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49TH DISTRICT COURT
Civil land trial sideshow Plaintiff’s attorney wants defense attorney out in hiring dispute By STEPHANIE IBARRA THE ZAPATA TIMES
On the eve of an impending jury selection, opposing counsel in a civil lawsuit out of Zapata County were in court Friday afternoon on a motion to disqualify the defense attorney. Plaintiff attorney Carlos Flores argued Friday that
defense attorney Elsamar Soto created a disqualifying issue after hiring Diana Ellington, a former employee of Flores’ legal firm, Kazen, Meurer & Perez, who was privy to pretrial preparation efforts. “She has our entire playbook, and she switched sides thirty days before trial,” said Flores of Ellington. Flores was also
seeking sanctions against Soto. According to Soto, Flores based his motion on assumptions and innuendo, failing to show actual prejudice. Soto told the court she had taken additional measures to make sure the content of the case would not be disclosed to Ellington by privatizing comput-
er system access of the court records. Flores maintained that in a small law firm of one, there would be no way to police conversations between Soto and Ellington, and any steps taken wouldn’t be enough. The disqualification of Soto would further delay the trial, already in its 10th continuance, as the
defense would need additional time to replace her, said Joe Lopez, 49th District Court judge. Plantiff Maria De Los Angels Bustamente, successor in interest to Jose Luis Bustamante, has alleged via a 21-page petition that J. Moss Investments and its holdings illegally operated an oil and gas waste disposal and truck
and tank washout business off their property. The Bustamante property had been leased out to J. Moss since Nov. 1999 under various provisions, including that J. Moss would operate commercial oil and gas water drilling fluid disposal pits and land treatment on the property
See HEARING PAGE 9A
BORDER
Sheriff speaks out on security By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photos by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times
Simple decorations, such as the restaurant’s nickname printed on the curtains, add to the country atmosphere at God’s Kin restaurant. Owners Andrew and Lili Miller employ 17 workers at the restaurant that opened last month.
GIVING BACK Restaurant’s owners big on donating to charities By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Andrew and Lili Miller have always had hearts for giving back. The best way they knew how to do that was to put food in people’s stomachs.
See RESTAURANT PAGE 9A
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. testified Thursday before state officials that major problems could spark from issues occurring in border communities. At the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security public hearing in Austin, Gonzalez outlined security issues along the border, including narcotrafficking. But the concern is people coming across with the criminal element. Gonzalez said he does not want to see the child rapists and murderers, among other criminals, illegally entering the United States. He added that criminals involved with transnational gangs pose a threat to border communities. “We’re fortunate it is under control but the potential is there for major problems to occur,” Gonzalez said. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples also spoke during the hearing and added that there’s a critical need to secure the Texas-Mexico border to protect the communities from spillover drug cartel violence, according to a news release issued by his office. According to Staples’ written testimony, Texas farmers and ranchers along the border “are regularly becoming victims of intimidation, aggression and outright violence by armed trespassers that often have direct ties to Mexico’s drug cartels.” Staples testified that there had been at least 10 incidents he de-
The restaurant offers a Southern cuisine not often seen in South Texas, such as fried green tomatoes. See BORDER PAGE 9A