News (Media Awareness Project) - US TX: Bribery Trial Witness Lied To A Judge, Jury, Defense |
| Title: | US TX: Bribery Trial Witness Lied To A Judge, Jury, Defense |
| Published On: | 1999-04-15 |
| Source: | Houston Chronicle (TX) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-06 08:20:02 |
BRIBERY TRIAL WITNESS LIED TO A JUDGE, JURY, DEFENSE THEORIZES
Cross-Examination Of Informant Continues
The defense in the City Hall bribery trial suggested Wednesday that the
government's star witness lied to a judge and to a jury.
A defense attorney characterized FBI informant Julio Molineiro as an income
tax evader, ex-convict, admitted thief and con man, drug user and a liar who
once endangered the life of an undercover drug enforcement agent.
In his first day of cross-examination, Molineiro conceded that he was a
fugitive from Chile when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration brought
him to Houston in September 1990.
Molineiro tape-recorded meetings with Houston City Councilmen John Castillo
and Michael Yarbrough and former Councilman John Peavy Jr., who are being
retried on federal bribery and conspiracy charges.
Peavy's attorney, Dan Cogdell, suggested that Molineiro has lied to a jury
about how many times he was imprisoned in his native Chile.
In the first trial last spring, Molineiro said it was three times.
Last week, he testified it was two times.
"Do you consider yourself an honest person?" Cogdell asked.
"Today, yes," Molineiro answered.
"Have you ever told a lie to a jury?"
"No ... I don't believe I lie to a jury."
Cogdell also suggested that Molineiro lied to a judge in Paraguay in 1984
when he pleaded guilty to a crime he says he did not commit. Molineiro has
testified he pleaded guilty to "bodily injury" and theft so that his
fiance, charged with the same crimes, could get out of jail.
Molineiro has already testified that he has 26 arrest warrants in Chile for
26 bad checks, but that their statute of limitations has expired.
He has also said he engaged in fraud and fencing of stolen property.
Tuesday, Molineiro conceded that in December 1990, nearly three months after
arriving in the United States, he stole $20,000 from a drug dealer. But he
did not agree with Cogdell that the money was to have been turned over to
the DEA.
Cogdell also suggested that Molineiro has given two or three versions of
what he did with the money.
Molineiro conceded that he did not pay federal income taxes for 1990, 1991
or 1992, during which period the DEA paid him about $127,000 in cash for
services and expenses.
He said he did not know he was supposed to pay taxes.
His cross-examination continues today in U.S. District Judge David Hittner's
court.
Cross-Examination Of Informant Continues
The defense in the City Hall bribery trial suggested Wednesday that the
government's star witness lied to a judge and to a jury.
A defense attorney characterized FBI informant Julio Molineiro as an income
tax evader, ex-convict, admitted thief and con man, drug user and a liar who
once endangered the life of an undercover drug enforcement agent.
In his first day of cross-examination, Molineiro conceded that he was a
fugitive from Chile when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration brought
him to Houston in September 1990.
Molineiro tape-recorded meetings with Houston City Councilmen John Castillo
and Michael Yarbrough and former Councilman John Peavy Jr., who are being
retried on federal bribery and conspiracy charges.
Peavy's attorney, Dan Cogdell, suggested that Molineiro has lied to a jury
about how many times he was imprisoned in his native Chile.
In the first trial last spring, Molineiro said it was three times.
Last week, he testified it was two times.
"Do you consider yourself an honest person?" Cogdell asked.
"Today, yes," Molineiro answered.
"Have you ever told a lie to a jury?"
"No ... I don't believe I lie to a jury."
Cogdell also suggested that Molineiro lied to a judge in Paraguay in 1984
when he pleaded guilty to a crime he says he did not commit. Molineiro has
testified he pleaded guilty to "bodily injury" and theft so that his
fiance, charged with the same crimes, could get out of jail.
Molineiro has already testified that he has 26 arrest warrants in Chile for
26 bad checks, but that their statute of limitations has expired.
He has also said he engaged in fraud and fencing of stolen property.
Tuesday, Molineiro conceded that in December 1990, nearly three months after
arriving in the United States, he stole $20,000 from a drug dealer. But he
did not agree with Cogdell that the money was to have been turned over to
the DEA.
Cogdell also suggested that Molineiro has given two or three versions of
what he did with the money.
Molineiro conceded that he did not pay federal income taxes for 1990, 1991
or 1992, during which period the DEA paid him about $127,000 in cash for
services and expenses.
He said he did not know he was supposed to pay taxes.
His cross-examination continues today in U.S. District Judge David Hittner's
court.
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