duncan228
11-18-2008, 01:19 PM
Judge Faces Questions about Spurs Tickets (http://www.woai.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=0d6330b3-0821-4aff-ab17-19e0db89f3cf)
Reported by: Brian Collister
SAN ANTONIO - Over the past few seasons, we noticed one county court judge has been cheering on the Spurs in some pretty pricey seats at the AT&T Center. Now, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct wants to know who gave her those tickets and if she paid for them.
When you sit courtside you can see all the action. Get up close to the Spurs and the NBA's biggest stars. These expensive courtside seats are usually filled with a who's who of San Antonio. Big shots in business and politics.
If you look right behind the visitors bench, you can often see County Court at Law #7 Judge Monica Guerrero. Those seats cost around $200 a piece and are used by several attorneys who have cases before Judge Guerrero's court.
If the judge is getting the tickets for free from attorneys who do business in her court that would be a violation of judicial ethics, accepting an improper gift.
That is exactly what a source who used to work in Guerrero's office says happened. They've asked we not identify them.
"She's accepting Spurs tickets from several bail bondsmen and lawyers," said the source.
"For free, she's not paying for them?" asked Collister.
"No, she's not paying for them," said the source.
The News 4 Trouble Shooters have confirmed through two different sources that Bexar County Judge Monica Guerrero is under investigation by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. It was triggered by an anonymous letter sent to the commission and sent to the News 4 Trouble Shooters claiming ... Spurs tickets were also given to Judge Guerrero from various bail bondsmen and lawyers.
The News 4 Trouble Shooters were first tipped off about this two years ago. Since then, we've been staking out Spurs games and spotted her attending at least four games in the past two seasons. The source says she also gets tickets for primo seats in other sections.
"How does she get these tickets?" asked Collister.
"Phone calls, messages, they've even come into the office and dropped them off. I believe that she's even gone herself to pick them up or had someone pick them up for her," said the source.
"And you know for a fact that she is not paying for these tickets, not paying the fair market value of the tickets, so that it is not a gift?" asked Collister.
"Yes, I do. She is not paying for them," replied the source.
Jesse Gamez, a local criminal attorney who practices in Guerrero's court, owns six of the seats in the area where we've spotted the judge. Gamez declined an on camera interview, but says he did give Guerrero a ticket to at least one game last year.
Gamez told me he gives tickets to lots of judges, but he claims he tells them they need to disclose them as a gift. We checked Judge Guerrero's financial disclosure statements on file at the courthouse. None of them list Spurs tickets as gifts.
We asked Judge Guerrero for an interview and sent her a copy of the anonymous complaint. During a phone conversation, Guerrero said she gets tickets from time to time from Judge Laura Salinas who Guerrero says buys her tickets from Gamez.
Salinas did not call us back to confirm that.
Judge Guerrero later declined to sit down with us to talk about the allegations. So, we caught up with her outside the courthouse.
"We'd just like to talk to you about the state investigation," said Collister.
"Sorry, I cannot talk about it, bot at this time. You know I always talk to you but this time I can't," replied Guerrero.
"Can you tell us if you've ever accepted Spurs tickets from anyone that does business in your court?" asked Collister.
"At this time I can't really talk to you about anything," replied Guerrero.
"Jesse gamez says he gave you at least one ticket," said Collister.
"O.k.," replied Guerrero.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct will not confirm or deny any investigation. It could find the judge did nothing wrong or give her a private or public sanction, or even remove her from the bench.
We'll stay on top of it and let you know what happens next.
Reported by: Brian Collister
SAN ANTONIO - Over the past few seasons, we noticed one county court judge has been cheering on the Spurs in some pretty pricey seats at the AT&T Center. Now, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct wants to know who gave her those tickets and if she paid for them.
When you sit courtside you can see all the action. Get up close to the Spurs and the NBA's biggest stars. These expensive courtside seats are usually filled with a who's who of San Antonio. Big shots in business and politics.
If you look right behind the visitors bench, you can often see County Court at Law #7 Judge Monica Guerrero. Those seats cost around $200 a piece and are used by several attorneys who have cases before Judge Guerrero's court.
If the judge is getting the tickets for free from attorneys who do business in her court that would be a violation of judicial ethics, accepting an improper gift.
That is exactly what a source who used to work in Guerrero's office says happened. They've asked we not identify them.
"She's accepting Spurs tickets from several bail bondsmen and lawyers," said the source.
"For free, she's not paying for them?" asked Collister.
"No, she's not paying for them," said the source.
The News 4 Trouble Shooters have confirmed through two different sources that Bexar County Judge Monica Guerrero is under investigation by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. It was triggered by an anonymous letter sent to the commission and sent to the News 4 Trouble Shooters claiming ... Spurs tickets were also given to Judge Guerrero from various bail bondsmen and lawyers.
The News 4 Trouble Shooters were first tipped off about this two years ago. Since then, we've been staking out Spurs games and spotted her attending at least four games in the past two seasons. The source says she also gets tickets for primo seats in other sections.
"How does she get these tickets?" asked Collister.
"Phone calls, messages, they've even come into the office and dropped them off. I believe that she's even gone herself to pick them up or had someone pick them up for her," said the source.
"And you know for a fact that she is not paying for these tickets, not paying the fair market value of the tickets, so that it is not a gift?" asked Collister.
"Yes, I do. She is not paying for them," replied the source.
Jesse Gamez, a local criminal attorney who practices in Guerrero's court, owns six of the seats in the area where we've spotted the judge. Gamez declined an on camera interview, but says he did give Guerrero a ticket to at least one game last year.
Gamez told me he gives tickets to lots of judges, but he claims he tells them they need to disclose them as a gift. We checked Judge Guerrero's financial disclosure statements on file at the courthouse. None of them list Spurs tickets as gifts.
We asked Judge Guerrero for an interview and sent her a copy of the anonymous complaint. During a phone conversation, Guerrero said she gets tickets from time to time from Judge Laura Salinas who Guerrero says buys her tickets from Gamez.
Salinas did not call us back to confirm that.
Judge Guerrero later declined to sit down with us to talk about the allegations. So, we caught up with her outside the courthouse.
"We'd just like to talk to you about the state investigation," said Collister.
"Sorry, I cannot talk about it, bot at this time. You know I always talk to you but this time I can't," replied Guerrero.
"Can you tell us if you've ever accepted Spurs tickets from anyone that does business in your court?" asked Collister.
"At this time I can't really talk to you about anything," replied Guerrero.
"Jesse gamez says he gave you at least one ticket," said Collister.
"O.k.," replied Guerrero.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct will not confirm or deny any investigation. It could find the judge did nothing wrong or give her a private or public sanction, or even remove her from the bench.
We'll stay on top of it and let you know what happens next.