Judge dismisses riot charges against migrants

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A county court-at-law judge has scuttled Monday’s criminal trial of dozens of migrants accused of rioting and other state crimes at the border wall in El Paso earlier this year.

County Court-at-Law No. 7 Judge Ruben Morales late Sunday notified prosecutors and public defenders he “did not have jurisdiction” over the cases because they weren’t properly filed.

Deficiencies in the criminal complaint affidavits submitted by Texas state law enforcement have been a factor cited in prior dismissals against foreign nationals who allegedly cut the Texas razor wire by the Rio Grande levee and barreled through Texas Army National Guard troops on March 21 and April 12. In previous hearings, prosecutors complained to jail magistrates of not having sufficient time to present witnesses or more evidence. They defended the content of complaint affidavits that vary little from defendant to defendant.

“We were preparing for trial on a number of cases, and we received an order indicating Judge Morales was granting our plea over jurisdiction and dismissing all of the cases,” said Kelli Childress Diaz, the county’s chief public defender.

That means 59 migrants who as of late Sunday remained at the El Paso County Jail will be released from jail custody. U.S. federal immigration authorities can still take them into custody for removal, but if they don’t the migrants walk free in the next few hours.

Border Report reached out to the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office for comment on the dismissal of charges and whether the DA will attempt to retry the cases. A response is pending.

Childress said the prosecutions have drawn resources from all local and federal agencies involved and have kept dozens of asylum-seekers behind bars for weeks.

“We’ve expended a lot of resources in this so far – in our office, in judicial resources in their (the DA’s) office, in sheriff’s resources, even Border Patrol resources and a significant amount of money – not to mention all of these people have served already over 60 days in jail on an offense that cannot be sustained on the evidence,” the chief public defender said.

She urged the DA’s Office to reconsider “chasing these charges before any more injustice is done.”

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