Charges dismissed against Willacy chief deputy
RAYMONDVILLE — A judge on Monday dismissed charges against Willacy County Chief Deputy David Martinez after a special prosecutor said Martinez had no criminal intent when he filed a criminal charge against District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra.
In a five-minute hearing, Judge Jaime Garza dismissed the case after special prosecutor Jack Wolfe requested the charge be dropped.
“I believe justice is being done,” said Garza, a visiting judge who’s a retired Hidalgo County count-at-law judge. “Congratulations.”
Guerra walked out of the courtroom when Garza handed down the ruling.
After the hearing, Guerra stood by his claim that Martinez’s had filed a false police report.
“I respect his opinion, but I think it was intentional,” Guerra said, referring to Wolfe.
In March, Guerra filed a misdemeanor charge against Martinez, claiming Martinez filed a false police report that led to Guerra’s arrest on felony theft charges that were later dismissed.
“I’m happy, relieved it’s over,” Martinez, a veteran lawman in charge of operations at the Sheriff’s Department, said after the hearing.
“There were no grounds for the charges. It’s just abuse of justice on the part of this man here,” Martinez said of Guerra.
In an interview after the hearing, Wolfe said his investigation helped lead to his decision to recommend the case be dismissed.
“I basically determined there was no criminal intent,” Wolfe said of the investigation conducted by Sonny Hildreth, a retired FBI agent in McAllen.
Wolfe, a former federal prosecutor who headed the U.S. Attorney’s Office in McAllen, said he also based his decision on transcripts of an August hearing in which Garza warned Guerra had he had “raised the issue of hostility” between him and against Martinez.
After Garza’s warning, Guerra recused himself as prosecutor in the case.
Wolfe said he also “talked to several people in Willacy County” before making his decision.
“I understand Willacy County has its unique political system up here,” Wolfe said in an interview. “Hopefully, this can be a point where they can begin to move forward. I assume the people of Willacy County want competent … prosecution and (want to) get along with county business.”
Friday, Gayle Caldarola, Martinez’s lawyer, said she was prepared for the case to go before a jury for trial this week.
“An honest man has been exonerated,” Caldarola said in an interview after the hearing. “Justice was done today.”
In March, Guerra charged that Martinez deliberately filed a false police report that led to his Feb. 11 arrest on a felony theft charge. Two weeks later, Raymondville Municipal Court Judge Hector “Tiger” Huerta dismissed the charge along with two separate felony theft charges against Guerra.
The charge stemmed from Martinez’s investigation into Guerra’s personal use of a confiscated 2002 Toyota Camry.
In a probable cause affidavit, Raymondville Police detective Daniel Cavazos stated Martinez “discovered (the car) had been privately sold, not through public auction, by Juan Angel Guerra.”
But auction records showed Willacy County auctioned the car for $6,100 that was paid to the county in September 2005.
