Indictment against Sen. Lucio dismissed

A judge has thrown out an indictment against state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr.

Administrative Judge Manuel Bañales dismissed the indictment Monday against Lucio, who was charged of using his position to profit from consulting he did for private prison companies that run the detention centers in Willacy County.

Lucio was among a number of judges and politicians, including Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who were indicted by a Willacy County grand jury last month.

In his ruling, Bañales found the indictment against Lucio to be defective and did not contain the allegations that were made against the longtime senator.

Earlier, Bexar County District Judge Michael Peden denied Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra's request to have Bañales removed from the eight cases.

A special prosecutor has been brought in to handle a number of the cases.

Guerra says he will go to the 13th Court of Appeals to protest the decision that disqualified him from prosecuting five of the eight cases, including those involving state District Judges Migdalia Lopez and Janet Leal.

Guerra was voted out of office during the March primary and will lose his seat on Jan. 1, 2009.

For more information on this developing story, read Tuesday's Brownsville Herald.