. But in a second statement less than two weeks later, Barnhart told a Texas Ranger that Sias Espinosa let him
touch her.

The county grabbed national headlines last month when Guerra led a grand jury that indicted Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Sen. Lucio, a private prison company and other officials.

Guerra claimed their involvement in the private prison industry led to negligence that caused an inmate's murder in a Raymondville prison in 2001.

Days later, state District Judge Manuel Bañales, the Fifth Judicial District's administrative judge, threw the cases out of court.

Early this month, attorneys argued Guerra's bias against their clients would lead him to push the grand jury for re-indictments.

So Bañales removed Guerra as prosecutor in the cases, appointing attorney Alfredo Padilla to serve as special prosecutor to determine whether there's evidence behind Guerra's accusations.

Tuesday, Guerra requested the Texas 13th Court of Appeals lift Bañales' order that forbids him from re-indicting Cheney and the other officials.

Guerra argued Bañales' order strips him of his authority under the Texas Constitution to prosecute criminal cases.

"It's been a very tough year but it's made me stronger," longtime County Clerk Terry Flores said, "because if we can survive this, we can survive anything."