Brandon Moon, An Innocent Man v. Jaime Esparza, Pt. IV

What do we now know about the Brandon Moon case? We know that Mr. Moon went to prison for 17 years for a rape he did not commit. We know from Mr. Moon's complaint that the last seven years of his time in prison, Jaime Esparza's office, specifically, Asst. DA John Davis, had received a report from DPS saying they questioned whether or not the evidence had Brandon Moon's DNA and that they needed other samples. We know that Jaime Esparza never provided them with the requested samples. We know that all the while Mr. Moon was petitioning the court from his cell for testing that John Davis was replying to the court that Mr. Moon was magically responsible for the improper handling of evidence he had never touched. Of course Mr. Moon or any other Defendant would never handle evidence in a case. Most importantly, we know from Mr. Moon's complaint that he believes and his lawyers intend to prove that John Davis hid evidence. We know that Mr. Esparza has publicly stated that Mr. Moon should be compensated but that privately he has fought the case with all of the might of his taxpayer paid attorneys. We know that Mr. Moon's story was so egregious that it was covered by the national and international press and carried in papers as far away as Taiwan and Eastern Europe.

Most importantly, we know that since 1996, Mr. Esparza has known that the identity of the the culprit was in question. Since 2004, when Mr. Moon was fully exonerated we know that the true rapist is still at large. Mr. Esparza has done nothing to find the true rapist who may be in our community. He has all the tools at hand as the DA. He has the evidence. He has investigators. But he prefers to spend his time putting forth ideas like creating a "lipstick case" with 911 numbers for women to call in case of a sexual assault. How insulting and condescending to women is this. Mr. Esparza don't worry about the lipstick case and please do worry about catching a rapist who is out there and who we know now is not Brandon Moon.

Now, what should happen to Mr. Esparza and his right hand man Mr. John Davis? What should happen to prosecutors who hide evidence? What should happen to prosecutors who lie to judges? What should happen to prosecutors who let an innocent man languish in prison? What should the public do with a DA who doesn't even conduct a basic internal investigation after it comes to light that an innocent man sat for years in prison ON HIS WATCH? What do we do with a DA who comes right out and says his staff has done nothing wrong? How could any thinking, intelligent, rational, responsible, innocent and compassionate person NOT conduct an internal investigation to see what happened and how to prevent this from ever happening again?

I will tell you how other jurisdictions answer these questions. It was reported today in the news that a Federal jury just awarded a $14 Million judgment to Mr. John Thompson, a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sat on death row for 18 years. He was later fully exonerated by DNA evidence. Sound familiar? The multi-million dollar judgment was against, yes, the Prosecutors. Even in Lousiana, a state known for rampant political corruption on the part of its authorities, even they know when to put their foot down and whack the bad guys. In North Carolina, the State bar has brought an investigation against the District Attorney, Nafong, for wrongfully prosecuting the Duke students for a rape they didn't commit. Sound familiar? And it has made national headlines. Nafong's number is up. His own legal community has said NO MORE. But where is everyone here in El Paso?

Well, Jaime Esparza is on the golf course with his friends the judges. Mr. Moon is picking up the wreckage of his life. And you and I are watching this in horror. On top of that, we are having to work twice as hard to pay higher property taxes to fund the County's mounting legal expenses. Mr. Esparza is a very expensive man to have around. However, it has become very clear that no one is going to come and get rid of him for us. No hero reporter is going to expose him. No special prosecutor is going to stop in his tracks and indict him. The FBI is still waiting for the "smoking gun." (Yes, this is the same FBI whose leader just got convicted in Federal Court for lying. Out of towners had to come down here and do the job.) Yup, we will have to give Mr. Esparza the bums rush ourselves on election day.

Stay tuned for my next blog which will be on how the El Paso Times is connected to Jaime Esparza. The Brandon Moon petition is available below.

Pages 1-8 is on A
Pages 9-16 is on B
Pages 17-24 is on C
Pages 25-32 is on D
Pages 33-35 is on E