Attorneys representing Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre Jr. are seeking a change of venue for his trial citing extensive publicity of his case.
Attorneys representing Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre Jr. are seeking a change of venue for his trial citing extensive publicity of his case.
In the motion the attorneys’ allege that “there exists so great a prejudice against him (Yzaguirre) in this county that a fair and impartial trial cannot be obtained.”
Yzaguirre and his attorneys are seeking to get the trial moved either to Nueces or Bexar counties.
Yzaguirre and several of his employees were arrested in January as the result of a two-year investigation under the code name “Operation Dirty Deeds.
Yzaguirre was indicted on 10 counts of bribery, 11 counts of abuse of official capacity, one count of official oppression and one count of engaging in organized criminal activity.
The charges against the others were dismissed.
Included in the motion are two affidavits from county residents who state that the “pre-trial publicity had touched certain people” and that Yzaguirre would be unable to get a fair trial if it was held here.
In its response to the motion, the state of Texas (Cameron County District Attorney’s Office) submitted four affidavits from county residents who stated they did not know who Yzaguirre is and believe he can receive a fair trial in Cameron County.
It is unknown when senior state district visiting Judge Manuel Banales will address the motion. Yzaguirre has a pretrial hearing on Friday.
For more on this story read Friday’s Brownsville Herald.
