This last quarter was a particularly busy one for the Bee ...



LAW OFFICES OF

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc.

300 S. Texas Blvd.

Weslaco, Texas 78596

Telephone: (956) 447-4700

FAX: (956) 968-8823



Diana Rodriguez email: drodriguez@

GranTs Manager

Summary of Work or Issues during the Quarter

Provide a summary of accomplishments the staff or program made during the quarter

This last quarter was a particularly busy one for the Bee County Public Defender Office During the months of January, February, and March we tried four felony and two misdemeanor cases. In January, Viki Martino, Chief Public Defender, tried a Burglary of a Habitation – Enhanced (1st degree felony) case in Live Oak County. A jury found client guilty of a lesser included charge of class A misdemeanor Criminal Trespass. During plea bargain negotiations, we offered to plea to the class A charge, but the State refused. Also during January, Amanda Brown, Assistant Public Defender, represented a juvenile in Bee County accused of Assault – Strangulation, a third degree felony. A jury found client guilty of a lesser included charge of Assault – Bodily Injury, a class A misdemeanor. Again, during negotiations, we requested the charge be reduced, but the State refused. In the month of February, Ms. Martino represented a client in Live Oak County accused of two counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, a second-degree felony. The jury found the client not guilty of one count and guilty of a lesser included charge of Assault Bodily Injury on the second count, a class A misdemeanor. Again, had the State offered to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, the client would have entered a plea and avoided a trial. We began the month of March with a bench trial in Live Oak County where Ms. Brown got a not guilty verdict in a DWI case. Ms. Martino represented a client accused of Possession of Miscellaneous Narcotic in a bench trial in Live Oak County court and won a not guilty verdict. In addition to trying cases, our office was able to obtain several dismissals, including one case where client was facing a minimum of 25 years in prison. The District Attorney’s office agreed to the dismissal once we presented them with exculpatory DNA evidence we were able to have tested. Michelle Ochoa, Bee PD First Assistant Public Defender, represented a client charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Assault – Strangulation, and Indecency with a Child. The State’s initial offer was 40 years in prison. After an open plea and a lengthy sentencing hearing, Ms. Ochoa was able to get the client probation on the Assault charges and a dismissal of the Indecency charge. Beth Huddleston, Bee PD Public Defender has also obtained several dismissals in Bee County court, including one that followed a successful suppression hearing.

Problem areas and resolution:

Identify problems encountered. Write the solution or the proposed solutions made.

Conflicting dockets continue to be a problem for this office. The solution that we recommend is that County Court dockets be scheduled around the standard Tuesday and Wednesday District Court non-jury dockets and the District Court jury dockets. For example, on a Tuesday after a Monday holiday, we have three dockets scheduled: Bee County District Court trial docket, Bee County District Court non-jury docket, and Live Oak County Court. Even with three attorneys, it is difficult to cover all three dockets because two of the attorneys are going to have cases in both District courts while the third attorney is covering the county court docket. When both felony attorneys have cases set for trial, it is difficult to split their time between the trial docket where they need to be available for any motions, jury panel qualification, and voir dire and the non-jury docket where they are handling contested Motions to Revoke and sentencings.

Activities scheduled during next reporting period:

Identify the major activities scheduled for the next quarter.

During the next quarter, we anticipate that we will be trying more cases in both county and district court. We are currently preparing for trial on an Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child charge and an Indecency with a Child. We have also been recently appointed on a juvenile Aggravated Robbery as well as a Murder case stemming from one of the local prisons. In Bee County court, we have several cases set for trial on April 26th.

Staff Changes:

Relate any grant staff changes made during the quarter.

Amanda Brown, assistant public defender, left our office on March 23rd to join the Dallas County Public Defender Office in their misdemeanor division. Replacing Amanda will be Michael Gonzalez, a recently licensed attorney who has been practicing civil litigation in Corpus Christi. Michael will be the first Spanish-speaking attorney in our office, and we look forward to him joining us on April 10th.

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