Judge Noe Gonzalez to preside in John Allen Rubio trial

A state district judge in Hidalgo County has been assigned to preside over the capital murder trial of accused child killer John Allen Rubio.

Judge Noe Gonzalez, who presides in the state’s 370th District Court, was notified on Wednesday that he will hear the case.

State District Judge J. Manuel Bañales, of Corpus Christi, the presiding judge in the Fifth Administrative Judicial Region, appointed Gonzalez to replace 138th District Court Judge Arturo C. Nelson, who recused himself from the trial.

A status hearing on Rubio’s case is set for Dec. 17 and will be heard in one of Cameron County’s state district courtrooms, said Frank Moreno, the court reporter for Gonzalez’s court, on Thursday.

Gonzalez plans to conduct all hearings and Rubio’s capital murder trial itself in Cameron County, Moreno said.

Rubio, 29, is accused of murdering his three children in Brownsville on March 11, 2003. The children were smothered, stabbed and mutilated, according to investigators.

Earlier this week, Nelson gave no explanation for his recusal. However, his recusal came after defense attorneys and state prosecutors made dueling charges of impropriety in court, including allegations against Nelson.

Charles E. Mattingly Jr., chief first assistant attorney for the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, accused Nelson in court of favoring the defense.

Defense attorney Ed Stapleton accused the district attorney’s office of misusing its subpoena powers and intimidating witnesses.

Rubio was convicted in November 2003 on three counts of capital murder in the deaths of his children, Julissa Quesada, 3, John E. Rubio, 14 months, and Mary Jane Rubio, 2 months. Rubio, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, was sentenced to death.

However, Rubio’s conviction was reversed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in September 2007, thereby granting him a new trial. He remains incarcerated at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito.