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County Commissioner Willie Gandara Jr. questions warrants issued by justice of the peace
June 21, 2009 |
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County Commissioner Willie Gandara Jr. questions warrants issued by justice of the peace
By Darren Meritz / El Paso Times
Posted: 06/21/2009 11:12:07 PM MDT
EL PASO -- Thousands of arrest warrants issued by the Precinct 6 justice of the peace during the past decade may have been executed without providing defendants due process, County Commissioner Willie Gandara Jr. said Sunday.
Gandara believes Justice of the Peace Ruben Lujan has been issuing warrants without affording people accused of truancy and misdemeanor crimes an opportunity to attend what's called a "show cause hearing."
To prevent civil rights violations, an arresting authority must prove to a judge that a defendant has been charged based on reasonable evidence that a crime was committed.
"He's been doing this for 10 years," Gandara said. "How are we going to correct the many illegal warrants that were served?"
Because the justice of the peace courts handle truancy cases, Gandara suspects many juveniles have been arrested illegally and may have been convicted without law enforcement officials proving they had a reasonable case.
Gandara is requesting that commissioners discuss and possibly take action at today's Commissioners Court meeting on what he describes as questionable warrants issued by Lujan.
The commissioner has invited officials from local civil rights advocacy groups to attend the meeting.
Lujan could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Early this year, Gandara was told by a newly elected constable that Lujan was skipping the just cause hearings and instead immediately issuing warrants for defendants.
The constable informed the El Paso County Attorney's Office of the alleged civil rights violation, which prompted Lujan to correct the procedures in his office, but Gandara wants to determine the extent of any potential illegality.
Gandara wants to find out how many juveniles were affected, how many people were convicted and how many served jail time.
Lujan was appointed to Precinct 6 in 2000 when longtime Justice of the Peace Frank Macias retired. Lujan boasted during his 2002 election campaign that truancy cases had "dropped to almost nothing" in his court. |
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