[speechlesstx]

Oh happy day, Cheney and Gonzales have been indicted in Texas for organized crime.

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge has set a Friday arraignment for Vice President Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others named in indictments accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a federal detention center.

Cheney, Gonzales and the others will not be arrested, and do not need to appear in person at the arraignment, Presiding Judge Manuel Banales said.

In the latest bizarre development in the case, the lame-duck prosecutor who won the indictments was a no-show in court Wednesday. The judge ordered Texas Rangers to go to Willacy County District Attorney Juan Guerra's house, check on his well-being and order him to court on Friday.

Half of the eight high-profile indictments returned Monday by a Willacy County grand jury are tied to privately run federal detention centers in the sparsely populated South Texas county. The other half target judges and special prosecutors who played a role in an earlier investigation of Guerra.

One indictment charges Cheney and Gonzales with engaging in organized criminal activity. It alleges that the men neglected federal prisoners and are responsible for assaults in the facilities.

The grand jury accused Cheney of a conflict of interest because of his influence over the county's federal immigrant detention center and his substantial holdings in the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies.

The indictment accuses Gonzales of stopping an investigation into abuses at the federal detention center.

An attorney for the private prison operator The GEO Group filed motions accusing Guerra of "prosecutorial vindictiveness."

One motion said Guerra had hijacked "the grand jury process and disregarded the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure designed to protect defendants' due process rights."

Some attorneys argued that Banales may not have the authority to schedule an arraignment because the indictments were invalid. One lawyer said Guerra never should have been allowed to present the cases to the grand jury because at least four of the indictments deal with people who had some role in the investigation of his office last year.

"He is the witness, the victim and the prosecutor," said the attorney for Mervyn Mosbacker Jr., a former U.S. attorney who was appointed special prosecutor to investigate Guerra.

District Clerk Gilbert Lozano, District judges Janet Leal and Migdalia Lopez, and special prosecutors Mosbacker and Gustavo Garza, a longtime political opponent of Guerra, were all indicted on charges of official abuse of official capacity and official oppression.

The grand jury tied all of their charges to an earlier investigation of Guerra's office.

If Guerra needs a job I know of a place in Arizona that could use a new prosecutor.

[tomder55]

What is it with Texas a rogue prosecutors ? This is your prototypical "indict a ham sandwich " . This prosecutor and all these grandstanding ones throughout the nation should have to pay for the waste of taxpayers money on these stalinist show trials.

This isn't going to happen . There is such a thing as the Supremacy Clause to the Constitution. It prohibit states from prosecuting federal officers for their official acts.
But even if that wasn't there ;what state crime exactly did Cheney commit ? If I have investments in Vanguard ;an investment management company ,am I also a criminal ? In Cheney's case ;his holdings are in a blind trust .

[speechlesstx]

Don’t you know tom, these are the types of case that are “ enormously important to this state, this country, and democracy itself.” At least that’s what Ronnie Earle said, who in the 4th year of his case against Tom DeLay offered his assistance on a pro bono basis to his successor. How noble and courageous of ol’ Ron to offer himself up to save democracy itself.

[tomder55]

Update :

This farce has been played out :
Texas judge dismisses Cheney, Gonzales charges

A judge dismissed indictments against Vice President 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.

"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.