Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre Jr. returns to the Cameron County Courthouse this morning for his final pretrial hearing, exactly one year since his arrest.
The state may be responding to three of the defense’s motions this morning: a motion for dismissal, a motion to quash indictment, and a request.
Yzaguirre is charged with 11 counts of abuse of official capacity, 10 counts of bribery, one count of engaging in organized criminal activity and one count of official oppression.
The state also has submitted a notice of a possible conflict of interest.
The defense is calling for a dismissal based on the McDonnell v. United States case. Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell was indicted and convicted for receiving luxury gifts and financial benefits from a businessman after he left office in January 2014.
In June 2016, McDonnell’s convictions were vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court. In other words, it is as if his first trial and convictions never occurred, but prosecutors still will have the option to try him in court again.
The federal bribery statute defines the crime as “(receiving) or accepting anything of value” in exchange for being “influenced in the performance of any official act.”
The Supreme Court reasoned that when McDonnell originally was tried in court, the definition for what constitutes an “official act” was too broad.
