DA Bill Hicks indicts migrants for rioting after judge dismisses 140 charges

El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks indicted 140 migrants on misdemeanor riot participation charges a day after a county court judge ruled there was no probable cause for the migrants' arrests by Operation Lone Star forces.

The allegations against the migrants were presented by the district attorney's office to an El Paso County grand jury, Hicks said during a news conference Tuesday, April 23. The grand jury, which is comprised of 12 El Paso community members, elected to indict the migrants on the riot participation charges.

County Court at Law 7 Judge Ruben Morales ruled Monday, April 22, after a nearly three-hour hearing that Texas Department of Public Safety troopers provided no probable cause to arrest 140 migrants in connection with an April 12 "riot" at the border fence near El Paso's Lower Valley.

Morales dismissed 140 cases against the migrants and ordered their release from the El Paso County Jail. The judge did not rule on two cases because one of the migrants was facing a criminal mischief charge and another was not in state custody.

Hicks included the migrant charged with criminal mischief in the group of migrants indicted by the grand jury. That migrant, whose name has not been released, is now facing a state riot participation charge.

"We took all 141 of those cases to a grand jury this morning," Hicks said. "Because the judge's ruling was limited to the complaint affidavit in front of him, it allowed us to take the broader case to the grand jury."

More: El Paso county judge dismisses border 'riot' charges against 140 migrants

El Paso County Public Defender Kelli Childress, whose office is defending the migrants, called Hick's actions "a terrible move."

"We pretty much predicted that was their plan, which is why we sought a probable cause hearing in advance of today's grand jury," Childress said. "I can't say we didn't know it was coming. We didn't know exactly when. Knowing that it was coming doesn't at all ease the fact that I think it is a horrible move. I think it is a blatant violation of constitutional rights and human rights.

"I find it pretty amazing that they were able to indict 140 misdemeanor cases basically overnight, yet I have hundreds and hundreds of felony cases waiting to be charged for more than a year. They can claim all they want that this isn't about politics and it's not about immigration laws, but their actions scream otherwise."

Hicks said local citizens on the grand jury overruled a local judge.

"We presented the case as a whole. We presented videotape evidence of what happened. The grand jurors believed there was, in fact, probable cause," he said. "The citizens of El Paso, through the grand jury, essentially overruled the judge's ruling and found probable cause to believe that the riots did occur."

Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Eliot Torres, who attended Hicks' news conference, declined to comment on the judge's ruling on the probable cause presented by state troopers in their affidavits filed against the migrants.

During the hearing before Judge Morales, prosecutors relied on a "boilerplate" criminal affidavit voided of witness statements and specific descriptions of the migrants' actions in the cases, Childress said.

The grand jury indictments against the migrants are being processed with the El Paso County District Clerk's Office and will move forward with criminal prosecution, Hicks said.

The migrants remain in state custody, Hicks said. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office had 48 hours to release the migrants after Judge Morales' ruling.

Childress said after Monday's court hearing that she hoped the El Paso District Attorney's Office would have the "integrity" to inform the grand jury of the judge's ruling.

Hicks said the grand jury was informed of the judge's ruling and all other key information in the cases.

It is rare for misdemeanor cases to be presented to a grand jury. Hicks said it was done to ensure there was probable cause for the arrests.

"Traditionally, we reserve the grand jury for felony indictment, and we don't take misdemeanors to a grand jury," Hicks said. "However, when there is a question regarding probable cause, I believe it is fair to take these cases to 12 citizens of our community."

Hicks argued the migrants knew they were participating in a riot when they broke through barriers, including concertina wires and rushed Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star national guard troops.

"You were part of the group, you were part of the riot," Hicks said.

More: Migrants breach razor wire barrier in El Paso, overwhelm Texas National Guard

Once the arrest warrants are issued on the new indictments, the migrants will face state judicial actions, Hicks said.

"I want to emphasis that immigration case are not in the purview of the district attorney's office and is not what (state) law enforcement is here to combat," Hicks said. "What (state) law enforcement and the district attorney's office is concerned about is the violation of the law. If people believe they can come to our country knocking down barriers, endangering lives, causing our national guardsmen to fear for their lives, and have that kind of mentality just so they can get up to a particular gate, they cannot do that.

"If they want to come and take the legal process and approach our county in a legal way and go through immigration channels then that is fine."

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso DA indicts migrants after Texas judge dismissed 140 cases