Attorney Forces Mayor, City Manager To Leave Council Meeting To Testify In Criminal Case; Accuses City Rep. Of Sticking Tongue Out At Her

A surprise subpoena for the mayor and city manager during a meeting, a city council member accused of sticking her tongue out at a defense attorney, and an officer’s integrity called into question.

This isn’t an elaborate plot to a “Law & Order” episode, but the events of a bizarre day that began unremarkably at City Hall on Tuesday. That is, until El Paso City Council’s meeting was interrupted.

Mayor John Cook and City Manager Joyce Wilson were served with a subpoena to testify immediately in the 2004 criminal case of The State Vs. Oscar Marquez being tried in the 171st District Court by Judge Bonnie Rangel.

Marquez is charged with assault on a peace officer. Marquez’s attorneys are Theresa Caballero and Stuart Leeds.

Marquez was 18 years old when El Paso Police officer Louis Johnson allegedly caught him drinking alcohol. During the arrest, Johnson claimed Marquez threatened him with a broken bottle, therefore the attack on a peace officer charge. Read more details about the case and alleged incident here. Johnson, who later was promoted to sergeant, was the same officer who shot and killed Ruben Troncoso outside the Cincinnati bar area after a city-wide pursuit in June 2009 in an unrelated case.

While on the stand Tuesday, Johnson was questioned by Caballero about his knowledge of the legal system in an effort to discredit him and the El Paso Police Department.

“Do you even know what an indictment is?” Caballero asked Johnson.

Johnson replied, “No.”

“You’re a sergeant with the police department and you don’t even know what an indictment is?” Caballero asked.

During a recess for the jury, the judge, defense attorneys, prosecutors and a city attorney met to discuss whether or not the mayor and city manager should have been called to testify.

The city attorney argued there was no reason for the mayor and Wilson to be in the courtroom because Caballero knew Tuesday mornings are when City Council meetings take place. Because of that, it’s not advisable to have both the mayor and the city manager taken out of the meeting, even though the mayor pro-tem and other city personnel can carry out business.

The city attorney said Caballero’s actions constituted harassment and were hindering city business.

Caballero countered that by saying the Mayor Cook needed to be there because she sent a letter to him explicitly telling him that Johnson acted unprofessionally in this case, and according to Caballero, the mayor sent the letter to the police department’s internal affairs unit, which then opened up a case on the officer using her letter.

Caballero said she wanted the mayor to testify why he requested the internal affairs investigation. She also said the letter was not included in the officer’s file and she wanted to know why it disappeared. She argued the mayor should testify because he has personal knowledge of the case.

City Manager Joyce Wilson said that after the Mayor sent the letter to the legal department, they started an internal affairs investigation, and Johnson was cleared of any wrong-doing.

As for Wilson, Caballero said she had to testify because she’s the head of the police department, she oversees it, can fire and appoint the police chief, and she should answer as to why officers make mistakes under her direction.

The city attorney who accompanied Wilson and Cook objected to that argument, saying Caballero knows it should be the chief of police who testifies, not Wilson. The city attorney also said the mayor receives a lot of letters, and if he were summoned to court for every letter or case he comes across, he would be in court often.

The judge issued an order to let the mayor and Wilson go back to the city council meeting and ordered them to come back to the 171st District Court at 2:30 p.m.

City Council continued on with business in their absence.

In the afternoon, with the jury not present, Cook and Wilson took the stand in front of Judge Rangel to answer Caballero’s questions. Cook was asked by Caballero if he had read her letter about Johnson.

Cook responded by saying, “I didn’t even read your letter, quite honestly. As soon as I saw ‘Theresa Caballero,’ I sent it to legal.”

While Caballero had Cook on the stand, she pretended to be the mayor and said, “Liar cop, now killer cop. Not my problem, I’m just the mayor.”

The mayor responded to Caballero by saying, “No, you’re the attorney.”

Caballero then said, “I’m being facetious.”

She later said, “When you have a mayor who gives a damn, he does something about it. If you have a mayor who doesn’t give a damn, he pushes the problem to someone else.”

Rangel ruled that Cook and Wilson did not need to testify in the case before the jury because their testimony was not relevant.

Caballero refused to comment to ABC-7 on camera why she had the mayor and city manager subpoenaed to court during the City Council meeting. She cited a pending defamation lawsuit she filed against KVIA for stories aired during her unsuccessful campaign for district attorney in 2008. See Editor’s Note.

As for Tuesday’s council interruption, Cook described it as being “typical Caballero and Leeds theatrics.”

“They’ve subpoened me before to be deposed in cases and … just as a harrassment,” Cook told ABC-7. “I’ve never had to testify in court.”

In a strange twist, El Paso City Rep. Susie Byrd was part of the jury pool for the Marquez case but was not selected. Caballero claimed that at one point during selection of the jury, Byrd stuck her tongue out at her.

During court proceedings on Tuesday, Caballero asked the court reporter for transcripts of when Byrd admitted to doing this. The court reporter said Byrd had admitted twice to sticking her tongue out.

Byrd initially declined to comment on the incident until the end of the trial citing an effort not to interfere with Marquez’s legal process. However, she later explained to ABC-7 that she did not stick her tongue out to Caballero, but did make a face at another potential juror.

Jury deliberations are expected to begin on Wednesday.

Editor’s Note: In the interest of full disclosure and context, ABC-7 would like to point out that Caballero is suing ABC-7 over stories the station aired during her unsuccessful campaign for District Attorney in 2008. ABC-7 stands by the accuracy and fairness of those stories and give the viewers our pledge that we will faithfully report on the outcome of that case.