Source: Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, TexasAug.迷你倉 02--HARLINGEN -- Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz is appealing a judge's dismissal of the state's complaint charging former Harlingen District 3 City Commissioner Kori J. Marra with failing to file a conflict of interest affidavit based on the statute of limitations.Saenz said Thursday that he needs to appeal the dismissal because he doesn't know the underlying reasoning behind Senior Justice David Wellington Chew's decision to dismiss the complaint."I can accept the fact that I lost, but I want to know why I lost so that I can avoid that in the future," Saenz said, although also acknowledging that the 13th Court of Appeals could reverse Chew's rulings.Marra had no comment and her attorney was not immediately available.Chew, a visiting judge assigned to Marra's case in the Cameron County Court-at-Law No. 3, granted in mid-July Marra's application for a pretrial writ of habeas corpus based on the statute of limitations, and her motion to quash and dismiss the complaint against her based on the statute of limitations.The state in March 2011 filed two misdemeanor charges against Marra, alleging conflict of interest and failure to file an affidavit. Saenz was the special prosecutor on the case at the time.A jury in November 2011 acquitted Marra of the first charge and convicted her of the second, sentencing her to 30 days in the county jail, a $500 fine and court costs. The charge was that as a city commissioner, she participated in a vote or decision on a matter that had a special economic effect on a business in downtown Harlingen in which she had a substantial interest without first filing an affidavit stating the nature and extent of her interest in the business.The 13th Court of Appeals overturned her conviction in March this year, and also acquitted her because the state had failed to prove the allegations in the complaint that had been filed against her. For starters, the complaint had carried the wrong文件倉name of her business.Saenz refiled the charge in April this year to include the correct name of the business. Chew's decision to dismiss the complaint came in mid-July.Marra continues under a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.The state has contended that the statute of limitations had been tolled, and had not run its course."I believe that we have very legitimate legal questions on the issue of tolling. I need to know the answers not just for this case, but for other cases in the future," Saenz said. "With all due respect to Judge Chew, he issued an order that basically says she wins and you lose. Having come this far, I want to pursue it. I want the appellate court to say, if I lose, it is because of these reasons. At this point, that is what I'm looking for."Saenz said that if Chew had laid out reasons, he would not be appealing."If there was one way that I could appeal and leave her out of it, believe me I would. If there was some way that I could divorce the two, I would," Saenz said."At this point, my interest is not on the individual Kori Marra, but on the questions," he said."Believe me, it's nothing personal against Mrs. Marra. I respect her. I think she is a wonderful lady. At this point, it is not anything about her," he maintained.Marra lost the office of city commissioner during the years' long ordeal and in 2011 said that she had legal fees already in excess of $18,000.Insofar as how much Marra's prosecution has cost the state, Saenz said: "I've got a lawyer here that does appeals. He is on a salaried position and this is one of the cases that he is working on. It has cost the state zero."Saenz, who was assigned as special prosecutor at the start of the state's case against Marra, estimated that as special prosecutor he had been paid about $7,500.Eperez-trevino@valleystar.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) Visit Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) at .valleymorningstar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉
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