Mayor's trial begins today

Source: Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, TexasOct.迷你倉 21--SAN BENITO -- Jury selection is set for today in the trial of San Benito Mayor Joe Hernandez, whom a former city commissioner accused of making a terroristic threat.Selection of a six-member jury is expected to begin about 9:30 a.m. before Cameron County Court at Law No. 1 Judge Arturo McDonald, said Melissa Zamora, the DA's spokeswoman.The trial, originally set for Sept. 16, has been postponed twice.Hernandez, who has declined comment on the case, pleaded not guilty to the Class B misdemeanor charge in a July 31 arraignment.Raynaldo Rodriguez, Hernandez's attorney, called the case "politically motivated.""We're extremely confident with our defense," Rodriguez said Friday. "The mayor has made it abundantly clear that this is a political witch hunt. There's a certain group of people who want him out -- want him to resign -- and some people will take any means to make that happen."Ricardo Rodriguez, who served as a city commissioner from 1975 to 1979, declined comment.The case stems from Ricardo Rodriguez's complaint that accused Hernandez of making a terroristic threat in October 2012.Ricardo Rodriguez filed a complaint with the San Benito Police Department, accusing Hernandez of threatening to burn down his home and kill him during an Oct. 27 confrontation.The outcome of the case will not affect an agreement in which prosecutors ordered Hernandez to stay out of trouble during a one-year probationary period that stems from an October 2012 two-count indictment in an unrelated case, Zamora said.Zamora 儲存倉aid Ricardo Rodriguez's case will not influence Hernandez's December 2012 agreement because the alleged threat occurred before the mayor entered the DA's pre-trial diversion program.Hernandez entered the program in December, about two months after a two-count indictment charged him with abuse of official capacity and tampering with evidence.Under the agreement, Special Prosecutor Ruben Pena dismissed the felony charge of tampering with evidence while the state agreed to dismiss the misdemeanor charge of abuse of official capacity if Hernandez satisfactorily completes his probation, officials said.In January 2012, San Benito resident Alfonso Benavides filed a complaint that led to the two-count indictment.Benavides' complaint accused Hernandez of proposing a revision to a city ordinance to allow mobile vendors to do business in town while he profited from a snow cone stand that operated on his lot next to his barbershop.The indictment, which accused Hernandez of discussing his proposal in a July 2011 City Commission meeting after he signed a conflict of interest affidavit, also accused him of tampering with evidence by removing the raspa stand from his property.Pena said he agreed to dismiss the tampering with evidence charge because questions surrounding the identity of the individual who moved the raspa stand made the charge difficult to prosecute.fdelvalle@valleystar.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) Visit Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) at .valleymorningstar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉最平