Published: June 29, 2009 06:13 pm      

Sex abuse case against TYC officials stalls again

MONAHANS, Texas (AP) — When legislators and prosecutors realized a sex abuse case at a remote West Texas juvenile prison had languished in the hands of a local district attorney for two years, they vowed to move the case swiftly forward as the graphic allegations created a statewide scandal.

But more than two years after the indictments and nearly five years after the allegations were first brought to a Texas Rangers investigator, the cases remain stalled in court.

While the case being transferred last week to a new judge represents a small degree of movement, civil rights and legal experts say the cases against Ray Brookins and John Paul Hernandez could be in trouble.

"Memories fade and peoples' commitment to seeing justice done sometimes seems less urgent," said Michele Deitch, a lawyer who teaches juvenile justice policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Policy at the University of Texas in Austin. "There are many good reasons why trials are supposed to be held in a timely fashion and one is that memories are better, two is that more evidence is available and three is that more people are focused on seeing justice done."

Both men, accused of assaulting teens, have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

A spokesman for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who took over the high-profile cases after the 2-year-old allegations were made public in 2007, said earlier this month that prosecutors have repeatedly asked District Judge Bob Parks in Ward County in vain to schedule trial dates.

"After nearly two years of unnecessary delays, these cases need to proceed to trial," Jerry Strickland said.

Thursday the case was transferred to an Odessa judge, Jay Gibson. Court records do not show why Parks was removed, or at whose request.

Sexual abuse allegations at the Pyote prison were first brought to the Texas Rangers in early 2005. Before passing the case to Abbott's office, local District Attorney Randall W. "Randy" Reynolds said the initial delay was caused by a "breakdown in communication."

Parks, whose jurisdiction includes rural Reeves, Ward and Loving counties in West Texas about 250 miles east of El Paso, has declined to discuss the cases.

Brookins, a former assistant superintendent at the remote juvenile prison, was set to stand trial last year but the case was postponed after his lawyer stopped attending court hearings following his own arrest on undisclosed charges.

An Odessa lawyer, Bob Garcia Jr., was appointed to represent Brookins in December. Garcia did not return several messages seeking comment.

Hernandez, a former assistant principal at the TYC jail, was also set to stand trial last summer in Odessa. That date also was canceled, though court records don't indicate why. Albert G. Valadez, Hernandez's lawyer, also did not return messages seeking comment.

Parks has not ruled on several motions, including requests from both Hernandez's lawyer and prosecutors to move the trial.

Rod Ponton, a former Presidio County Attorney who is now in private practice in Alpine, said the delay is baffling.

"In my trial experience, it should have been tried before now," said Ponton, who has handled cases in Parks' court. "I know Judge Parks and he's a good fella, but I know he's had some health problems that have kept him off the bench."

Ponton, who has been both a prosecutor and defense lawyer, said the delays are likely to help the defense.

Deitch, who was part of a committee that recommended changes to TYC in the wake of the sex abuse allegations, said beyond the concern over witnesses the delays are also interesting because the cases led to a complete overhaul of the state's youth prison system.

"Given that these incidents led to the revamping and reorganization of an entire state organization, there's something very disturbing that this case hasn't been resolved," Deitch said.

The scandal upended TYC, the agency responsible for housing and rehabilitating. Several people, including the agency's top two officials, were fired or forced out of TYC.

The allegations also prompted an agency-wide overhaul that included investigations at all of TYC's facilities.