IN ALEJANDRO'S WAKE, A TRAIL OF SLIME AND SHAME

"Judge (Leonel) Alejandro always listened carefully to the litigants. He was fair, but could hammer the bad guys and knew the difference between a first-time felony mistake and a loser. Frankly, he has better things to do. He might surprise us by appearing as defense counsel in a high-profile case or by associating his undeniable skills as counsel at a large firm."
Anonymous Commenter Dec. 27 after Alejandro's resignation


By Juan Montoya
We in the Rio Grande Valley always like to think the best of people, as can be attested by the anonymous individual who submitted that comment after Leonel Alejandro announced his resignation from the 357th District Court at the end of 2012.
But even if we don't believe disgraced (and convicted) former 404th District Judge Abel Limas that Alejandro was one of the judges that were open to corrupt acts, one example of the judiciary temperament  of this former jurist will suffice to illustrate the shallowness of his character.
In early 2008, the East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation requested that Carl and Janel Parker – an elderly couple within its service area – grant them an additional easement to the one already existing in front of their home. The descriptions of the property the utility wanted was sent to them in the form of legalese and metes and bounds the couple did not understand.
After repeatedly asking the utility's managers for a diagram of the proposed easement, the Parkers were finally shown one. The ERHWSC's proposal was not a simple pass-through under a section of their property. What the utility proposed was that the couple grant them 0.14 of an acre whose southernmost boundary would extend 50 feet into their lot and would intrude almost to their front door.
The couple would also be required to allow the utility to bore under their driveway or – in the alternative – bear the cost in labor and materials to move it.
Alarmed, the couple submitted at least four written proposals to the utility which would suffice for the easement and would not be as burdensome to them as the plan requested by the corporation. The utility's managers were adamant. If the couple did not grant the easement, the ERHWSC would move to shut off their water, an alternative reserved to it which its managers said was contained in the service agreement that the couple had signed.
The utility remained adamant. It started a campaign of written and verbal threats to interrupt water service unless the easement was signed. The ERHWSC sent them at least four written notices of their intent to interrupt their service.
The last one was in July 29, 2008, was just six days after Hurricane Dolly devastated the Rio Grande Valley, and particularly the area where the couple's home was located. Alarmed, the couple contacted a lawyer who immediately sent written notice to the utility advising them that the move would violate the laws of the state and the rules of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). He also indicate the Parker's willingness to grant a reasonable easement to the utility.
Nonetheless, on July 30, the ERHWSC terminated the couple's water service.
Even after the attorney's intervention, the utility turned off the couple's water for two periods (totaling 11 days) until their lawyer obtained a Temporary Restraining Order from Leonel Alejandro to restore the couple's water service.
The couple also filed an application for an Emergency Order requesting an investigation into the ERHWSC and asking that the water be kept running until the investigation was complete. The utility, instead of ceasing and desisting, again threatening to shut off the couple's water a third time on October 8 despite the TRO and the TCEQ.
On November 5, 2008, the TCEQ issued an order preventing the ERHWSC from shutting off the couple's water.
After that a series of mediation efforts began with a Special Commission appointed to hear the case.
The Commission awarded the couple $3,000 for the 0.14 acre of land requested by the utility, but also charged them with a $750 fee per commissioner totaling $2,250. They also awarded the utility $8,800 in attorneys' fees.
At the end of the lengthy process, the couple was presented with a bill for the utility's fees and other expenses for a total of $94,619.
However, Mr. Parker would not live to see the end of this debacle. He died in December 7, 2009 of complications – according to the couple's lawyer – of prostate cancer aggravated by the stress and extreme mental anguish the couple endured as a result of their dispute with the utility and its attorneys.
The case continued in Alejandro's court. But in mid-2010 – more than two years into the case – the couple's attorneys discovered that something was amiss. One of the attorneys of record for the ERHWSC turned out to be none other than Jeffrey D. Roerig, of the Brownsville firm Roerig, Oliveira, Fisher, LLP. Through newspaper reports, they found out that Roerig not only represented the utility, but the Honorable Judge Alejandro as well, and not only as the legal representative of his business interests, but also as his personal attorney in his divorce.
"As recently as July 19, 2010," they wrote in their motion to have Alejandro recused from the case, Roerig had filed the certificate to form Aztec Services LLC, of which Alejandro was named a governing person and where Roerig was its registered agent.
Roerig, they found out, was also the attorney for CPEC Inc., and LAMC INC, both doing business as Port Fabricators, of which Alejandro was the primary shareholder and chief executive.
Stating that Alejandro had the duty to disclose such "inherent conflict of interest" and should have removed himself from the case, they filed a motion for the judge's recusal in October 5, 2010.
Little surprise, then, that "Since Mr. Roerig's entrance into this case, (the Parkers) have not prevailed in a single contested hearing before (Alejandro). In addition, the original trial date...has been continued five times. When trial  began... (Alejandro) granted all of (Roerig's) pretrial motions, denied all of (the Parker's) pretrial otions, and then proceeded to declare a mistrial during opening arguments on the basis of mentioning a TRO issued by (himself) in this cause, even before actually ruling on the exclusion of such evidence at trial."
Alejandro eventually was removed from the case, and Janel Parker (now a widow) and the utility reached a settlement in the case late in 2012 – four years after the ordeal began – that is still listed as pending in the 357th District Court.
We have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg in the trail left behind by the Honorable Judge Alejandro.
Does the commenter above still think he will be missed?