The Gandara Trial - Day 1

Screenshot from KINT 26 Story on Gandara Trial

Tuesday was the first day of the Jesse Gandara trial. Gandara is facing up to 20 years on a myriad of charges surrounding allegations of public corruption.

Gandara, who has taken to referring to himself in the third person as "El Teflon" in social media, arrived at the courthouse in a gray pin-stripped suit and he appears to have put on some weight since his series of arrests in 2013.

The case is being heard on the 10th floor by Judge Gonzalo Garcia or "GG" as he's known around the courthouse. The Judge runs a tight ship and use of electronic devices is prohibited in his courtroom so tweets, etc are not allowed while the court is in session so updates can only really happen during breaks so there isn't the immediacy of tweets as is the case in other trials.

You can follow my twitter feed for updates as I am able to make them. www.Twitter.com/TheLionStarBlog

The first day of testimony featured Gene and Sandra Licon, two members of a prominent family in San Elizario who recorded a conversation in a car ride with Jesse Gandara. In the conversation and on the tape, the state alleges there was an attempt by Mr. Gandara to bribe the Licon family into publicly supporting the annexation of San Elizario into Socorro.

Mr. Gandara's attorneys are from the Public Defender's Office and are David Contreras and Jeanette Diaz.

Most of the day's testimony was the prosecution walking the first two witnesses through various parts of the audio recording that took place during that car ride around Socorro in which the State alleges the bribe offer took place.

The Licon family is very prominent in the valley and they are known for their dairy, asadero cheese, and the attractions at the dairy. Gene Licon was the first to testify. Commonly known as "Boy" around San Eli and Socorro, Licon is a farmer and took over the family business right after he got out of high school. He's a very plain-spoken man with a cleanly-shaven head and wore a light blue shirt and slacks. He didn't appear to make eye contact with Mr. Gandara when he was testifying on the stand. After walking through various parts of the recording with the State, Gandara's attorney David Contreras began questioning Licon about the benefits of annexation into the City of Socorro. Contreras' strategy in the courtroom wasn't clear and there were several times in which he was interrupted by the Court and asked the relevance of certain questions.

During the playing of the audio clips Mr. Gandara appeared to shift in his seat quite a bit and shrug his shoulders.

But the day's most compelling testimony came from Boy's wife, Sandra Licon. Mrs. Licon took the stand wearing a conservative blue and white dress with her hair pulled back into a tight and very neat french braid.

Several times during her testimony Mrs. Licon became emotional when speaking about the alleged offer of a bribe. In contrast to her husband, Mrs. Licon appeared to try to look directly at Mr. Gandara during her testimony but Gandara's head remained down looking at a yellow note pad that attorneys give their clients to give them something to do during testimony.

At one point during the examination the prosecutor asked her about a portion of the audio in which her son Angel, who testifies tomorrow, confronts Gandara about the offer and telling him it sounds like a bribe. Sandra Licon cried when describing that moment because she said she was proud that her son said out loud what they were all thinking. "I'm not as brave as my son. I am ashamed of that now...you have to speak up when something feels wrong...say something right then."

She was cross examined by Jeanette Diaz, a young attorney from the Public Defender's Office that is representing Gandara. It was a pretty short cross examination and the State didn't feel it necessary to conduct re-direct.

The State alleges that Gandara offered the Licon family a $40,000 event paid for by the City of Socorro and $40,000 in advertising along with some additional access to water in exchange for the Licon family's public support of annexation. Gandara is also facing other state felonies and is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The trial resumes Wednesday morning at 9am on the 10th floor of the El Paso County Courthouse.