Note: What follows is the tanscription of a letter that I received this week from retired United States Air Force Major Mark Bittakis. Major Bittakis was arrested by Richard Wiles at the El Paso airport and charged with possession of cocaine. Instead of taking Major Bittakis to a judge, as the law requires, Wiles called DA Esparza who authorized the arrest, set a bond of $75,000 and ok'd Bittakis going straight to jail-no judge. ONLY a JUDGE may authorize the arrest of a person and ONLY a JUDGE may set a bond. Esparza broke the law. Major Bittakis spent over ten days in jail unable to make such a huge bond. Keep in mind that Major Bittakis was a traveler from out of state just passing through El Paso on military business. After ten days in jail and paying an outrageous bond, it then came to light that what Wiles had thought was cocaine was in fact every day household LAUNDRY DETERGENT. This is called exceedingly poor training on Wiles' part. Major Bittakis' arrest was a DIMS arrest, meaning no judge. DIMS is Esparza's "baby" and he is proud of it because he says it is "fast and efficient." In fact, it is neither. This is the case that led Sheriff Samaniego to slam shut his jail doors to any inmate who had not been to see a judge first. This is the case that made Esparza so mad at the Sheriff for standing up for the Constitution.
If Esparza is re-elected, and with no Sheriff Samaniego to stop him, he will resume sending people to jail with bonds HE gives, thus erasing the judge. He will create hundreds if not thousands of criminals out of innocent people. He will create more people like Major Bittakis. Richard Wiles, Carlos Leon, Marvin Ryals, and Mary Lou Carrillo are four of eleven candidates for Sheriff who march in lock step with Esparza on this issue. Knowledge is power so vote wisely in the March 4th primary. Our liberties are at stake.
Ms. Theresa Caballero
Attorney at Law
300 E. Main, STE. 1136
El Paso, TX
79901-1381
Dear Ms. Caballero,
Enclosed you will find my contribution to your campaign for District Attorney of the 34th Judicial District for El Paso, Culberson, and Hudspeth counties. The need for a District Attorney's office in El Paso committed to honesty, even handedness, fairness, and the rule of law is so absolutely and painfully apparent. I am convinced that you are the person that can return to that office the integrity that it so desperately needs. It is clear that El Paso is in dire need of a change.
Sadly, the recent passing of Sheriff Samaniego leaves a huge void in the community. He was one of the few officials willing to stand up to Mr. Esparza's "fast-food, drive through" form of legal process. I only met him once but he struck me as a man of integrity. The announced candidacy of recently retired El Paso Police Chief Wiles for Sheriff of El Paso County should be a matter of community concern. He clearly was one of Esparza's minions. His vision of consolidating the El Paso Police Department and the Sheriff's Department into a single entity would give him a power base of unacceptable proportions. The combination of Jaime Esparza as District Attorney and Richard Wiles as Sheriff/Chief of Police would be clearly an ominous "Perfect Storm" of potential Constitutional abuse in the making. DIMS will take on a new meaning should both of these gentlemen be elected.
I am of course not a member of the El Paso community, but we have far too many "Nifong like" District Attorneys in office in this country. Bad government is similar to a disease in that it is contagious. It is every citizens responsibility to see that it does not spread. Mr. Esparza's DIMS program is particularly heinous. It is not only self-serving, but also misdirects hundreds of thousands of tax dollars every year from education, medical, and social services. It also denies the citizens of El Paso something as fundamental as the opportunity for a personal recognizance bond; an opportunity available to the citizens of every other county in Texas.
Once again, Ms. Caballero, I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming political race.
Sincerely,
Mark J. Bittakis
If Esparza is re-elected, and with no Sheriff Samaniego to stop him, he will resume sending people to jail with bonds HE gives, thus erasing the judge. He will create hundreds if not thousands of criminals out of innocent people. He will create more people like Major Bittakis. Richard Wiles, Carlos Leon, Marvin Ryals, and Mary Lou Carrillo are four of eleven candidates for Sheriff who march in lock step with Esparza on this issue. Knowledge is power so vote wisely in the March 4th primary. Our liberties are at stake.
Ms. Theresa Caballero
Attorney at Law
300 E. Main, STE. 1136
El Paso, TX
79901-1381
Dear Ms. Caballero,
Enclosed you will find my contribution to your campaign for District Attorney of the 34th Judicial District for El Paso, Culberson, and Hudspeth counties. The need for a District Attorney's office in El Paso committed to honesty, even handedness, fairness, and the rule of law is so absolutely and painfully apparent. I am convinced that you are the person that can return to that office the integrity that it so desperately needs. It is clear that El Paso is in dire need of a change.
Sadly, the recent passing of Sheriff Samaniego leaves a huge void in the community. He was one of the few officials willing to stand up to Mr. Esparza's "fast-food, drive through" form of legal process. I only met him once but he struck me as a man of integrity. The announced candidacy of recently retired El Paso Police Chief Wiles for Sheriff of El Paso County should be a matter of community concern. He clearly was one of Esparza's minions. His vision of consolidating the El Paso Police Department and the Sheriff's Department into a single entity would give him a power base of unacceptable proportions. The combination of Jaime Esparza as District Attorney and Richard Wiles as Sheriff/Chief of Police would be clearly an ominous "Perfect Storm" of potential Constitutional abuse in the making. DIMS will take on a new meaning should both of these gentlemen be elected.
I am of course not a member of the El Paso community, but we have far too many "Nifong like" District Attorneys in office in this country. Bad government is similar to a disease in that it is contagious. It is every citizens responsibility to see that it does not spread. Mr. Esparza's DIMS program is particularly heinous. It is not only self-serving, but also misdirects hundreds of thousands of tax dollars every year from education, medical, and social services. It also denies the citizens of El Paso something as fundamental as the opportunity for a personal recognizance bond; an opportunity available to the citizens of every other county in Texas.
Once again, Ms. Caballero, I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming political race.
Sincerely,
Mark J. Bittakis
on January 17, 2008, 6:29 am
Thanks for letting us know which Sheriff's candidates support DIMS. That is important information to have when voting in the March 4 primary.
By the way, I almost fell out of my car yesterday on Kansas Street when I saw Esparza's campaign slogan: "Integrity Justice Experience". Who does he think he is kidding? Let's see what two real men of actual integrity had to say about Esparza recently:
1. The late El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego, in commenting on Esparza's ploy of trying to say that the Sheriff was the one setting the bonds for the past ten years under DIMS, said in the Diario of Esparza: "He's lying."
2. Local Attorney and, as Senior Federal District Court Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth called him in open court on the record: a True American, in commenting on the local news on Esparza's comments that the Federal Courts declared DIMS to be Constitutional, said of Esparza: "What he (Esparza) said is tantamount to perjury."
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on January 17, 2008, 10:29 am
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