Texas Youth Commission Abuse Case moved to Odessa, TX

Brookins in court
ODESSA AMERICAN
2010-02-22 17:55:13
Judge Jay Gibson heard arguments on everything from how much pornography can be admitted to how many one-time West Texas State School students will testify when the trial of the Pyote all-male prison facility’s former assistant superintendent begins in April.
Ray Edward Brookins, 44, wore a dark suit to the hearing in Gibson’s makeshift courtroom in a jury room at Ector County Courthouse, where the Texas Youth Commission trial was moved from Monahans.
Defense attorney Bob Garcia asked Gibson to exclude all pornographic evidence from the case.
But Assistant Texas Attorney General Adrienne McFarland said the evidence, which includes "a wide variety" of DVD videos, VHS tapes and sex toys, is important to the prosecution’s case.
"We are going to be seeking to introduce these items," she said. "Many of these items corroborate with statements from the TYC students."
McFarland said she would introduce a witness who will discuss Brookins talking about or showing the items to students.
Garcia said he was concerned that prosecutors would try having every one of the pornographic items on their table for jurors to see.
"I can assure you we’re not going to do that," McFarland said.
Garcia also implied that the attorney general’s office had a conflict of interest, since the state represented TYC in civil suits brought against it by former inmates at the Pyote school, one of whom is on the prosecution’s witness list.
"They are the lawyers who are defending the lawsuit, but, in this case, they are the prosecution," he said.
But McFarland said that a different department of the attorney general’s office handled any lawsuits.
"There are numerous departments in our office," she said. "Mr. Garcia is representing that the attorney general is representing TYC. I have no knowledge of that."
Defense attorney Rick Navarrete addressed the issue of 68 extraneous offenses involving 25 victims in addition to the victim listed in the case. He said that if the information were to be admitted, as the prosecution wants, it could cause the trail to go from lasting one week to taking between three and four weeks.
"If you have the evidence, why didn’t you prosecute them for it?" he said. "But they didn’t."
Gibson said he would deal with some of the issues in a hearing on April 19, the day before the long-awaited trial is scheduled to start.
McFarland also asked the judge whether the witnesses, many of whom are in state or county jails, would be held in Ector County or Ward County during the trial.
"It’s going to be quite a few that I’m going to have bench warrants for," she said.
Gibson said he would likely house the inmates in Ward County.
At a November hearing, Garcia requested additional attorneys. Monday, he introduced two of them — Navarrete and Jason Leach. That’s a big increase for Brookins, who showed up twice for hearings without counsel after his former attorney was arrested.
The prosecution also had a change. Assistant Attorney General Ralph Guerrero worked with McFarland. He is replacing Lisa Tanner, who is handling a death penalty case.
The attorney general’s office took over the case of Brookins and co-defendant John Paul Hernandez after 143rd District Attorney Randall Reynolds removed himself after coming under scrutiny for not prosecuting the cases sooner.
Ward County District Judge Bob Parks was removed from the case after delays in setting a trial date.
Brookins was charged in April 2007 with two counts each of "improper relationship with a student" and "improper sexual activity with a person in custody." He has pleaded not guilty.
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