Texas judge Lori Valenzuela testified on the witness stand Wednesday that Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood, an elected District Attorney (DA), told her he would destroy two defense lawyers’ practices for raising issues of prosecutorial misconduct during the murder trial of 29-year-old Miguel Martinez.  The attorneys he allegedly targeted were opposing counsel members on a murder case, Joe Gonzales and Christian Henricksen.  The judge who was originally handling the murder trial before recusing herself said LaHood words had a “chilling effect.”  Asked if she considered his statement a direct threat by LaHood against Gonzales, the judge said: “Yes, I did.”

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If it is proven LaHood made such a threat against counsel, he could be facing a Class A misdemeanor charge for the crime of official oppression, which carries fines up to $4000 and a one year jail sentence.  This behavior directly violates National District Attorneys Association standards, which outline what prosecutors can and cannot do.  The American Bar Association’s Canons of Professional Ethics also urges against “personal colloquies between counsel which cause delay and promote unseemly wrangling.” Attorney Mark Stevens put LaHood on the stand for more than two hours, interrogating the man before drawing testimony from the judge.  LaHood held fast to his claim he never made such a threat. However, he testified that Gonzales had threatened to bring the allegations of misconduct to the news media, which Gonzales denies.  “He made a bad faith threat, sir,” LaHood said.  Valenzuela also denied that Gonzales threatened to go to the media, and stated such an incident was fabricated. Specifically asked if Gonzales appeared to be threatening to LaHood, the judge said: “In my opinion, no.”LaHood has been widely promoting his work related to vaccines and autism, a hot topic in recent years.  The attorney has asserted there is a linkage between the two, and has been promoting a documentary based on his views in the national media for some time.  

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Judge testifies that San Antonio DA threatened defense lawyers in her chambersJudge backs lawyers’ claim that D.A. in San Antonio made threats in her chambers