DA speaks with reporters about Cheney indictments

[G_j]

DA speaks with reporters about Cheney indictments - unedited


RAW VIDEO: Willacy County DA speaks with reporters:

http://www.kgbt4.com/news/video.aspx?id=225820


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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4512242&mesg_id=4512242


Texas hearing on Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales indictment turns chaotic

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27843395 /


Criminal Prosecution
By Associated Press

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas — A county prosecutor who brought indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others pounded his fist and shouted at the judge Friday about special treatment for high-profile defendants as a routine motions hearing descended into chaos.

Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra, who is accusing the public officials of culpability in the alleged abuse of prisoners in a federal detention center, asked Presiding Judge Manuel Banales to recuse himself. Guerra has complained about Banales' handling of the case.

Attorneys for the vice president and other defendants leapt to their feet in objection, as Guerra pounded the table and accused Banales of giving the defendants special treatment in allowing motions to quash the indictments to be heard before the defendants were arraigned.

"Now all of a sudden there is urgency," Guerra shouted. "Eighteen months you kept me indicted through the election." The charges against Guerra were dropped last year. Guerra lost re-election in the March Democratic primary.

..more..

[UTUSN]

1. CHEENEE and Gonzo are right at the top of my list of to-do indictees (& convictees), but, sorry,

this D.A. is a nutcase who is making it harder to get the real job of bringing these thugs to justice.

[clear eye]

2. Whether or not his charges have enough merit to prevail,

he is not "making it harder" to bring Cheney and Gonzales to justice. Instead, he is breaking the ice regarding hauling their butts into court. And I find it hard to believe that the attorneys for Cheney and Gonzales didn't find a way to hand pick a judge who bore a grudge against the DA.

[UTUSN]

3. This D.A. has been having at it with this judge & his (the D.A.'s) whole local judicial

establishment for a couple or more years now. Since this judge has now asked the (Rethug) state supreme court to instruct him on whether to recuse himself or what else to do, Rethug influence on who gets picked might (now) be a factor. CHEENEE and Gonzo did *not* "hand pick a judge" ---(I repeat: ) FOR NOW. As for who's got the grudge, this D.A. has an equal or more claim.

Let's see whether I can scare up some links regarding this dude's antics, which include handcuffing himself to a table outside the courthouse and daring law enforcement to arrest him, and something about roosters and other "farm animals" (nope, *I* can't explain it).


On Edit: Oh, why, *here's* a thread, right close at hand on DU at LBN: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3612990

[clear eye]

4. Can't see why you cited that thread

It is the same selection from the same AP story as above, and most respondents said they thought the DA was getting a raw deal, no matter what his personal failings are.

We can agree that this is going nowhere, but I think that the footage of Cheney and Gonzales smirking and chuckling at the defendents' table damages them, and makes it easier to envision them brought up on higher charges. A very small win.

edited to put in a skipped word

[UTUSN]

5. I cited the thread because some of the posters were saying the same thing I was, about

this not passing the smell test. And also because I decided not to spend the time Googling to post the D.A.'s history, which has been posted here before.

What footage? They aren't there and probably won't be. Otoh, there already *is* footage of the D.A. weeping, screaming, pounding the table, and generally being wild-eyed.

Believe me, I ---------- *WANT* ----------these thugs indicted (and convicted), and Shrub, and a long list. What you and I really agree on is our wishful thinking.

[Joe Chi Minh]

8. Perhaps you haven't heard, "wild-eyed" is a badge of honour on here.

If you were a Prosecutor who had "the goods" on Cheney and the like, as well as a big corporation, and in such an outrageous matter of human-rights abuse, would you go for them with a legal meat-axe? If not, I would suggest that your superior tone on here is little less than an outrage.

[UTUSN]

9. You rely totally on assumptions and personal attacks. What makes you assume

that this eccentric (to be mild) would be able to pin CHEENEE and the rest when a credible prosecutor, Ronnie EARLE of the State capital, could barely get partial indictments on scumbag Tom DELAY, this would be in Texas, where the State upper courts are wholly Rethug old boys.

While CHEENEE has tons to be indicted about, you've heard of the "ham sandwich" type of indictments?


Your posts in the other thread, where Gman put a lot of work into putting together background on this D.A. and the local politics, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4517455 you also dismissed it all as "somebody" trying to discredit the dude.

Quit with the personal attacks.

[Joe Chi Minh]

10. Listen. It's YOU who are making the personal attacks. I quote you, I make

explicit the clear meaning, and you call it a slur.

Did you or did you not claim you were VERY enthusiastic to have Cheney brought to book, but much as you'd LOVE to do so, unfortunately, the Prosecutor, Guerra is wild-eyed and mad. Hell, he even thumped the table with his fist! Who appointed you as Devil's Advocate? Aren't there enough far-right wing threads for you to perform that role on? AND it was the Grand Jury that indicted them! So you are protesting that his mercurial temperament makes him unsuitable to take the matter further?

Well, Sean Connery did that at an interview with Broccoli and the studio big-wigs. He'd been a bit-part actor until, and been warned to be pretty supine before those big-wigs, and it could be his making. Well, guess what, to their astonishment he did the opposite and they couldn't believe their eyes and ears. And he made their fortune!

Just an idle anecdote but it keeps my rage at you in check. It really is very difficult to retain any respect for people whose posts are publicly analyzed by another poster - not that they're exactly byzantine! - and then they accuse the poster of of insulting them! For expressing what they themselves had said in different words, but this time in words that exposed their folly in all its extravagance.

If you can't take the heat, don't say one thing emphatically, and then immediately say... "but, but, but... he's wild-eyed and pounds the table.... and everyone knows he's a loony! Pardon me, but that is precisely the tack Guerra's opponents in this would take, short of imprisoning him or killing him.

[lovuian]

6. it was the Grand Jury that indicte d them

not all of them are looney

[Name removed]

7. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wildbilln864]

11. an excellent point lovuian. nt

:hi: