WHERE IS CHUCK? NOT IN SAN BENE, OR BROWNTOWN EITHER

By Juan Montoya
Where is Chuck?
That is what everyone in Brownsville and San Benito is asking about the Cameron County District Attorney Office's Chief First Assistant Chuck Mattingly.
Mattingly, who is also the Republican candidate for DA against Luis Saenz, has been reportedly transferred from the main Brownsville office to the San Benito office because he was being very disruptive at the Brownsville office.
Insiders say he was on the campaign hustings continually and was trying to use his position to garner political support for the Nov. 6 election. Anyone who refused to support him, according to them, incurred his wrath.
Mattingly holds the position as Chief First Assistant to Armando Villalobos and his website cites his involvement in some high-profile cases such as the prosecution of  John Allen Rubio who got the death penalty for killing his infant children; Abraham Mar who was sentenced to 101 years for shooting a Law Enforcement Agent; and most recently Mexican Mafia Boss Wilfredo Padilla who got sentenced to 80 years in prison for murder and engaging in organized criminal activity.
To be fair to the defense, Mattingly was retrying Rubio after the former DA flubbed the prosecution and in the case of Padilla, he was demanding the death penalty, and the jury didn't grant it.
Yet, at an annual salary of more than $100,000, his disappearance from public view has fueled speculation even before the primaries on May 29.
At the time, some commented that he had broken his leg and was laid up at home and didn't show up for work but was still receiving his hefty salary.
And those of us who saw the recent coverage of by CNN on the release of Amit Livingston for the murder of a teacher and was allowed to walk out of disgraced 404th District Judge Abel Limas' courtroom for 60 days, ostensibly to allow him to get his affairs in order, would never have known that Mattingly was there with his boss Villalobos and said nothing to stop the gross miscarriage of justice.
"He may say he had nothing to do with it," said a local courthouse watcher. "But let's face it, if he had really been passionate about the killer's release, he would have raised hell about the agreement between his boss and the defense counsel that allowed Livingston to walk."
Now that Mattingly is running for office, he is noticeably quiet on the subject. He seems to want to forget that he was the lead prosecutor in the case. He was, in fact, responsible to see that Livingston was taken into custody after he pleaded guilty. Yet, the record shows that he went along with the bargain and said nothing.
Where was Chuck?
Mattingly has not been seen in San Benito and as the photo at right above indicates, anyone who shows up at the office will find it papered over and a note directing them to the main office in Brownsville.
Will he make an appearance before the Nov. 6 election or during early voting?