By Ramon Bracamontes
El Paso Times
EL PASO — Two dozen alleged members of the Bloods street gang are free to go where they please after a judge on Monday dismissed a temporary restraining order against them.
County Court Judge Javier Alvarez concluded after a hearing that County Attorney José Rodríguez did not follow proper procedures in obtaining the temporary order.
Alvarez on March 20 signed the order, which barred 27 alleged Bloods members from being out late at night or gathering in parks or on streets anywhere in El Paso County. Three of those people were removed from the gang list Monday by the county attorney’s staff after their lawyers contended that the allegations were false.
Still, Rodríguez’s staff immediately asked for a new temporary restraining order against the other 24, a request Alvarez put on hold. The judge said state law requires the county attorney to first post a bond or obtain permission from county commissioners or the attorney general to seek a restraining order against a group.
Rodríguez did not meet that requirement when the first order was obtained. The judge scheduled a hearing for April 21 on whether a new temporary restraining order should be granted.
“Before the court can consider issuing a new TRO ... you have to get permission from the Commissioners Court or get permission from the state attorney general,” Alvarez said. “We don’t have a TRO in place right now.”
Rodríguez filed a civil lawsuit last month asking for a gang injunction against the 27 people he alleged were Bloods gang members. He then requested that the temporary restraining order be transformed into a temporary gang injunction that would restrict the Bloods’ activities until a trial on the civil lawsuit could be held.
That process was derailed Monday after lawyers for the alleged gang members argued that Rodríguez’s attempt to acquire the original restraining order was illegal. The defense lawyers further argued that if Rodríguez wants a new temporary restraining order, the defendants should be allowed into the hearing to defend themselves.
Alvarez agreed.
“Today ended very well for the defendants. Having counsel with you makes a big difference,” said civil rights lawyer Edward Hernandez, who challenged Rodríguez’s order because he said the county government was railroading the alleged gang members.
Hernandez, appointed by the judge to represent one of the defendants, fought to make sure all 27 people named in the original lawsuit had a lawyer.
Four of the defendants could not be located and have not received court papers that they are on the gang list.
Another four have agreed to the restrictions the county attorney sought against them, effectively conceding they are gang members.
But defense lawyers for the remaining 19 said they will continue to fight any attempts by the county attorney to label their clients as gang members.
“We are not talking about criminals,” defense lawyer Mary Stillinger said. “We are talking about people who have been friends for 15 years who will not be allowed to be friends anymore.”
Rosario Marin, the mother of one of the men listed on the injunction, said her son did not belong on the list.
“He works and goes to school,” Marin said. “I’m not sure what they are trying to do, but he is not a gang member.”
Rodríguez maintained that his staff had received enough information from the Police Department to prove that those remaining on the list are members of the gang. At Monday’s hearing, more than 40 police officers waited outside the courtroom, ready to testify against the alleged gang members.
All of the 27 people named in the original gang injunction have been arrested before. However, 10 have never been convicted of a crime.
Copyright 2009 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper