Dona Ana County Treasurer guilty of gross immorality, removed from office

A jury found Dona Ana County Treasurer David Gutierrez guilty of gross immorality. Gutierrez, who took the stand in his own defense Wednesday, has been removed from office a month before his term ends.

Gutierrez is accused of offering Olivia Nunez, one of his former employees, $1,000 to have sex with him.

The incident allegedly took place in 2014 after the employee came up short in her cash drawer. Charges were not filed until after county officials formally requested the district attorney’s office investigate after Gutierrez refused to resign.

The county later gave Nunez $68,000 in a settlement.

Gutierrez recalled one day seeing Nunez crying outside the Government Center. He said she told him she was going through a divorce.

Gutierrez also said Nunez once took money from a cash drawer. Instead of terminating her, he said he gave her the money to replace it because he wanted to give her a second chance and “felt sorry for her.”

The county treasurer said he wanted to lift Nunez’s spirits on the way to the bank. That’s when he said he told her anyone would be willing to give her money for a couple hours in a hotel room.

“When I made that statement to her – that was in the context of that statement. I didn’t mean I wanted to have sex with her, I didn’t mean that,” Gutierrez said.

A prosecutor asked Gutierrez is his act was immoral. “I would say yes,” Gutierrez replied.

The prosecutor then asked: “Wouldn’t that be a corrupt thing to do?”

“I don’t know the meaning of corruption. I thought that always meant stealing or embezzling or doing something like that,” Gutierrez answered.

Before Gutierrez’s testimony, a former county treasurer deputy told jurors he saw Gutierrez and Nunez “flirting” at a pool during a company trip.

Rene Barba said he once had a “friendlier” relationship and Gutierrez, who would often make comments to him about Nunez’s appearance, often looking at what she was wearing through the office’s security cameras.

Barba was allegedly forced to resign.

In March, his attorney told ABC-7 it was for two reasons: reporting the sexual misconduct of Gutierrez when he attempted to solicit sex for money, and refusing to hire Gutierrez as his chief deputy treasurer if Barba was elected as county treasurer, a position he was planning on running for.

Barba sued Gutierrez and reportedly reached a $175,000 settlement.

In March 2016, a grand jury formally accused Gutierrez of “Corruption in Office or Gross Immorality by a Public Official.”

If found guilty, Gutierrez would be immediately removed from office, even though his term is over on December 31.

Eric Rodriguez, who served as Gutierrez’s chief deputy treasurer, will take over after winning the November 8th election.

The same grand jury indicted Gutierrez on several criminal charges, but Judge Angie Schneider dismissed those charges a few weeks ago.

Nunez, testified in court Tuesday. She wiped away tears on the witness stand as she recalled Gutierrez offering her money for a few hours in a hotel room.

“He asked me if I had money problems, I told him no,” Nunez said. “He told me he really liked me, if I would spend a couple hours in a hotel with him and I told him no I wasn’t a prostitute, that if i needed money I will get a second or third job that I wasn’t the type of person to do those things.”

She also told the court her boss would consistently make inappropriate comments about her clothes and appearance. She said Gutierrez told her he dreamt about her and wanted her to wear a bikini on a company trip.

A report by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states 6,822 sexual harassment claims were filed with the EEOC in 2015.

17 percent of the charges were filed by men, the report states.

Texas had the highest percentage of claims nationwide with eleven percent. The Lone Star State was followed by Florida with eight percent and California with 6.6 percent.