Capt. Mark Aguirre appeared with his lawyer on Monday.
Posted on 08/26/2002 3:34:03 PM PDT by Dog Gone
Capt. Mark Aguirre appeared with his lawyer on Monday.
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Amateur video taken in April leaves no doubt that street racing was a problem in the area of Westheimer and Dunvale in west Houston. And police surveillance video shows the racing attracted a large crowd. The question is, were police fair in how they implemented a crackdown eight days ago? An attorney for Captain Mark Aguirre, who oversaw the operations, says yes.
"We did not feel that any Houston police officer who was out there, or any officer in the chain of command, did anything unlawful or improper," said attorney Terry Yates.
Aguirre was recently put on paid leave, after many of those arrested say they were unfairly targeted and treated. Attorney Steve Rocket Rosen represents 15 of the arrestees.
"They were just standing out in the middle of the street, or sitting in a restaurant," claimed Rosen. "Our plan is to quickly file federal lawsuits alleging civil rights violations."
Captain Aguirre's attorney says he fears his client's superiors will try to make him the fall guy for an operation that was planned and approved well in advance.
"Three days before, Captain Aguirre sent a memorandum to the chief where he stated that there would be mass arrests of street racers and their followers," Yates explained.
Eyewitness News has put in a request at the police department to find out if Chief Bradford in fact received that memo and saw it himself. So far our requests for an interview have not yet been responded to.
Aguirre's attorney also says he has filed for a court order to stop HPD's internal affairs department from further investigating his client.
Name seems to fit?
According to local radio this afternoon, the first lawsuit has been filed. This one, by the ACLU, is asking for damages of $100 million, which seems rather excessive to me.
I'll see if I can find a link.
Nothing improper or unlawful, huh?! Next you'll be telling us that your client was actually doing those 278 citizens all a favor by arresting them (according to your logic it would appear).
A judge today denied a request from Houston Police Capt. Mark A. Aguirre to force the City of Houston to remove an investigation of the officer from the control of Police Chief C.O. Bradford.
Aguirre ordered the midnight raid outside a westside Kmart on Aug. 18 in which hundreds of teenagers were arrested for trespassing. He has been suspended with pay pending police department investigations of the arrests.
Aguirre filed an application for a temporary restraining order and injunction against Bradford, the City of Houston Police Department and the City of Houston. It claims that "the defendants have conspired to intentionally inflict ... emotional distress on the plaintiff."
Aguirre's attorney, Terry W. Yates, said in a news conference that it is in Bradford's best interest to discredit Aguirre because the officer accused Bradford of perjury in May.
"We would like a public hearing," Yates said. "Somebody needs to look at this aside from Chief Bradford."
Police officials, including Bradford, declined to comment because the matter is under investigation.
State District Judge John Donovan, acting as ancillary judge, denied Aguirre's request today. There has been no hearing set on the case.
Meanwhile, Justin Esparza sued Aguirre and the City of Houston in U.S. District Court for arresting him for "attempted trespass" during the raid.
Esparza is asking for a judgment of $100 million.
Obviously you are the only one who recognizes that this is all Bush's fault. He IS from Texas after all.
He is not understanding reality. That is not what he did.
How could he be charged with "attempted trespass"?
Should I adjust my tin foil hat now?
Yeah, I'll just bet those law abiding citizens he arrested are real proud of the way he protected and served THEM. Oh, that's right. Didn't he jump jurisdictions to pull off this operation?
Beats me. There's no such crime. Maybe the lawyer for the ACLU is stupid and couldn't read the charges.
Asking for $100 million for one client isn't likely to get much community sympathy for their client, either.
Someone needs to give this guy a clue:
Meantime, ten police supervisors involved in the arrests have been relieved of duty.
Doesn't sound like the Houston PD administration is so sure.
I did wonder about this, though:
"They were just standing out in the middle of the street, or sitting in a restaurant," claimed Rosen.
Huh? Did he really say that? Did he mean "standing in the middle of the parking lot?" If he was quoted correctly and it's true, then there's definitely a violation, but it isn't criminal trespass, it's Obstructing Highway or Other Passageway.
He must have intended to say "parking lot."
This is going to shock you but, I feel sorry for these guys if they went along with it to show how out of control Aguirre was and nobody was listening.
Aguirre I have no sympathy for, he's nuts.
Maybe they were trying out the new airport mind reading thing and they caught him walking down the street thinking about going to Sonic.
I think the cops have a few bogus charges that they pull out of the air when they have no real charges but they want to get you anyway. A few years back I went into the courthouse to retrieve documentation to prove that a ticket that had been issued to me several months before had been dismissed. Whenever I have to go into places such as that where I might be subject to security checks, I make it a habit of leaving my purse and anything else that is unnecessary in the car. That day I wasn't thinking and had my fanny pack which had tied to the belt a sheathed knife that I used for camping or whatever. I only carried it because it had a beautifully hand carved eagle handle and the sheath was was also a real work of art with hand beading and fringe. It was not illegal to carry nor was it concealed and I made no attempt to avoid security discovering it once I realized I had it with me. They decided they were going to detain me anyway and had me sitting in this little room near the front door for 3 hours waiting on the cops to arrive. The police station was 3 blocks away. Meanwhile, my then mother-in-law who was up in years and in failing health was left waiting in the hallway all that time without being told anything. We were in her car because she had errands to do and didn't like to drive and the courthouse was just supposed to have been a quick stop.
Anyway, the stories got passed around between the security people until it was pretty distorted. When the cop finally did arrive, he tried to cite me for carrying a concealed weapon. After some discussion with the other security people I guess he decided that that was not the case, but he had to save face and charge me with something. So I was cited for illegal possession of a weapon, which was an entirely bogus charge. The knife was confiscated.
When I went before the DA there was a lot of hemming and hawing about it, but the case was dismissed and I was able to retrieve my property, which took a few more hours. The whole thing took place, incidentally, when I was trying to clear myself of another false charge by the cops, the second of 3, with the knife incident. So let's just say that I have a lot of reservations about believing much of anything they say when it comes time to make themselves look good or at least to be in the right.
That depends. I noticed that the "client" has a Mexican name. Is he an illegal. If so, he might have hit the jackpot.
Actually, there is. A LEO friend of mine showed it to me:
This is a catch-all for all offenses. It basically provides a offense severity one level lower than the attempted offense (if it was not completed).
I read in another forum (but have no substantiation) that all of those arrested were actually charged with a class C misdemeanor. Since Criminal Trespass is a Class B misdemeanor under these circumstances, I asked: "what's the deal?"
The explanation was the citation above: the people arrested were apparently charged with "attempted criminal trespass". The ACLU lawyer may be simply turning the tables on the police -- if it's good enough for the goose, it's good enough for the gander.
Is Terry Yates related to Rusty Yates? Their thought processes seem related.
Criminal attempt makes sense in felonies that never were pulled off, generally through pure luck or the outright stupidity of the criminal. But someone would have to explain the theory of that charge under these facts.
I don't know. But, I will note that the statute says that it is no defense to prosecution that the offense was actually committed. If they decide to prosecute you for the lesser offense of "attempting", you can't claim "but I really did it, so I'm innocent of the charge!".
Criminal attempt makes sense in felonies that never were pulled off, generally through pure luck or the outright stupidity of the criminal. But someone would have to explain the theory of that charge under these facts.
A class C misdemeanor is one step up from a traffic ticket. Most disorderly conduct offenses are Class C misdemeanors. Maybe they chose to do this in the hopes that people wouldn't fight it?
That would be my guess. I think that the HPD,or elements thereof,is hoping that most of the arrestees will wake up on Monday morning,look at the potential cost and trouble of a lawsuit,and say,"to heck with it,it's one jump up from a speeding ticket."
BWAAAAAAHAHAHA Yeah, it only brought a suit for $100 million dollars. And that's only from one of the over 300 people arrested during the two nights.
Good grief, the Houston authorities are dumber than a bag of hammers. This charge has all the problems that they would face with a full charge of criminal trespass, which either did or did not occur. But it appears that they lacked the courage to charge them with that.
This makes the whole thing look even more ridiculous. They arrested and booked hundreds of people for something that they charged as a Class C Misdemeanor? If anything, it proves that they were using the arrest process, the towing costs, court costs and humiliation involved as instant punishment, with a cop as judge, jury, and executioner.
A total bill of $100 million for Houston taxpayers, including attorney fees for both sides, is possible, less whatever insurance pays.
Maybe. Setting aside our speculation about the rationale, I haven't found anything authoritive that actually confirms it. All I have is one posting in another forum by someone I don't know.
But, I wouldn't expect someone to jump in and correct the previous assertion that they were arrested for a class B misdemeanor (if convicted, would render the person ineligible for a Texas CHL for the next 5 years).
I think the number was chosen in order to attract national publicity, and even the ALCU knows they have no chance of collecting that amount.
But, I wouldn't expect someone to jump in and correct the previous assertion that they were arrested for a class B misdemeanor if they didn't have knowledge of the matter.
(if convicted of a Class B misdemeanor, that would render the person ineligible for a Texas CHL for the next 5 years)
I don't think you were suggesting it, but I'm quite sure the reason for the lesser charge had nothing to do with the desire to let these people apply to carry a concealed weapon in the future, LOL.
Hell, they would have grounded all the airplanes flying over Texas and called in the military.
No, I should have explained: I thought that was the issue that started the discussion, but I went back and looked at the entire thread and that's not the case.
What I did find was an additional posting (from an LEO) saying that a city in Dallas County tried the same mass arrest tactic in the past. They didn't get a single conviction and that some of those arrested got a significant settlement from the city. If so, the precedent is already set.
According to the criminal trespass law, it would be a class A misdemeanor instead of a class B misdemeanor -- even though the CHL holder was carrying legally.
But, if he was instead charged with "attempted criminal trespass" (as has been claimed, but not confirmed, for the others), it would be a class B misdemeanor.
They aren't above the law, either.
Exactly ahy this jarhead needs to be removed from power.
"Three days before, Captain Aguirre sent a memorandum to the chief where he stated that there would be mass arrests of street racers and their followers,"
Considering that is NOT what happened, he should be charged.
Utterly predictable, and utterly avoidable....
Interesting. Have you a link to this item?
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