Post by Tim Collins on Oct 9, 2009 3:50:27 GMT -7
Court rules against Rep. Rachel Quintana
By Ramon Bracamontes / El Paso Times
Posted: 10/09/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT
EL PASO -- The forgery case against city Rep. Rachel Quintana is being handled properly by the District Attorney's Office and the charge should not be dropped, a state appeals court said on Thursday.
In its ruling, the 8th Court of Appeals said that District Attorney Jaime Esparza is justified in assigning the case to a supervisory prosecutor and in refusing to plea-bargain with Quintana.
Quintana, who was arrested in 2007 and charged with forgery, wanted the charge dropped against her and alleged that Esparza was singling her out for selective prosecution. She also wanted the court to force Esparza to let her enter into a pretrial diversion program that would result in the dismissal of her case.
Esparza had maintained that because Quintana is an elected official, she should be held to a higher standard and that a jury, not he, should decide her guilt or innocence.
The appeals court, which heard oral arguments in the case last month, sided with Esparza.
"On the sea there is a tradition older even that the traditions of the country itself. ... It is the tradition that with responsibility goes authority and with them both goes accountability," the court's opinion states.
The order also says that Esparza was justified in assigning the case to a supervisory prosecutor, and that he does have the right to choose which cases he prosecutes and which he does not.
Reached late Thursday, Esparza said he could not comment on the ruling because the case remained pending.
"The ruling stands for itself," he said.
Neither Quintana nor her lawyer Stephen Peters could be reached for comment. She has 30 days to appeal. If no appeal is made, the case can be set for trial.
The case was set for trial in May 2008 but was postponed after Quintana filed a motion asking that she be allowed to enter a pretrial diversion program. The county court at law hearing the case ruled against her, and she appealed to the 8th Court of Appeals.
It took the appeals court more than a year to hear the case.
If she is convicted, the El Paso city charter requires that Quintana be removed from office.
Prosecutors charged Quintana with misdemeanor forgery in October 2007, four months after she took her seat on the City Council. They say she forged a document to obtain a Southwest Airlines ticket at no cost.
Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at rbracamontes@elpasotimes.com;546-6142.
Times reporter Darren Meritz contributed to this report.
By Ramon Bracamontes / El Paso Times
Posted: 10/09/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT
EL PASO -- The forgery case against city Rep. Rachel Quintana is being handled properly by the District Attorney's Office and the charge should not be dropped, a state appeals court said on Thursday.
In its ruling, the 8th Court of Appeals said that District Attorney Jaime Esparza is justified in assigning the case to a supervisory prosecutor and in refusing to plea-bargain with Quintana.
Quintana, who was arrested in 2007 and charged with forgery, wanted the charge dropped against her and alleged that Esparza was singling her out for selective prosecution. She also wanted the court to force Esparza to let her enter into a pretrial diversion program that would result in the dismissal of her case.
Esparza had maintained that because Quintana is an elected official, she should be held to a higher standard and that a jury, not he, should decide her guilt or innocence.
The appeals court, which heard oral arguments in the case last month, sided with Esparza.
"On the sea there is a tradition older even that the traditions of the country itself. ... It is the tradition that with responsibility goes authority and with them both goes accountability," the court's opinion states.
The order also says that Esparza was justified in assigning the case to a supervisory prosecutor, and that he does have the right to choose which cases he prosecutes and which he does not.
Reached late Thursday, Esparza said he could not comment on the ruling because the case remained pending.
"The ruling stands for itself," he said.
Neither Quintana nor her lawyer Stephen Peters could be reached for comment. She has 30 days to appeal. If no appeal is made, the case can be set for trial.
The case was set for trial in May 2008 but was postponed after Quintana filed a motion asking that she be allowed to enter a pretrial diversion program. The county court at law hearing the case ruled against her, and she appealed to the 8th Court of Appeals.
It took the appeals court more than a year to hear the case.
If she is convicted, the El Paso city charter requires that Quintana be removed from office.
Prosecutors charged Quintana with misdemeanor forgery in October 2007, four months after she took her seat on the City Council. They say she forged a document to obtain a Southwest Airlines ticket at no cost.
Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at rbracamontes@elpasotimes.com;546-6142.
Times reporter Darren Meritz contributed to this report.