Posted on 10/28/2007 6:44:23 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
CORPUS CHRISTI — A civil rights group says the sheriff investigating a law firm owner who has been accused of impersonating a lawyer and sheriff's deputy is violating the man's civil rights.
Ramiro "Gambi" Gamboa, the civil rights chairman for LULAC Council No. 1, said the media and Nueces County Sheriff Jim Kaelin have violated Mauricio Celis' civil rights in reporting the investigation into his recent activity.
Celis, who owns CGT Law Group International, is a Rockport-Fulton High School graduate and major donor to Democratic causes in South Texas and nationally. He was relatively unknown to the public until a series of bizarre events thrust him into the limelight last month.
Celis, who has not been charged, is the subject of a Nueces County sheriff's department investigation in connection with allegations he falsely represented himself as an attorney, impersonated a peace officer and interfered with a police investigation.
Gamboa said Celis is not a public figure or an elected official and shouldn't be dragged through the mud.
"He's not prosecuted, not gone through a grand jury," Gamboa said. "Everything in the media shows he's guilty."
Kaelin said Saturday he did not start the investigation about Celis. The Corpus Christi Police Department and the Nueces County District Attorney's office requested the sheriff investigate, he said.
"It was all brought to me and laid in my lap," he said.
Kaelin said his department's investigation is expected to be finished this week and the results will be turned over to the District Attorney's office.
LULAC No. 1. officials state they are displeased with the sheriff because of his collaboration with local media to violate Celis' civil rights, according to a letter e-mailed to several news organizations Saturday morning. The letter calls the investigation a witch hunt and questions Kaelin's fairness and impartiality.
"We thought the Gestapo tactics of using fabricated unproven news media propaganda against citizens went out in the second World War, well it is alive and well in Nueces County," the letter reads.
Gamboa said Kaelin is using this as part of his re-election campaign. That election is in November 2008.
"It's a cheap shot for them to say it's politics," Kaelin said.
LULAC No. 4444, which operates separately from LULAC No. 1, has no immediate plans to comment on this issue, said President Nancy Vera.
Contact Beth Wilson at 886-3748 or wilsonb@caller.com
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Only qustion is, what’s a LULAC?
LULAC = Domestic Enemies !
League of United Latin (Un)American Citizens
LULAC = The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is a political advocacy group for Latinos in the United States.
Oh pleeaze!
>>>Only qustion is, what’s a LULAC?
Huckabee’s groupies.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1434273/posts
Huckabee promotes ‘open door’ policy at LULAC convention
Has he put in his paper to work for mittwitt yet?? But then he could be a donor.
“We thought the Gestapo tactics of using fabricated unproven news media propaganda against citizens went out in the second World War,”
I guess Reid and the Dems in the Senate didn’t get the memo.
Welcome to America! THAT's the way we do things. Love it or leave it.
False advertising. I read through the whole thing looking for the part about the nude fleeing lady and the flashing badge and couldn’t find a thing.
I, too am sorely disappointed at the lack of PROMISED full nudal frontity. Where’s that Roberts dudette?
Those statements by Celis in May claim that he is, indeed, a sheriff's deputy, that he has the clearance and credentials to practice law in Mexico and that he has found legal means to operate a law firm in Texas.
Celis, a major donor to Democratic causes in South Texas and nationally, was relatively unknown to the public until a series of bizarre events thrust him into the limelight last month.
On Sept. 17, a nearly nude woman fled his Kings Crossing home and Celis, 35, appeared on the scene flashing a Duval County sheriff's badge, asking that the woman be turned over to him, according to police reports. Celis' law enforcement credentials expired in 2003.
Then, local trial lawyer Thomas J. Henry began airing television commercials alleging Celis was not licensed to practice law anywhere.
Celis, a Rockport-Fulton High School graduate, has repeatedly declined interviews.
The Zapata County lawsuit stems from another lawsuit -- involving a 2004 house fire -- settled by McAllen attorney Jaime Gonzalez for what another lawyer describes as "a lot of money." Celis says he is entitled to at least $1 million for his share of the settlement.
A law firm Celis once worked for had loaned a plane to The Huerta Law Firm of Corpus Christi. The Huerta Law Firm, pressed for time, used the plane to travel to McAllen and obtain a signature on a legal services contract from a hospitalized woman injured in the fire, then referred the case to a law firm owned by Mikal Watts, who then referred the case to Gonzalez, according to Celis' testimony.
Celis is suing Gonzalez, Watts and Huerta to recover a portion of proceeds in the McAllen fire case. Watts, who ended a U.S. Senate bid Tuesday, is among Democratic recipients of campaign donations by Celis.
Under oath, Celis testified that he is not licensed as a Texas attorney, and he never registered his diploma in Mexico -- something he calls a formality. But, he testified, he nevertheless is allowed to practice law in Mexico because he graduated from law school there. When a lawyer accused him of breaking Mexican law, Celis responded:
"Are you going to dictate Mexican law to me? You are going to tell me about Mexican law? Are you a Mexican lawyer?"
He said operating his law firm in Texas is allowed because of legal rules in Washington, D.C., that permit non-lawyers and foreign lawyers to operate there. Once established in Washington, the right to operate is transferable, according to Celis' attorneys.
Asked if he ever obtained a written opinion as to the legality of that structure and whether it permitted him to operate in Texas, Celis replied: "I don't know if it's written, but we certainly obtained it."
Asked if he ever obtained an opinion about the legality of the firm's structure from the Texas Bar Association, Celis claims a lawyer working for him obtained one over the phone.
"Lawyers in the case asked Celis if he knew it was illegal to hold himself out as a lawyer.
"I do." Celis replied. "I'm a Texas peace officer. A deputy, a reserve deputy sheriff. So I do know that, sir."
Celis' peace officer license lapsed in 2003.
Celis has flashed a badge or claimed to be a police officer more than once in encounters with police, according to court documents.
Police reports show that Celis was pulled over for speeding in 2001, driving a black Mercedes Benz convertible at 54 mph near the 600 block of Doddridge Street. When asked for his driver's license, Celis reportedly showed a law enforcement identification card.
When the officer gave him a ticket, Celis asked: "It doesn't help if I'm a deputy?" Two days later, the officer called Duval County and was told Celis did not work for Duval County.
In 2002, police reports say, Celis forced his way into the apartment of a woman who worked at a strip club. When the woman locked herself in the bathroom, Celis told her that nothing would happen to him because he is an attorney and he knows people, according to the reports.
A few months later, a man told police Celis pointed a gun at him during a confrontation at the same strip club. When police arrived, police reports indicate, Celis was "identified as a reserve deputy from Duval County." The report does not specifically say that Celis displayed a badge to police.
As Celis left the scene, he threatened to sue the man.
In 2004, during another incident in which Celis was stopped for speeding, he claimed to be an officer with Duval County, according to a police report. But when asked if he commuted from his Kings Crossing home daily, according to the report, Celis responded: "Yes, and I'm also an attorney."
Contact Dan Kelley at kelleyd@caller.com or 886-4316.
http://www.caller.com/news/2007/oct/25/badge-law-work-defended-in-court/
typical dem.
A delusional one at that.
Rape claim leads to bizarre investigation of man with badge
http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/21122062/
Jim Kaelin Nueces County Sheriff
See post #15 too.
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