Posted on 12/14/2007 3:46:30 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
BROWNSVILLE A repeat drunken driving offender whose seven-year prison sentence was suspended got out of jail after serving just 36 days, records show.
Hector de la Torre, 34, was released Dec. 6, the same day state District Judge Ben Euresti Jr. reconsidered the seven-year prison sentence he gave De la Torre for violating probation from a 2004 drunken driving arrest, court records show. Euresti suspended the sentence and reinstated probation.
The revised sentence included a condition that De la Torre spend 60 days in jail, minus time already served, the court records show. He was released the same day his sentence was relaxed, after spending 36 days in the jail.
Euresti had ordered the original seven-year prison sentence on Nov. 1, after De la Torre was charged with violating the terms of his probation from the 2004 drunken driving conviction by tampering with a breath-testing device installed in his car.
The judge ordered De la Torre jailed on Nov. 1 and released him on Dec. 6, according to jail records.
Court documents show that De la Torre has eight convictions for driving while intoxicated, including four felony DWI convictions, on April 9, 1994; Aug. 6, 1995; Dec. 25, 1995; and Dec. 26, 2004.
Chief Cameron County Sheriffs Deputy Gus Reyna provided a copy of a Dec. 6 order signed by Isaac Cantu, a bailiff in Eurestis court, ordering De la Torres release that same day if nothing else (sic) pending.
Reyna said it is standard procedure for a prisoner to be released immediately if a judge orders credit for time served.
But De la Torres attorney, Ernesto Gamez of Brownsville, said the sheriff not the judge released his client from jail early.
That would be the sheriffs department, Gamez said of the decision to release De la Torre.
In court on Dec. 6, Gamez argued that his client is a valuable worker in the medical field and that he should continue making a contribution to society by returning to work as an X-ray technician.
There were solid reasons to release De la Torre from jail and allow him to go back to work, Gamez said.
It was a doctor (Dr. Juan Rocha) who gave a letter that was most compelling, he said. And it was a guy from the imaging (center) who asked for (De la Torre) to let him run his business.
Dont just make it seem like the judge did this on his own. There was good, strong evidence why to let him go after 60 days.
The sheriff made the decision to release De la Torre after only 36 days even though the judge ordered 60 days, Gamez said.
Thats the sheriffs deal, he said. The judge orders 60 days, 60 days is what he gets. After that, its the sheriff who does what he does.
Reyna denied that Sheriff Omar Lucio or anyone in his department had anything to do with De la Torres early release from jail.
Maybe he got two-for-two, Reyna said of Euresti giving De la Torre credit for serving 60 days in jail after serving 36 days. There is nothing unusual about a prisoner being released early on credit for time served, Reyna said.
Other conditions of De la Torres latest probation ordered by Euresti include that De la Torre attend drug and alcohol counseling, complete community service, submit to random drug testing and comply with intensive supervision and electronic monitoring by the Cameron County Probation Department.
Court records show that De la Torre has 17 misdemeanor arrests, of which several charges were later dismissed.
The status of his driving privileges was not available.
Time to shoot the damned judge.
Apparently the American College of Radiology
decided standards are no longer needed for mammography.
another illegal doing jobs americans won’t???
Related to the perp ?
District Judge Ben Euresti Jr
All at the taxpayer expense. I wonder how all these people are going to feel when he kills someone while DUI?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that they tell him that getting loaded and driving might also violate his probation. JMHO.
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Liberal judges and Mexican Sheriffs making our laws a laughing stock!!
This is bullshit. God forbid, but the day he harms someone’s loved ones, I hope to read a headline about an angry family member dispatching of both the judge and the perp....
It was a doctor (Dr. Juan Rocha) who gave a letter that was most compelling, he said. And it was a guy from the imaging (center) who asked for (De la Torre) to let him run his business.”
So...who’s gonna X-ray De la Torr-up when he has that future head-on collision with a semi?
Gotta make some room for the Marijuana smokers.
Will the judge, the sheriff, the doctor and whoever else be held accountable when this drunk kills a family?
Did the article mention he was an illegal?
How can a Sheriff just “release” a convict from jail?
This guy obviously has some things going for him that the average mutt wouldn’t have. We all know people who go directly to jail for ONE DUI.
For one thing, he has a super lawyer to come up with this excuse and sell it to a judge. But that doesn’t explain it all.
The Valley is a different culture with the justice system more akin to Mexico than the U.S. So I’d guess the guy has family or criminal connections.
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