Joe Rubio, Jr.

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Jose Marcelino "Joe" Rubio, Jr.
District Attorney of Webb and Zapata counties, Texas
In office January 1, 1989 – December 31, 2008
Preceded by	Julio A. Garcia, Sr.
Succeeded by	Isidro Reimundo "Chilo" Alaniz (unopposed Democratic nominee)
Constituency	Laredo and Zapata, Texas
Born	July 22, 1954 (1954-07-22) (age 53) Laredo, Texas, U.S.
Nationality	American
Political party	Democrat
Spouse	Elizabeth Jones Rubio (born 1958)
Residence	Laredo, Texas
Alma mater	Law degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic

Jose Marcelino Rubio, Jr., known as Joe Rubio (born July 22, 1954),^[1] is the district attorney for Webb and Zapata counties in south Texas whose office was swept up in a corruption scandal in the late 1990s. Rubio became DA on January 1, 1989. He announced on August 30, 2007, that he would not seek a sixth four-year term in the March 4, 2008, Democratic primary so that he can instead resume his private law practice and provide more substantially for his family.^[2]

Contents 1 Child Advocacy Center 2 Corruption in the DA office 3 Rubio's background 4 Rubio the Democrat 5 Triple-ax murder case of 1991 6 Succeeding Rubio 7 References

[edit] Child Advocacy Center

As DA, Rubio in 1995 created the Children's Coalition, which led to the establishment of a permanent Lamar Bruni Vergara Child Advocacy Center. Prior to that time, little was done in regard to child-abuse reports received by local law enforcement officials. According to Sylvia Bruni, a former Laredo Independent School District superintendent who heads the advocacy center, there had been no organized approach to investigating and prosecuting such cases.

Rubio explained the purpose of the center: "It reduces trauma to the child. . . . Instead of having the child bouncing between the police department and the hospital, they can go to one place" to receive counseling and be interviewed by police and prosecutors. Bruni said that Rubio "recognized the need and did something about it. A lot of us saw a problem but didn't act. Rubio did."^[3]

[edit] Corruption in the DA office

Rubio said that his decision to step down is unrelated to a string of controversies during his tenure as DA which involved members of his family. In a federal sweep of the district attorney's office in 1997, five persons, including his father, Joe Rubio, Sr. (born 1927)^[4], were convicted on charges involving case fixing.^[5] In May 2000, Rubio, Sr., was found guilty of conspiracy and extortion; three years later in March 2003, he was handed a four-year sentence in a federal prison hospital after his motion requesting home confinement was denied by U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen. Rubio, Sr., approached families of defendants in their homes and suggested bribes to get favorable action on their pertinent cases. Evidence did not show that Rubio, Jr., was aware of the solicitations, but Rubio, Sr., was in the DA's office on a nearly daily basis. Rubio, Sr., claimed that the cases were dismissed, not by his son, the DA, but by assistant DA Ramon Villafranca.^[6]

Rubio, Jr., said at the time that his father's "health is in a fragile state; however, the order by the courts was well thought out and reflected that they, too, are concerned about his condition." He continued: "I recognize that the law must be applied to everyone, equally. If someone does something wrong, then they [sic] have to face the consequences, including members of my family."^[7] Rubio, Sr., was released on November 24, 2006, after three and one-half years of confinement. Rubio's brother, Carlos Manuel Rubio (born 1959), was sentenced to thirty-two months in federal prison in 2000 after his conviction in a case-fixing violation that involved DA office employees. He was released on August 2, 2002.^[8] The case also implicated an uncle of Rubio and a cousin. Rubio noted that he easily survived the 2000 election despite the scandal and was unopposed in 2004. "Right now we're probably in the best political shape we've ever been. It's not because of not wanting to face another political battle. It's a financial decision," the DA explained.^[9]

[edit] Rubio's background

Rubio graduated in 1973 from J. W. Nixon High School in Laredo and is a member of the honored "Nixon Legends", established in 1993.^[10] A Roman Catholic, he is a graduate of the Baptist-affiliated Baylor University Law School in Waco. So is Webb County Attorney Homero Ramirez of Laredo, who prosecutes misdemeanors, while Rubio's office focuses on felonies.^[11]

In 1998, Rubio announced that he would no longer prosecute federal cases within Webb and Zapata counties.^[12]

Rubio originally became DA when he was nominated in the primary in 1988 to succeed his cousin, Julio A. Garcia, Sr. (born 1942), who declined to seek a third term. Rubio then defeated a rare challenge from an independent, Carlos Barrera, to secure the first of his five terms as DA. Barrera (born 1956), a former Webb County assistant DA under Garcia, thereafter relocated to Austin, where he opened a private law practice. On March 4, 2008, he was nominated in the Democratic primary in Travis County to fill a new judgeship, County Court-at-Law No. 8, which will oversee criminal misdemeanor cases. Barrera is unopposed in the November 4 general election.^[13]

Two of Rubio's prosecutors, Oscar Hale and Joe Lopez, Jr., became district judges. Another high-level DA employee, Ricardo "Rick" Flores, was elected sheriff in 2004, after having been dismissed from the DA's office from his position as counselor and criminal investigator in the Domestic Violence Unit. Flores is a candidate for renomination in the April 8 Texas Democratic runoff primary.^[14]

Prior to his DA service, Rubio served briefly on the Laredo Independent School Board in Laredo.

[edit] Rubio the Democrat

Rubio announced too that after leaving office he will remain active in the Democratic Party. A former Webb County Democratic chair, he was the most visible county supporter of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's unsuccessful bid for the party's 2008 presidential nomination. Rubio said that Richardson is "sensitive and knowledgeable about our [Hispanic] culture. . . . We believe in him and think that he can do a good job."^[15]

Rubio is a maternal cousin of State Representative Richard Raymond, another Laredo Democrat.

[edit] Triple-ax murder case of 1991

Rubio's activities regarding a triple-axe murder case early in 1991 have continued to be questioned though the matter did not affect his reelection prospects. James D. "Jim" Smiley (1958-1991), a Missouri native, Laredo businessman, and a Baptist deacon, Ruben Martinez, then twenty-one, and Daniel Duenez Capetillo, then fourteen, were murdered in Smiley's home by two teenagers wielding an axe. The killers were Miguel Angel Martinez, then seventeen, and Miguel Venegas, then sixteen. Martinez was given the death penalty and for a time was the youngest person on Texas death row. His punishment was commuted to life imprisonment. Venegas was imprisoned but not tried as an adult.^[16]

The axe and knives used in the crime were provided to the killers by Milo Flores, a son of then State District Judge Manuel R. "Meme" Flores. Milo Flores was also the alleged getaway driver. Rubio was accused of having failed to procure an indictment against Milo Flores because of the political connection between the DA and the judge When then Laredo City Councilman Alfonso "Poncho" Casso sought to bring federal obstruction of justice charges against Rubio in the matter, the DA had Casso jailed on a technical violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Casso ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1998 and thereafter left Laredo, with no formal charges brought against him. Meanwhile, Lisa Zintsmaster, the former wife of a Laredo attorney, testified under oath that an illegal meeting was held between Rubio and Judge Flores after the triple-ax murders to shield Milo Flores from prosecution.^[17] Flores survived the scrutiny over his son until 2006, when he was unseated in the Democratic primary by attorney Joe Lopez, Jr.

[edit] Succeeding Rubio

Three of the four Democrats who sought to succeed Rubio have ties to the DA's office. Fausto Sosa (born 1960) and Rolando "Rolie" Garza (born 1957) are former first assistant district attorneys. The two were eliminated the March 4 primary. Sosa started working as an assistant DA under Rudio's predecessor, Julio Garcia. Isidro Reimundo "Chilo" Alaniz (born 1968), who easily led in the primary with 49 percent of the vote and was the choice of Rubio as his successor, formerly headed the DA child-abuse unit. Maria Elena Morales (born 1952), Alaniz's opponent in the April 8 runoff election, criticized Rubio's administration of the office. Morales, who drew 21 percent in the primary, had indicated in a candidate forum held at Laredo Community College that she would not permit assistant DA's to maintain a private law practice. If elected, Morales said that she would halt her private law practice for full-time service as district attorney.^[18] Voters handily nominated Alaniz in the runoff -- he won all fifty-nine precincts -- and barring the entry of a late-filing write-in candidate he will become district attorney in January 2009, for no Republican sought the position in heavily Democratic Webb County.

Preceded by Julio A. Garcia, Sr.

District Attorney (Webb and Zapata counties, based in Laredo, Texas) Jose Marcelino "Joe" Rubio, Jr. 1989–

Succeeded by Isidro Reimundo "Chilo" Alaniz (unopposed Democratic nominee)

[edit] References