{"id":15413,"date":"2025-03-26T04:25:37","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T04:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/how-a-south-texas-court-system-is-failing-poor-defendants\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T04:25:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T04:25:37","slug":"how-a-south-texas-court-system-is-failing-poor-defendants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/how-a-south-texas-court-system-is-failing-poor-defendants\/","title":{"rendered":"How a South Texas Court System Is Failing Poor Defendants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Fernando Padron was stuck in a South Texas jail cell. Accused of stealing credit cards that he used to buy diapers, a bike and other goods for his family, he had not been brought into court or spoken to a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He did not hear anything about his case for nine months. Finally, in March 2023, prosecutors charged him with a misdemeanor, and he was released. But his ordeal had just begun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Over the next two years, he would be arrested repeatedly in connection with the theft. He was pressured into a seemingly improper plea deal in one court, only to be charged again in another. At one point, he was in jail for six months before officials involved in his case realized he was there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Padron, 27, is a U.S. citizen with no prior convictions, and his offense was minor enough that elsewhere in Texas, he might not have been jailed at all. But he was in the dysfunctional Maverick County court system, where basic tenets of American justice often do not apply.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Officials here openly acknowledge that poor defendants accused of minor crimes are rarely provided lawyers. And people regularly spend months behind bars without charges filed against them, much longer than state law allows. Last year alone, at least a dozen people were held too long uncharged after arrests for minor nonviolent crimes, interviews and records reviewed by The New York Times show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some defendants seem to have been forgotten in jail. Two men were released after The Times asked about them, half a year after their sentences had been completed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe county is not at the level that it should have been for years,\u201d conceded Maverick County Judge Ramsey English Cant\u00fa, who oversees misdemeanor court. He said he had been trying to \u201crevamp\u201d and \u201crebuild\u201d the local justice system since he was elected in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s been a challenge for me,\u201d he added. \u201cBut at the end of the day it is unjust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Under the U.S. Constitution, people facing jail time are entitled to a lawyer \u2014 paid for by the government if they cannot afford their own \u2014 and a fair and efficient court process. But these protections are tenuous, especially in rural parts of America, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/scholarship.law.wm.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=2935&amp;context=facpubs\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">studies<\/a> <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1669&amp;context=mlr\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">have<\/a> <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4058531\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">shown<\/a>. In Texas, one of the states that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/6ac.org\/the-state-of-the-nation-on-gideons-60th-anniversary\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">spend the least<\/a> on indigent defense, The Times found recent examples of people held beyond deadlines without charges or lawyers in six rural counties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Maverick County stood out. It is in one of the state\u2019s poorest regions, and many defendants cannot afford a lawyer; some spend months in jail because they cannot pay a bail bondsman $500 or less. Yet over the past two decades, state auditors have repeatedly noted the county was failing to adequately provide indigent counsel. In 2023, when more than 240 misdemeanor defendants requested representation, the county judge appointed lawyers in only a handful of cases, records show. Nonetheless, the state has imposed no consequences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With no one to guide them, defendants enter a disjointed justice system where it can be perplexingly difficult to figure out why someone is in jail, if there even is a reason. Misdemeanor court files are almost always missing key documents. Felony court files are often not available until more than a year after a defendant\u2019s arrest. The jail sometimes reported having no record of people despite recently holding them for months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Defense lawyers and constitutional law scholars, responding to The Times\u2019s reporting, called the county\u2019s practices \u201catrocious,\u201d \u201cKafkaesque\u201d and \u201cnot a criminal system at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe lack of transparency and the lack of public defenders in this jurisdiction has allowed this completely inept system to persist,\u201d said Rachel Kincaid, an associate law professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and former federal prosecutor. \u201cThere\u2019s no pressure on them to do anything differently.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In jailhouse interviews, some defendants said they had no idea what was happening in their cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey haven\u2019t told me anything,\u201d Juan Sanchez, 21, said in Spanish in May, shivering on a jail stool without a shirt or pants in a knee-length suicide prevention vest. He had pleaded guilty in November 2023 to trespassing at the local mall in exchange for his release, but was not let out until June, shortly after The Times asked officials why he was still there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey really don\u2019t give you information here,\u201d said David Burckhardt, 36, who had been jailed for five months without charges after being arrested in August 2023 on accusations of vandalizing his neighbor\u2019s car. \u201cYou just got to do your time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But it is what happened to Mr. Padron that best illustrates the repercussions of the county\u2019s lapses. Told details of his case, four veteran Texas defense lawyers said that in other counties they most likely could have secured a sentence of 30 days or fewer, with some chance he would get no jail time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Padron has now spent 20 months in jail, missing his son\u2019s first two birthdays. His case is still not resolved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI got out and I was doing things right,\u201d he said at the jail after his third arrest stemming from the theft. \u201cAnd then, all of a sudden, you have an arrest warrant. And I left my girlfriend and son by themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-323074c1\">The Free State of Maverick<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">About half of Maverick County\u2019s residents live in the city of Eagle Pass, which is on the Mexican border, about 150 miles southwest of San Antonio. Most residents\u2019 first language is Spanish, and people who live in the neighboring Mexican city, Piedras Negras, cross often to work, shop or visit relatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The county has a history of scandals, including <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expressnews.com\/news\/local\/article\/Final-sentence-in-Maverick-corruption-6103777.php\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a federal investigation into bribery and contract-rigging<\/a> a decade ago that sent four of five commissioners to prison. A veteran police officer said locals jokingly call it \u201cthe Free State of Maverick\u201d because officials tend to do what they want and deal with the ramifications later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The region is also at the forefront of America\u2019s crackdown on immigration. Since 2021, Texas police officers have arrested thousands of migrants in Maverick County for trespassing, in an effort to deter crossings and boost deportations. After <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2021\/09\/27\/texas-border-migrants-jail\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">legal challenges<\/a>, the state created a special criminal system to expedite the process by quickly charging migrants and assigning them lawyers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The justice system for local residents shows far less urgency. It took on about 350 cases last year, a vast majority of them misdemeanors or felony drug possession. The police and the Sheriff\u2019s Department often take weeks or months to report an arrest to prosecutors. The prosecutors then take months to decide whether to go to court, for charges as simple as resisting arrest or trespassing. During this time, prosecutors are not told, and typically do not check, whether a defendant is in jail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Neither law enforcement agency answered questions about the delays. Jaime Iracheta, the county attorney, said misdemeanors in Maverick County go through layers of vetting. Some other jurisdictions file such charges within days, if not hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although those leading the justice system are all Democrats \u2014 a relic of the party\u2019s historical strength with Hispanic voters \u2014 they are divided into rival factions. Mr. Iracheta, whose office prosecutes misdemeanors, endorsed Judge English Cant\u00fa in his 2022 run for county judge. Sheriff Tom Schmerber, who has overseen the jail since 2013, is an ally of the judge\u2019s predecessor, David Saucedo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When Judge English Cant\u00fa ran against Mr. Saucedo, his second cousin, he called Mr. Saucedo a \u201cbully\u201d who gave his \u201ccronies\u201d big salaries \u201cnot to do anything.\u201d Mr. Saucedo called his opponent \u201cself-serving\u201d and accused him of helping spread an \u201calmost comical\u201d rumor that he was a murderer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In interviews, officials did not dispute that the county had not released some people on time, but blamed one another for the failures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe unfortunate inability of communication between the Sheriff\u2019s Department and the prosecutor\u2019s office, I think, is what has delayed this situation,\u201d Judge English Cant\u00fa said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He added that misdemeanor court, where he presides about once a month, was held less often under Mr. Saucedo. Mr. Saucedo said his own predecessors held misdemeanor court even less frequently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Iracheta said the Sheriff\u2019s Department was the problem. \u201cWe have extreme issues over there, but I can\u2019t control who the people elect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The sheriff did not respond to interview requests, but the jail\u2019s case manager, Daniella Ramos, criticized the magistrates who set bail. She said she sends them weekly jail rosters so they can order defendants to be released, but they go \u201cinto the abyss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Kina Mancha, the county\u2019s longest-tenured magistrate, countered that the jail had sometimes failed to follow orders to let people go. \u201cThey\u2019re not doing their job,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Without public defenders, the county relies on local lawyers to represent poor defendants, paying a few hundred dollars per case. But in felony court, the few willing lawyers are often not appointed until defendants appear before a judge \u2014 typically months or years after their arrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In misdemeanor court, lawyers are rarely appointed at any time. Often, the only lawyer in the room is the prosecutor. Judge English Cant\u00fa\u2019s primary job is serving as the county\u2019s chief executive, akin to a mayor. Like most Texas county judges, he does not have a law degree.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-377b26e8\">The First Arrest<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Born in San Antonio, Mr. Padron has spent most of his life in Piedras Negras. He dropped out of school around age 12, when his mother was killed, and in recent years has regularly crossed the international bridge to look for day labor in Eagle Pass.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On the night of his arrest in June 2022, Mr. Padron needed diapers for his infant son, Fernandito, but had no money. He recalled telling his girlfriend: \u201cI\u2019m going to go to someone and see what I can do. I\u2019ll take any job right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He entered the United States and saw a house where he thought he might offer to clean the yard or wash the truck. But it was dark outside, he said. When he noticed the truck door was unlocked, he snatched the wallet inside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Later, he would describe the decision as rash, adding that he wished he could apologize and work to repay what he took.<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\"> <\/em><\/strong>\u201cI got carried away,\u201d he said in Spanish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After buying diapers at a grocery store, Mr. Padron went to a Walmart and bought a bike, a hair straightener and a \u201cFrozen\u201d coloring book before the accounts were frozen. He was heading back toward the border at around 10 p.m. when the police, responding to a call from the credit cards\u2019 owner, found him and chased him down. The police reported recovering goods worth a little more than $300.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They arrested him on several potential charges: the misdemeanors of fleeing the police and stealing the wallet, and multiple counts of using stolen credit cards, a low-level felony. A magistrate met with Mr. Padron, noted on a form that he wanted a court-appointed lawyer and set his bail at roughly $40,000. He probably could have paid $4,000 or less to a bail bondsman and been released, but Mr. Padron did not have that. He was sent to the county jail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Texas law lays out what should have happened next. His form requesting a lawyer should have reached Judge English Cant\u00fa within 24 hours and been ruled on within days. Prosecutors had 30 days to officially charge him with any misdemeanors and 90 days for felonies; after both deadlines, he should have been released.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">None of that was done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Judge English Cant\u00fa said in an interview that he does not get the attorney request forms. This surprised several county magistrates, who said jail staff had promised a year ago to begin consistently forwarding them to the court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWas that being done? I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Jeannie Smith, a magistrate of nearly 15 years. \u201cIs it being done now? I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Without a lawyer to follow up on his case, Mr. Padron stayed in jail for nine and a half months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Misdemeanor prosecutors finally charged him in March 2023 with one crime, evading arrest. He was released and a month later reported to court, where he was offered a plea deal: a year of probation, along with a $600 fine, $270 in court costs and a monthly $40 fee.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Padron hesitated. He knew he could not pay, he said later, and he had already been jailed so long. Shouldn\u2019t he get credit for that? he recalled asking the prosecutor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-14\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The prosecutor most likely should not have offered Mr. Padron a deal at all. State law bars Texas prosecutors from speaking in court to a defendant who has asked for a lawyer before a judge rules on the request. (Although prosecutors said they only talk to defendants who have waived their right to counsel, the law specifies those waivers are invalid if a request for a lawyer is outstanding.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A defense lawyer could have pushed for Mr. Padron to get time served, a sentence equal to the months he had spent in jail, ending his case without probation. Or asked the court to waive fines and fees, given his inability to pay them. But Mr. Padron did not have a lawyer, and the prosecutor warned him the next offer could be worse. He took the deal.<\/p>\n<section class=\"css-1lpvp6o capsule-content\" data-id=\"100000008292496\" data-testid=\"capsule-block\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-7175ebc1\">\u2018It\u2019s Almost Over\u2019<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Six months later, in November 2023, Mr. Padron was arrested for violating his probation as he crossed into Eagle Pass for work. He had not attended his monthly check-ins or paid his dues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This time, he was in jail for six and a half months, apparently by mistake, before anything happened in his case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-15\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI found out he was in custody because he called me from the jail,\u201d the probation officer told Judge English Cant\u00fa in a May 2024 hearing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The judge called the delay \u201cunacceptable.\u201d \u201cWe need to move these individuals as quickly as possible, especially if they are inmates,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Padron stood expressionless.<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\"> <\/em><\/strong>The 10-minute back-and-forth was in English, which he does not understand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-16\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Texas, misdemeanors like Mr. Padron\u2019s evading arrest charge have a maximum sentence of one year, and judges are required to credit defendants for time already served. Mr. Padron had been incarcerated for a total of 16 months. Still, the prosecutor asked for another 44 days in jail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-17\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Judge English Cant\u00fa switched to Spanish to ask Mr. Padron why he violated probation, and he responded that with a baby and little work, he could not afford the fees and was afraid to check in without them. The judge paused, and then sentenced him to 34 additional days. (The judge declined to comment on individual cases.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe good news is it\u2019s almost over,\u201d Mr. Padron said at the jail a couple of weeks later, desperate to reunite with his family. In July, he was released for what he thought would be the final time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A month later, he was again stopped at the border and sent back to jail. More than two years after his initial arrest, he was now being charged in felony court for using the credit cards.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4ab5c723\">Delays on Delays<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By then, the victim of Mr. Padron\u2019s crime had moved on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yaqueline Salinas had been furious in 2022 when she got an alert that her credit cards were being used at the nearby Walmart. She drove around until she saw Mr. Padron, whom she recognized from her neighbor\u2019s security cameras, and flagged down the police.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But it took felony investigators a year to ask for her credit card statements, she said. The bank had refunded her money, so she never responded. \u201cI felt bad, honestly,\u201d Ms. Salinas later said in an interview in Spanish, remembering the Pampers that fell off the bike Mr. Padron was riding. \u201cHe\u2019s already missed so much time with the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-18\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She assumed his case had been resolved long ago. \u201cHe went back to jail?\u201d she asked a Times reporter. \u201cOh my god.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even without her records, felony prosecutors carried on. But it would be another year before Mr. Padron was indicted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last year, felony indictments in the county were brought, on average, nearly 14 months after a crime, more than twice the time it took for misdemeanor charges, a Times analysis shows. Felony prosecutors work for the district attorney and rarely coordinate with the county attorney\u2019s misdemeanor prosecutors, they said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-19\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a result, defendants like Mr. Padron sometimes plead guilty to a misdemeanor, thinking they will be freed, only to be rearrested \u2014 or never let go \u2014 because the police had also listed a potential charge for felony prosecutors to consider.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-20\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That is why Mr. Sanchez, the man held for trespassing at the local mall, was not released until seven months after his guilty plea: The jail was still holding him on an outstanding burglary allegation that prosecutors later said they were not pursuing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Another man, 22, was arrested last April, accused of smashing his father\u2019s car windows and running from the police. In September, he pleaded guilty to evading arrest, a misdemeanor, for time served. But the jail continued to hold him, waiting for the district attorney to charge him with vandalism. In February, when The Times asked the district attorney why the man was still there, he said his office had no record of the case. The man was released that day.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-633ec7b\">The Right to an Attorney<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In interviews, Judge English Cant\u00fa and Mr. Iracheta, the county attorney, were quick to point to improvements they had made.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Iracheta said he had sped up misdemeanor prosecutions in recent years by requiring the police to send him cases within 30 days. Still, in 2024, his office took half a year on average to file charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cFiling within six months is reasonable,\u201d he said, noting that the statute of limitations for misdemeanors is two years. \u201cWe are actively working to improve efficiency,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-21\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last fall, Judge English Cant\u00fa accepted a state grant to hire a coordinator to help appoint lawyers; the coordinator started this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From July to December, the judge also assigned lawyers in 31 cases, according to audit reports, compared with none in the first half of the year. He denied one request. Still, almost all those appointments came after defendants appeared in court; scores of additional requests logged by magistrates earlier in the process had gotten no response, state reports through December show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In felony court, Mr. Padron\u2019s case continued. He was finally given a lawyer, Luis De Los Santos, in August 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. De Los Santos was initially appointed to handle Mr. Padron\u2019s felony charges about five months after his first arrest, according to a court administrator. But Mr. Padron said he never heard from the lawyer, and nothing was ever recorded in his court file. Twenty-one months later, after Mr. Padron was indicted, Mr. De Los Santos was assigned to the case again. (He did not respond to questions about his first appointment.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In October, after Mr. Padron\u2019s first felony court appearance, Mr. De Los Santos seemed unsurprised that his client had been in jail so long. Moments later, the judge, Maribel Flores, said that she does not usually know how long a defendant has been held until late in a case. But asked by a reporter about Mr. Padron\u2019s time in jail, she said that in such situations, \u201cusually we\u2019ll just do time served.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-22\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In November, the prosecution agreed for Mr. Padron to be released on bail without cost. But the charge hung over him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI really don\u2019t want to get probation, because for any little thing they\u2019re going to lock me up,\u201d he said the next morning. \u201cI\u2019m going on two and a half years for the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He reported to court again in December, when the prosecution offered Mr. Padron a plea deal: not time served, but five years of probation, which typically involves nearly $4,000 in fees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. De Los Santos told Judge Flores that he considered the offer \u201cfairly reasonable.\u201d But Mr. Padron was hesitant, and the lawyer asked for more time to explain the deal to him. Judge Flores put the case off again until January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Padron missed that hearing. The next day, outside his home, he said he had overslept and found his bike missing when he awoke, leaving him no way to get to court on time. His son was about to turn 3, and Mr. Padron was despondent at the idea of being sent to jail again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Across the border, a new warrant was written up for his arrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Ana Facio-Krajcer<!-- -->, <!-- -->Alexa Ura<!-- --> and Guadalupe Gonz\u00e1lez contributed translation. <!-- -->Kirsten Noyes<!-- --> contributed research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/25\/us\/maverick-county-texas-court-system.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fernando Padron was stuck in a South Texas jail cell. Accused of stealing credit cards that he used to buy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[4906,507,4908,101,189,190,4907,177,645],"class_list":["post-15413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us","tag-bail","tag-courts-and-the-judiciary","tag-eagle-pass-tex","tag-law-and-legislation","tag-prisons-and-prisoners","tag-probation-and-parole","tag-public-defenders-and-court-appointed-lawyers-criminal","tag-sentences-criminal","tag-texas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How a South Texas Court System Is Failing Poor Defendants - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/how-a-south-texas-court-system-is-failing-poor-defendants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How a South Texas Court System Is Failing Poor Defendants - World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fernando Padron was stuck in a South Texas jail cell. 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