Orlando Garcia's crooked chicanery in federal court - demand his removal from the bench!
elizabeth...@excite.com
removal from the bench!
Flight between states is "INTERSTATE" -- i.e. "FEDERAL" and "against
the United States"..
else anyone can now sell stolen airline tickets and use them as did
DISTRICT ATTORNEY SUSAN REED, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY CLIFF
HERBERG, DISTRICT CLERK MARGARET MONTEYMAYOR, AND A NUMBER OF PERSONEL
AT THE BEXAR COUNTY KANGAROO COURTS!
IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT ORLANDO GARCIA IS A SHILL AND PUPPETT OF
CHARLES GONZALEZ, HENRY CISNEROS, NELSON WOLFF, CIRO RODRIGUEZ, SUSAN
REED, AND ALL THOSE CROOKS! COVER UP! OFFICIAL OPPRESSION!
Call, write, e-mail, fax! AND DEMAND REMOVAL AND/OR IMPEACHMENT OF
ORLANDO GARCIA FROM THE FEDERAL BENCH!! (Garcia was appointed by
Clinton with prodding by Cisneros and Gonzalez.)
- United States Circuit Court, New Orleans
- United States Supreme Court, Washington, DC
- United States Senate, Judiciary Committee, Washington, DC
- United Sates House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee,
Washington, DC
Air ticket fraud case is gutted
Web Posted: 12/19/2006 12:21 AM CST
Guillermo Contreras
Express-News
The Southwest Airlines-Bexar County Courthouse ticket scandal case -
which swept up two court bailiffs and a juvenile court security officer
and embarrassed public officials - took a nose dive Monday.
In a ruling answering defense motions filed several weeks ago, U.S.
District Judge Orlando Garcia threw out a federal indictment against
eight of 10 people charged in the case, which featured more than 5,600
airline tickets allegedly taken under fraudulent pretenses by a former
Southwest employee.
The indictment against the main suspects - ex-court bailiff James
Jackson and his wife, Althea Jackson, a former Southwest administrative
aide - hangs by a thread and could crash completely, given that the
judge ruled that the law everyone was charged under does not apply to
"Non-Revenue Must Ride," or NRMR, tickets.
The complimentary tickets normally are given by Southwest to customers
who had been inconvenienced and are distinguishable from frequent-flier
tickets in that NRMR tickets don't have blackout dates and allow the
holder to board flights on short notice.
"To find that NRMR airline tickets are 'access devices' would require
the court to ignore the facts, ignore the law, or both," Garcia wrote.
"The allegations in the... indictment fail to state an offense against
the United States, and the defendants' motions must be granted."
Prosecutors had argued that the tickets were "devices" that gave the
holder "access" to something of value - a seat on a plane. But the
defense argued that the tickets are not "access devices" - like debit
and credit cards - as defined in the federal law passed in the 1980s
initially to target credit card fraud.
The government was sorting through the legal shambles Monday and had
not decided its next step.
"We're reviewing (the ruling)," said Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the
U.S. attorney's office.
Southwest had estimated its losses at more than $1.8 million, but a
spokeswoman had no immediate comment Monday.
The Jacksons, who were the only defendants who did not seek dismissal
of the indictment, were expected to file their own motion to dismiss
this week. They were indicted last summer on charges of access device
fraud and conspiracy, counts alleging they sold the tickets for $100 to
$200 or more at the courthouse and to others in San Antonio and
Houston.
The eight others had been accused of being middlemen, charged only with
conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
"If the theory of the prosecution is wrong for them (the other eight
defendants), then it's wrong for us," said Jay Norton, who is defending
the Jacksons.
Some of the NRMR tickets allowed Bexar County District Attorney Susan
Reed, judges, administrators and others who do business in the Bexar
County Courthouse to take flights.
The public officials have said they did not know the tickets were
ill-gotten. Prosecutors did not charge them and instead focused on
those alleged to have obtained multiple tickets, seeking to make a
profit off them.
"It's a shock when (the indictment) happened, and now it's a shock
again," said lawyer Andrew Del Cueto, who represents DeWayne Clayton.
"We're pleased with the ruling."
Clayton was suspended without pay from his job as a civilian security
monitor at the Tejeda Juvenile Justice Center upon being indicted. But
he, ex-bailiff Pedro Martinez Jr. and sheriff's Deputy Mark Kedrowski
may try to get their jobs back now that charges against them have been
dismissed.
"We believe the judge made the right decision," said Kerrisa
Chelkowski, one of Martinez's attorneys.
The others dismissed from the case are Mattie Laverne Epperson, a
retired SBC employee; Tasha Mathis and Luis Vasquez of San Antonio; and
Lance Williams and David Anderson of Houston.