One defendant’s health concerns have prompted yet another delay in the Weslaco water plant bribery trial, which had been slated to begin June 13.
Weslaco businessman Ricardo Quintanilla — one of two defendants awaiting trial on charges that he and others defrauded the city of Weslaco out of millions in relation to the rehabilitation of the city’s water treatment facilities — recently underwent open heart surgery.
Quintanilla’s doctors fear that being put under a high stress situation could threaten his recovery from the procedure, and as such, have submitted letters in support of his bid to delay the start of the trial.
But the request comes to the dismay of U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez, who just last week indicated she would not entertain any motions to further delay a trial that had originally been slated to take place in December 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic and myriad other issues forced delay after delay.
“I do not like these last minute issues coming up,” Alvarez said during a May 24 status conference during which Quintanilla’s attorneys pleaded for the delay.
Federal prosecutors had been made aware of Quintanilla’s fragile health and had requested the May 24 hearing in order to gather the judge’s input on the matter.
However, between the time that prosecutors made the request and the day of the hearing, Quintanilla’s attorneys failed to submit any motions of their own notifying the court of their client’s health status or requesting a continuance.
In court, attorney Jaime Peña said that that was because Quintanilla had been waiting to receive documentation from his doctors. But Alvarez was unimpressed, saying the attorneys could have filed a motion while indicating that proof of Quintanilla’s medical condition would be forthcoming.
“At this point in time, I have no motion for continuance… I will not entertain a late motion… You had the opportunity to do it and you did not take care of it,” Alvarez said then.
True to her word, Alvarez initially denied a motion for continuance that Quintanilla’s defense team filed after the May 24 hearing.
In the order, the judge lambastes Quintanilla’s attorneys for not only failing to timely file a motion for continuance, but also for failing to ask for one outright while everyone had gathered in court that Tuesday.
“Despite the issue of a continuance being the topic of discussion at the status hearing, Counsel for Defendant Quintanilla failed to urge an oral motion or even indicate that they would seek a continuance,” Alvarez stated in a May 25 order denying any further delays to the trial.
But the judge changed her mind after attorneys for both the defense and the prosecution beseeched her to reconsider.
In response to motions filed by both sides, Alvarez on Thursday handed down a new order.
The order canceled jury selection, which was set to begin June 13, and instead scheduled yet another status conference to be held on that date.
