El Paso Judge Orders Daniel Villegas Must Wait For Bond Hearing

A Judge in El Paso ordered that Daniel Villegas must wait for his bond hearing and will not get to spend the holidays at home with his family as he had hoped.

State District Judge Sam Medrano Jr. said during a bond hearing on Friday morning that he cannot take action on the case until he receives jurisdiction -expected to happen in January- from the state Court of Criminal Appeals.

“Nothing I do today would be valid,” Medrano said in an El Paso court hearing Friday. “I have to wait until I receive the mandate. Once that is done, I will set a (bond) hearing.”

Daniel Villegas, now 36, was sentenced to life in prison in 1995 for the shooting deaths of two teens, Armando “Mando” Lazo and Robert England.

After presiding over several hearings in the summer of 2011 in El Paso, Judge Medrano recommended that Villegas receive a new trial.

During those hearings, Villegas’ attorney claimed his client had inadequate counsel in 1995, after then attorney John Gates spent only 40 hours in 66 days to prepare to Villegas’ defense.

Gates admitted in a court affidavit he didn’t have enough time to properly prepare for trial.

El Paso lawyer Joe Spencer, one of three attorneys who represented Daniel Villegas in his quest for a new trial, said after Friday’s hearing that he anticipates the appeals court will give Medrano jurisdiction over the case by January 13.

Spencer said Villegas was in a “state of shock”:

“He’s numb, but he’s very pleased and happy,” the El Paso lawyer said. “He said, ‘I could do 30 more days (in jail) standing on my head. Now I got light at the end of the window.'”

Spencer told reporters after Friday’s hearing that state prosecutors could have agreed to a bond for Villegas, but decided not to do so.

El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza said Spencer’s statement was “inaccurate.”

“Judge Medrano does not have jurisdiction over the case. Period. Nothing he could do to set a bond to be legally enforceable,” the El Paso District Attorney said. “This judge has no jurisdiction to set a bond that would be enforceable. We can’t agree to anything.”

El Paso businessman and family friend John Mimbela, began efforts for a new trial in 2010, after he started looking into the case and found what he thought were inconsistencies in witness statements and a lack of physical evidence pointing to Daniel Villegas as the killer.

Villegas was 16-years-old at the time of the killings and initially confessed to the crime, but recanted and said he was coerced by then-El Paso police Detective Al Marquez.

Two teens who survived the shooting signed affidavits in 2009 saying Villegas’ confession did not match the events.

The first trial in 1994 ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. The jury voted 11-1 for conviction.

In the second trial Villegas’ lawyer was accused of failing to call 18 witnesses from the first trial who would have offered evidence of an alibi for Villegas.

During court hearings in El Paso in 2011, defense attorneys named two brothers, Rudy and Javier Flores, as the killers.

Javier Flores has since died, and Rudy Flores, is serving prison time for a federal drug conviction and refused to testify.

Daniel Villegas’ case has attracted national media attention, including a piece on NBC’s Dateline. Prominent local officials such as former El Paso Mayor John Cook, attended Friday’s hearing.

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