The vise tightened for the six former EPISD employees that were indicted earlier this year.
The judge in the case ruled that it is “complex” and that our speedy trial provisions do not apply.
The prosecution claims that the laws are complex and that they need time to prepare for trial.
The sixth amendment to our constitution states: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial…”. It does not finish with “unless some judge thinks that he is more important than this amendment”.
No legislature and certainly no judge has the right to nullify the word “all”.
Unfair indictment
Getting indicted is devastating. Those people can lose their jobs, incur immense legal bills, suffer shame at the hands of fellow citizens that think that if the government indicts you then you must be guilty, and a host of other debilitating problems.
A fair person would think that they cannot indict you unless they are ready to prove their case, ready to go to trial.
Instead the game being played is designed to drain the indictees and force them into pleading guilty before trial begins.
According to the Times article none of the defense lawyers objected to the government’s request that the case be classified as complex.
Shame on them. They want the delay too.
Why?
Going to trial takes work. All to often we see attorneys in these cases represent their clients in such a manner that they know the client will run out of money and be forced to plead guilty. “Bleed them and plead them” is an unfortunate term that is often used.
If their client pleads guilty before trial the attorney gains both the benefit of fees and is relieved of the work necessary to bring a case to trial.
Every one of these indictees should file motions to separate themselves from the other five and thus have a separate trial. That would make the case less “complex”. Of course the motions will be denied, but they should be filed anyway.
According to the Times, the government wrote “The requirements vary from state to state as NCLB [no child left behind] allows each state’s education agency to determine how measures for at-risk students will be addressed. Texas has its own peculiar way of determining AYP [average yearly progress] which is extremely complex in an of itself”.
For crying out loud
Peculiar? Extremely complex? The rules are so cloudy that a team of lawyers needs time after bringing an indictment to see how and if the rules were violated?
How on earth could six educators untrained in the law know what was and was not allowable?
The end game
The move to override a constitutional right for the convenience of unprepared government lawyers is really designed to defeat the defendants individually and put them into a position where they have to testify against their fellow indictees in order to receive lighter punishment.
Stand back and watch them fall.
We should not have to fear our government.
We deserve better
Brutus
Posted by Brutus 
elpasospeak 
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