The attorney for Brownsville Independent School District Trustee Minerva M. Peña filed a motion Thursday to quash an indictment against her regarding employment of her daughter-in-law as a teacher at Veterans Memorial Early College High School.
Attorney Richard E. Zayas filed the motion in 404th state District Court, and the visiting judge hearing the case, 13th Court of Appeals Judge Linda Yanez, set the matter for a hearing on March 25.
Peña has contended throughout the nepotism case against her that she had nothing to do with BISD hiring her daughter-in-law.
In October, a county grand jury and District Attorney Luis V. Saenz charged that Peña had violated section 573.041 of the Texas Government Code, the state’s nepotism law, between June 8, 2021 and Aug. 6, 2021 regarding her daughter-in-law employment. The daughter-in-law later separated from her son and after that passed away.
The motion to quash states that even though Peña is charged with appointing or voting to appoint her daughter-in-law, the state has provided evidence “that the appointment was clearly done by” BISD Superintendent Rene Gutierrez, that BISD’s policy is that the superintendent is authorized “to hire certified teachers without going to the board for approval.”
“The State of Texas has provided no evidence that the school board took any action to ‘appoint, confirm the appointment voted for the appointment or voted for the confirmation of the appointment.'” the motion to quash states
“Thus, the Defendant clearly needs to be on notice of a manner and means she allegedly committed this offense, which is a legal impossibility unless the board as a whole took some type of action,” the motion states.
“Defendant moves to quash the instant indictment on the ground that the indictment does not state specifically how the Defendant committed the instant offense and does not give Defendant fair and proper notice of the manner and means she committed this offense so that she can adequately prepare a defense.
At an October meeting regarding the nepotism charge, the BISD Board of Trustees considered censuring Peña but took no action other than to pass a resolution confirming what was already in place.
The resolution confirms the board’s duty to oversee management of the district and the fact it delegates responsibility for hiring and firing teachers to Gutierrez. Not withstanding that, the resolution also confirms the board’s responsibility to make sure nepotism laws are followed and enforced.
The resolution confirms Peña’s earlier agreement to refrain from attending any and all BISD activities with the exception of board meetings and board committee meetings.
The vote was 6-0-1 with Peña abstaining. It came after a 2 1/2-hour closed-door executive session.
