For all you bloggers who skip my home page and go straight to the blog, be sure to check out my new video on the home page.

I have my own ideas as to what I will be addressing in my videos and my blogs. However, if you have ideas please e-mail them to me at this website or to thcaballero@hotmail.com (which I constantly monitor) or if you have been able to follow the instructions that my webmaster posted on the side under "Tech Support" to be able to get on here and make comments, you can leave your idea as a comment. I look forward to reading them. Thank you.

Stay Tuned. I will be addressing some patterns of conduct out of the District Attorney's Office and how my opponent is mistraining his staff to the detriment of the law, his employees, the accused, the victims and the legal system. The examples are abundant and frightening.

We all have the same question: Why wasn't former El Paso Mayor Joe Wardy arrested on March 7, 2007 for carrying a firearm into a secured area of the airport, an action Texas state law prohibits. My opponent Jaime Esparza's stautory duty is to prosecute those in violation of state law. We have heard people on the radio talking about the double standard. I received numerous calls at my office from irate citizens who called to complain to me and to offer their support for my campaign. People in the street are saying,"If it had been me, I'd have been arrested." Why didn't Esparza do his job?

Did you know that Dallas Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer was arrested, yes the coach of "America's Team," was arrested at the Dallas airport in August 1997 for carrying a firearm into a secured area of the airport. Mr. Switzer, like Mr. Wardy as we are told by Police spokesperson Chris Mears, had made a mistake. Coach Switzer had forgotten the gun was in his carry on. The Coach had come home to find that he had overnight guests including small children. He usually kept his gun by his bed in a nightstand. When he came home and found that it was lying on top of his bed, he put it in his bag to hide it. Then having to take a trip, the Coach threw some personal items in the same bag and off to the airport he went. He went through security. They found it. The police arrested him and the Coach was taken before a magistrate for a probable cause determination. Later the case was presented to the Dallas District Attorney's office for prosecution. It was accepted. The Dallas District Attorney prosecuted Mr. Switzer who eventually pled guilty to the misdemeanor offense of unlawful carrying of a weapon. Everyone agreed that Coach Switzer had been treated the same as any other citizen.

In Mr. Wardy's case the police did their job and detained Mr. Wardy for violating Texas law but then the road took a strange curve. Instead of arresting Mr. Wardy and taking him to a magistrate the police under Esparza's DIMS system, pick up the phone and call Esparza's office for instructions. If Esparza had said "arrest" Wardy would have been arrested and then taken to a magistrate and booked into jail. We know that Esparza must have said "DO NOT arrest" because mysteriously the case gets referred to the FBI and Mr. Wardy goes on his way to Washington, D.C. FBI spokesperson Simmons says, Mr. Wardy had no "Malicious Intent" (how does she know?). These words are important because Federal law governing weapons at the airport has a higher burden. It requires that the actor have "Malicious Intent." State law requires that you simply possess the firearm, even if you forgot you had it. Mr. Esparza knows this. So being referred to the FBI equals no arrest because we have no malicious intent.

It was reported that three other similar cases have been referred to the FBI and no one has been arrested and that Mr. Wardy hasn't been given special treatment. Well I have no doubt he has not been given special treatment by the FBI but he sure was by Esparza in the referral. How come all the cases aren't sent to the FBI? The other question is who were the other three. Certainly Mr. Mathew Neessen would have appreciated a referral to the FBI. But instead, Mr. Esparza gave him probation, a $1000 fine, community service and an arrest record. How many others of Esparza's friends got a pass on this issue and got sent to the FBI? The rest of us get arrested by the police and Mr. Esparza gives the ok for it right there on the phone. We are hauled out of the airport in cuffs and brought to state court. There our lawyers explain to an asst. district attorney how we made a mistake and the Asst. D.A. reduces it to a misdemeanor and we end up like Mr. Neessen. See my last blog.

Esparza was quoted in yesterday's El Diario saying, "We don't know why the FBI decided to take this case and not arrest Joe Wardy." Now Esparza is trying to act like he just doesn't know what is going on. Well what he really hasn't figured out is that the Public does know what is going on and the public knows they would have been arrested and that Esparza has a system based on favorites.

If you are sick of the different treatment call Esparza and aks him how many El Pasoans he has ok-ed the arrest on for the same offense. Ask him why he declined Wardy's case. Ask him who the other three people were who got lucky and got referred to the FBI. Ask him why he has set up a system (DIMS) where he decides who gets arrested and not the police even when the police witness the crime. Esparza has stripped the police of their power to arrest.

Are you sick to death of Esparza's games yet?

Yesterday and today it has been reported in all the major news outlets that former El Paso Mayor Joe Wardy was stopped at the El Paso International Airport for having a loaded handgun in a carry on bag at the security checkpoint. What was particularly noteworthy about the story was that Mr. Wardy was not arrested and my opponent, the District Attorney, did not accept the case for prosecution contrary to his mandate, state law, and how he treats others similarly situated.

When someone is found to be at the airport security with a handgun in a bag or on their person, the El Paso Police detain and then arrest the individual, whether it was a mistake or not. State law does not make allowances for mistakes. When the police detain an individual, under my opponent's DIMS program (the District Attorney's Information Management System) the police call the DA's office, run the facts by them and see if they believe the case is meritorious of prosecution. The standard of review is probable cause, a very low threshold. What happened with Mr. Wardy was a little different. The police detained him, believed there was probable cause, and called the District Attorney who then did not accept the case under his DIMS system. Because if he had told them he would accept the case, Mr. Wardy would have been arrested right then and taken downtown. In this case, the next thing we know, the police called the FBI. Why? Who told the police to pawn the case off on the FBI who made no arrests?

Why didn't my opponent treat Mr. Wardy they way he treats all the other defendants similarly situated, in fact, the way he treated Mr. Mathew Neessen in 2004? On August 4, 2004, at the El Paso International Airport, Mr. Neessen was arrested for carrying a firearm into airport security. Mr. Esparza charged Mr. Neessen with a felony and the indictment (the charging instrument) read as follows:

"Mathew Neessen...on or about the 4th day of August, 2004...did then and there recklessly possess or go with a firearm, in or into a secured area of an airport, to wit: the El Paso International Airport, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, by failing to account for said firearm or by failing to check the contents of his baggage prior to entering the secured area of the airport or by failing to remove the firearm from said baggage prior to entering the secured area of the airport, against the Peace and Dignity of the State."

Based on this indictment, which tracks Texas state law, it is clear that there is no room for mistakes under the State law, the law Mr. Esparza is sworn to uphold and apply equally to everyone. Based on what Mr. Neessen eventually pled to, it appears that he, like Mr. Wardy, had made a mistake; the D.A.'s office reduced the original felony charge to a Class A misdemeanor. According to the County System, Mr. Neessen pleaded guilty under cause number, 20040D04609-384th, on 10-21-2004 to misdemeanor charge Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon; 12 months deferred probation and 50 hours of community service. Had it NOT been a mistake on Mr. Neessen's part, the DA surely would have pursued the full felony charges for trying to carry a firearm onto a plane.

Now what is the difference between Mr. Neessen and Mr. Wardy? Well Mr. Neessen was never the Mayor and therefore never had the opportunity to give Mr. Esparza more than $700,000 of our tax dollars for his DIMS program. Even under intense pressure to not fund the program and even after seeing how many lawsuits had been filed against the city for its involvement with Esparza's program, including getting his own cops sued, Mr. Wardy came through for his friend the DA and graciously handed over to Mr. Esparza city money because he asked for it. (See contracts with signatures which will be posted here.) Is Mr. Esparza now coming through for his friend Joe?

The citizens of this community are intelligent. Every single non-lawyer I have spoken to between yesterday and today has said the same thing, "If it had been me, I would have been arrested." The FBI saying these cases are not usually prosecuted, Mayor Wardy did not get special treatment and Police spokesperson Chris Mears stating that Mayor Wardy had inadvertently left the gun in his bag, all doth protest too much. We GET IT.

Mr. Eparza, thank you for providing me every single day with glaring examples that I can point out to the public, of your unwillingness to do your job right and the special favors system you have put into place and that I pledge to put an end to. Supporting documents will be posted here to include:

Mr. Neessen's indictment; his disposition information sheet;

the October 28, 2003 DIMS contract that Mayor wardy signed;

The April 12, 2005 DIMS contract that Mayor Wardy signed.;

(Click on the name of each document to read it)

It was reported today that former El Paso, Texas Mayor, Joe Wardy, was detained at the El Paso International airport for having a handgun in a bag while attempting to go through airport security. According to reports, Mr. Wardy was detained by the El Paso Police Department and then later questioned by the FBI with the implication being that he missed his flight. He was detained and not arrested. My question is, why was Mr. Wardy not arrested?

If carrying a handgun, even with a license, through airport security is NOT against the law then why was Mr. Wardy detained and questioned? Why didn't they just wave him on through? Why the investigation and the questioning and the news stories? If such conduct IS against the law then why was Mr. Wardy released without being arrested?

I have represented an individual who had a knife in his backpack when going through airport security, a souvenir he purchased in Spain, after coming back from Iraq. He went through security at the very same El Paso airport on his way home to Illinois. TSA discovered it. My client explained that he had forgotten the knife was there. The El Paso Police told him to tell it to the judge. He was arrested and put in jail just days before Christmas. The El Paso Police hauled him out of the airport in handcuffs and Jaime Esparza, my opponent, accepted the case for felony prosecution. My client's friends in Illinois had to hire me and Judge Carter, the Jail Magistrate, was good enough to give me an expedited bond hearing so my client wouldn't have to stay in jail over the holidays. My client had to fly back to El Paso for his arraignment and later hearings. I explained and explained to the authorities that he was not a terrorist. In fact they could see for themselves that he was a law abiding US citizen who had been doing contract work for the US Army in Iraq. They also accepted that it was a mistake. They would give him a break and he could plead to a misdemenaor but they would not drop the charges. They told me that the law is the law.

We read that El Paso Police spokesman Chris Mears said of Mr. Wardy's mishap with the gun, not a knife, "At this point it appears it (the gun) may have been left in the bag inadvertently." How nice of the police to excuse this as a mistake when for every other Joe it's a crime. Why didn't Mr. Mears make the same statement for my client? --Oh yes, and the US Attorney's Office has said that they need to continue the investigation. What more is there to investigate? Mr. Wardy either had the gun or he didn't. It's either against the rules or it isn't. They sure didn't need to investigate my client's case further. It is obvious we have two El Pasos and two legal systems. One for the important and one for the rest of us.


If my opponent were really tough on crime, he'd offer to take over the prosecution, as he does in most of these cases, and he would apply the same rules to Mr. Wardy that he so happily does to people who aren't former Mayors and current CEOs of big companies. Where are you Mr. Esparza? Do you play golf with Mr. Wardy, too?

When I begin my series on my opponent's DIMS system you will see that as a matter of his official office policy, Esparza himself set up one legal system for his staff and public officials and one legal system for the rest of us.

When elected, I am doing away with preferential treatment and all citizens will be treated equally and fairly. Mistakes will be handled as mistakes and crimes will be handled as crimes based on the facts and not on the individual's status.

Everyone: Please be sure to click on the brand new feature of this web site called: "DA in the news". You can click onto it on the title page of this site, at the bottom of the left hand side of the first page (the one where Theresa has her video), last entry down.

What you will see will simply (no other word for it) amaze you. There are two editorials and two political cartoons. The amazing thing is that, even after these 4 came out in the paper, the next time the DA came up for re-election NO ONE RAN AGAINST HIM! He ran UNOPPOSED! Well, finally there is someone with the courage and honesty to run against him: Theresa Caballero.

The first cartoon depicts Esparza dancing with the then Chief of Police, Carlos Leon, while trampling the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; censoring people and shutting people's mouths. Is this what you want in your DA?

The first editorial tells of Esparza and the "clownish level he sunk" to in his "unhealthy obsessive pursuit" of a "leak"; that Esparza and his office were "fixated on this crusade" for more than three months with the result being an "unnecessary waste of time and money". (By the way, that's our money he wasted, folks). The editorial goes on to talk about how Esparza targeted certain individuals and entities and was desperately flailing about in his all consuming attempt to trample the First Amendment underfoot while trying to skewer his political enemy and using the Grand Jury to do it in an attempt to politically embarrass former Mayor Larry Francis to help Esparza's friend, Carlos Ramirez, get re-elected Mayor.

The editorial wondered about the politics involved in Esparza's latest move and called Esparza's timing in his targeting of Francis "extremely suspect".

Police Officers, having information about alleged improprieties in the Police Department, did not feel comfortable going to Esparza with their concerns. (Why ever not?). This editorial even suggested the appointment of a special prosecutor to look into this. The editorial asks: Who's next on Esparza's hit list? (Why does a DA even have a hit list?). Is this what you want in your DA?

The next editorial talks about the "chilling effect" Esparza's investigation of leaks is having on whistle blowers and that we need whistle blowers and why we do. It talks of Esparza and a grand jury targeting people who are simply trying to do the right thing. It tells the story of how Assistant Police Chief George DeAngelis ended up on paid or sick leave for reporting alleged misconduct by then Police Chief Carlos Leon. It talks about how Esparza's actions send the message: "Report possible misconduct at the peril of your own career and your own reputation." The editorial concludes that: "The bad news is that, because Esparza is focusing more on punishing whistle-blowers than on uncovering misconduct or mismanagement in the Police Department, it may be a long time before anyone speaks up again. What a shame" and, later: "The key point is that people who want to do the right thing in El Paso are being intimidated. That's a disservice to the Police Department, it's a damaging blow to the spirit of public service, and it's an insult to every El Pasoan." Is that the kind of DA you want?

The last cartoon depicts Esparza hiding behind the Grand Jury. The Grand Jury is holding a Hit List, listing the Former Mayor, Whistle Blowers, Critics, Media, and (scariest of all) Political Foes. Is this the kind of DA you want?

Read all these for yourselves. Then ask yourselves: Is this the kind of DA I want? If it is not, then there is only one logical, clear and ethical choice in the upcoming District Attorney race: Vote for Theresa Caballero for District Attorney. There will be none of this under her administration. What you will read in these 4 items is very scary stuff. I really, truly fear for Theresa. We should all get behind her and help her. She is doing this for all of us and the future of El Paso.