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U.S. Bureau of Prisons officials want Stickels to sign a contract
guaranteeing the prisoners' security during their trip here.
"I just can't sign that contract," Stickels told District Judge Bob
Parks this morning when he called the docket for the 11 defendants to be
arraigned.
Judge Parks said the defendants should be given an opportunity to
request counsel so they can prepare for trial, and he has no idea when
they will be released from federal prison.
All are charged with assaulting guards during a riot at the Reeves
County Law Enforcement Center Feb. 28. Similar charges against two other
inmates were dismissed last week when the guards failed to identify them
as they arrived at the courtroom for trial, Stickels said.
Judge Parks re-set arraignment for the 11 defendants to Sept. 13, with a
directive to Stickels to write the court a memo of its position, "so I
can know how to set these cases."
Stickels said that security for the federal inmates is not up to him; it
is up to the sheriff.
"They want me to guarantee they will be housed under BOP conditions;
that nothing bad will happen; that I won't let them out of jail; that if
something bad happens I will tell the BOP; and I will pick them up and
return them safely," Stickels said.
Also re-set for Sept. 13 was a motion to revoke probation for Dane
Hudnall, due to the absence of probation officer Louis Aten, who is on
vacation.
Stickels and defense attorney Roddy Harrison agreed to submit testimony
from a civil suit in Evigael Juarez Navarette's motion to suppress
evidence in a criminal trial.
The attorneys said they would submit that testimony, the search warrant
and affidavit for search warrant used in the search Navarette's home, in
the Monahans courtroom this afternoon. Judge Parks re-set the pre-trial
hearing for Sept. 6, when he will render his decision.
Navarette is charged with drug possession. The civil trial alluded to
was a hearing on forfeiture of his property that was seized during the
search, which police said also turned up a small amount of illegal drugs.
Allen Polunsky, chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, said
the Legislature must make the regulation of private prisons in Texas its
top criminal-justice priority when it convenes in January.
However, Reeves County Judge Jimmy Galindo doubted any possible change
would affect the county's 650-bed detention center that houses U.S.
Bureau of Prison inmates similar to those who rioted last week in Eden.
``There is no question that the state is going to have to have much
tighter regulation on private facilities operating here, especially when
it comes to bringing in out-of-state inmates,'' he told San Antonio
radio station WOAI.
Polunsky said he fears that Texas is becoming a ``dumping ground'' for
the worst criminals from prison systems in other states.
``We have a phenomenon now in the state of Texas that we've never had
before, and probably no other state in the union has ever had before,''
he said.
``That's a proliferation of private companies holding out-of-state
inmates, and county and city jails holding out-of-state inmates, without
any kind of regulation on the part of the state. That has to change.''
"I don't think we fall in that category," said Reeves County Judge Jimmy
Galindo for the Reeves County Detention Center. "We don't have the same
problems that private prisons do."
"We have an intergovernmental agreement with the (U.S.) Bureau of
Prisons," said Galindo, who added that the federal agency takes
extensive measures to classify its prisoners.
The RCDC is a minimum security facility, said the county judge, who
commented that the BOP's classification process makes, "fits the type of
inmate to the prison."
Polunsky's comments came after Thursday's capture of an Oklahoma double
murderer who escaped Monday from a private prison in San Antonio.
Other incidents mentioned by the TDCJ chairman included the recent
escape of two Oregon sex criminals from a private prison near Houston,
and recent disturbances at private prisons in Crystal City, Eden and
Spur.
The Eden facility was the only one housing minimum security federal
inmates similar to those at the RCDC. Inmates at the other facilities
were brought to Texas from state prisons having committed more serious
crimes.
``We need to have regulatory authority to assure that the type of
inmates that are coming into these facilities are suitable for the
facilities they are going to be held in,'' Polunsky said.
Copyright 1996 Pecos Enterprise. All rights reserved. AP contributed to
this report.
Six jurors voted to exonerate Daniel Salcido Dutchover, 46, of
Balmorhea, of drug-related charges, while the remaining six found him
guilty, according to Assistant District Attorney for the 70th Judicial
District, Janice Hinshaw.
Dutchover is currently serving a 10-year deferred adjudication sentence
under a plea bargain agreement reached earlier this year between 143rd
District Attorney John Stickels, and his defense attorney, Roddy
Harrison, who also represented Dutchover in the Ector County trial.
Hinshaw stated this morning that a retrial of the case is likely, and
she feels that Harrison, "confused the jury," during this week's court
proceedings.
The trial was held after Dutchover's attorney turned down a plea bargain
of 25 years in a state penitentiary for his client.
"We're hoping to get at least that (25 years)," said Hinshaw, in the
planned retrial. No date for the second trial has been set, according to
spokesperson for the 70th District Court.
The PBDTF filed charges of cocaine delivery against Dutchover in
December following a Nov. 21-22 raid of his home, during which they
seized almost five pounds of marijuana and one pound of cocaine that he
allegedly tried to sell to an undercover agent.
The entry was the result of a two-month long investigation by the PBDTF
and lead a local entry team to the home of Pecos residents, Hector Brito
Pando and Yolanda Pando, who were witnessed delivering narcotics to
Dutchover's residence prior to the raid.
Black tar heroin and cocaine were discovered at the Pando home. Both
were given 10-years with deferred adjudication.
A warrant for Hector Brito Pando is currently being held by the Reeves
County Sheriff's Office charging him with probation revocation, after a
urine specimen he was required to give tested positive for opiates in
May.
Vertical rotation was spotted in the heavy clouds that moved across the
area, said NWS forecaster Wade Earle.
"For the most part they are harmless," Earle said. "They last for a
short period of time. If they do touch ground, winds are normally less
than 60 mph. They will blow around trash cans, about like a strong dust
devil."
NWS put out a statement of possible funnel clouds being spotted for the
25 counties served by the Midland office, Earle said.
Despite the heavy clouds, Orla got no rain Thursday. Mentone, Toyah and
Balmorhea were also bypassed by the showers, while Pecos caught .24 inch
in the early afternoon.
Toyah was receiving heavy rains this morning, said J.T. Marsh, Precinct
2 Justice of the Peace.
Heavy rains fell in Odessa around 7 p.m., on Thursday and scattered
showers were visible across the Permian Basin.
Slow-moving storms with heavy rainfall in north Texas produced flash
flooding overnight and into the morning in Bosque, Coryell, Hamilton and
Johnson counties. Although most of the area was still running below
normal rainfall for the year, many areas were catching up quickly thanks
to a weeklong rainy weather pattern.
Today, there is a flash flood watch for most of the southern half of
north Texas. Showers and thunderstorms are likely in the southeast.
Elsewhere, it will be cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms
with highs 82 to 87. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a chance of
showers and thunderstorms and lows 67 to 71.
West Texas skies were mostly cloudy to cloudy this morning. A few
showers were located over the western South Plains and over the western
Oklahoma panhandle.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible across much of the
region through Saturday, with locally heavy rain possible over parts of
the Edwards Plateau today. Otherwise, skies will be partly cloudy to
cloudy through Saturday.
Highs in West Texas will be in the 70s and 80s with 90s along the Rio
Grande River valleys. Lows tonight will be in the 60s and 70s.
A flash flood watch is in effect for a large portion of south and
southeast Texas today. The heaviest rain fell near Cortulla in La Salle
County and in Del Rio. Rainfall amounts were generally in the 1 to 3
inch range overnight. Totals ranging from 3 to 6 inches fell from near
Cortulla to south of San Antonio.
The forecast called for continued flash flood watches, with some areas
possibly receiving more than 4 inches today. Otherwise skies will be
mostly cloudy through tonight.
Highs will be in the lower 90s in deep South Texas and in the mid and
upper 80s in the north, with rain-cooled areas likely remaining in the
upper 70s. Lows tonight will be in the 70s with 60s in the Hill Country.
Copyright 1996 Pecos Enterprise. All rights reserved. AP contributed to
this report.
Dick Alligood of Oilfield Phone Service said the problem is with GTE
and Bell Telephone lines, and they are working to correct it.
Jimmy Castro, area manager for GTE, said at noon he had not been
notified of the problem, and, in fact, didn't know Pecos had a local
Internet connection.
Alligood said he reported the problem to GTE at 9:30 a.m. today after
noticing the link was down when he tried to retrieve e-mail from the
BitStreet web server located in Abilene.
"There is a ticket filed on both ends," he said.
GTE has cut out most of its West Texas office operations since merging
with former local phone system operator Contel five years ago. Trouble
reports called in to GTE's automated system may be answered in Tampa,
Fla., Houston, Dallas or New Jersey, Alligood said.
One such report got lost in the mill Wednesday when Alligood reported a
problem at 8:30 a.m. He said he later called to check on it and was told
they were working on it.
"I was home at 7:15 p.m. when the phone rings," he said. "Tom in Tampa
with GTE said they had just got the ticket we filed at 8:30 a.m., and
they would get on it immediately.
At 7:30, Susie in Dallas said they had just gotten the ticket from
Tampa. Five minutes later, Glenna Thomas, a local GTE employee, called
to say they had just gotten the ticket and would work on the problem.
Rainy weather always causes problems with GTE lines, because water can
short them out.
PECOS, August 30, 1996 - High Thursday 82, low this morning 69. Rainfall
past 24 hours .24 inches. Year-to-date 7.94 inches. Tonight, mostly
cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms. Low in the
mid 60s. East wind 5-10 mph. Saturday, becoming partly cloudy with a 20
percent chance of showers or thunderstorms. High in the lower 80s.
Southeast wind 5-15 mph. Labor Day weekend forecast, partly to mostly
cloudy with a slight chance of late afternoon and nighttime showers or
thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s. Highs in the mid to upper 80s.
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_
Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
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