Indictments against Cheney, Gonzales dismissed
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN – Dec 2, 2008
RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) — A judge dismissed indictments against Vice
President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on
Monday and told the south Texas prosecutor who brought the case to
exercise caution as his term in office ends.
Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra had accused Cheney
and the other defendants of responsibility for prisoner abuse. The
judge's order ended two weeks of sometimes-bizarre court proceedings.
Guerra is leaving office at the end of the month after soundly losing
in his March primary election.
"I suggest on behalf of the law that you not present any cases to the
grand jury involving these defendants," Administrative Judge Manuel
Banales said in court while ruling that eight indictments against
Cheney, Gonzales and others were invalid.
He also set a Dec. 10 hearing on whether to disqualify Guerra from
those cases.
Even in thorough defeat, Guerra saw the outcome as confirmation of
the very conspiracy he had pursued. "I expected it," he said. "The
system is going to protect itself."
Banales withheld judgment on whether probable cause existed for the
Cheney and Gonzales indictments because they were not represented in
court and did not present any argument. For the other defendants, he
found no probable cause to support the charges.
Three of the eight indictments returned Nov. 17 targeted private
prison operator The GEO Group, state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., Cheney and
Gonzales, as part of an investigation into prisoner abuse at
privately run federal prisons in the county.
Guerra ran the investigation into alleged prisoner abuse with a siege
mentality. He worked it from his home, dubbed it "Operation Goliath"
and kept it secret from his staff, he said. He gave all the witnesses
biblical pseudonyms — his was "David."
Banales dismissed all eight indictments because GEO Group attorney
Tony Canales showed that two alternate jurors were part of the panel
that day but had not been properly substituted.
Five of the indictments — against two district judges, two special
prosecutors and the district clerk — were dismissed because Guerra
was the alleged victim, witness and prosecutor. The indictments
accused the five of abusing their power by being involved in a
previous investigation of Guerra.
The indictment against Cheney alleged that his personal investment in
the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies, made
him culpable in alleged prisoner abuse at privately run federal
detention centers.
Gonzales was accused of using his position to stop an investigation
into abuses at a federal detention center.
Lucio was alleged to have used his Senate position to profit as a
prison consultant, but Banales ruled that the indictment failed to
address whether Lucio knew he was only being hired to consult because
he was a state senator.
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