Legal News

Judge Dismisses Cheney, Gonzales Indictments and Chides Prosecutor

By Jennifer Forsyth

Two weeks ago, the LB strongly hinted here that the indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales by a grand jury in south Texas didn’t have much chance of going forward. Well, you can call us the next Nostradamus, because those indictments went vamoose Monday. Here’s the AP story and here’s Am Law Daily.

To recap, Cheney was charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the vice president’s investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running federal detention centers in south Texas. The indictment accused Cheney of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees because of his link to the prison companies. The indictment also accused Gonzales of using his position while in office to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately-run prisons.

What we weren’t able to predict is on what grounds the indictments would be dismissed. Administrative Judge Manuel Banales dismissed all eight indictments because the attorney for GEO Group, the private prison operator also indicted, showed that two alternate jurors were part of the grand jury panel that day but had not been properly substituted. The judge also conveyed that the Willacy County District Attorney who brought the case, Juan Angel Guerra, was out of line.

“I suggest on behalf of the law that you not present any cases to the grand jury involving these defendants,” Banales said in court while ruling that eight indictments against Cheney, Gonzales and others were invalid. According to the AP, Banales withheld judgment on whether probable cause existed for the Cheney and Gonzales indictments because they were not represented in court and did not present any arguments. For the other defendants, he found no probable cause to support the charges.

Guerra apparently was undaunted. “I expected it,” he said. “The system is going to protect itself.”

Photo: Getty Images

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).