The prosecution welcomed Richard Molina’s former business partner, Julio Carranza, as a key witness Thursday morning. He was one of the witnesses who showed physical evidence to the jury while explaining his investigative process.
Carranza held a mixer at the company’s headquarters, Landmark, where Molina asked employees to register to vote. He explained that the defendant encouraged him to change Farr’s home address to that of Edinburgh’s brother.
Witnesses said Molina told him, “Don’t worry.”
Carranza admitted that he encouraged his employees to become deputy registrars of voters at the defendant’s request.
Richard Molina’s former business partner, Julio Carranza, will be sworn under oath before testifying before a jury on August 18, 2022. Photo by Maria Ruiz for Progress Times.
“He’s my business partner,” said Carranza. “Of course he wanted to win at all costs.”
Attorney Michael Garza asked the entrepreneur if he did it for his own benefit.
“Was there any business interest in him winning?” the lawyer asked.
“Yes, things are expedited,” Carranza replied.
Attorney Carlos Garcia asked Carranza if he would commit the crime if Molina asked him to.
“Richard [Molina] You asked me to commit a crime…it’s illegal, it’s illegal, it’s a crime. do you want to asked Garcia.
If it were after his child’s christening, Carranza would do it for his former business partner.
“On what level?” Carranza replied. “Yeah, that’s how much I trusted him.”
After Carranza said “no” to the act of robbery if Molina requested it, defense counsel asked what crime he would commit.
“Vote fraud,” Carranza told the jury.
Molina cited the Palacios family and Mary Alice Palacios, the woman who filed the complaint that led to this case, as examples of Carranza. “Everybody did it and he wasn’t ‘going to get caught’.”
Garcia reminded Carranza of the threat of a felony conviction and what that would mean for him as an entrepreneur.
“You came here today…after you made a decision…and you came and found out that he beat the mayor. Would you like to file a complaint against
Carranza replied, “Yes.”
“And expect from them [the state and district attorney] Tear up the paper and say, ‘Okay, you’re free to go, I want what you want,’ right? ”
Carranza once again asserted that he was “right” before being fired.
Waite told jurors how he obtained the records and information of 40 people related to the 2017 voting scheme.
Vehicle registrations, driver’s license databases, and assessment district documents were some of the records Waite obtained for his investigation. If the information from your ID matches your voter registration, Waits will filter them out.
John Waits presents the keys to Ray Molina’s apartment during his August 18, 2022 testimony. According to eyewitness Adolfo Cantu, former Edinburg mayor Richard Molina instructed him to turn over the keys to law enforcement as proof that he was a resident of Edinburg.
Garcia brought up the subject of witness Victoria Cochrane, a citizen of the Mission who had testified earlier that day, and questioned Waits in an interview with her at her residence.
“She explained to you and told you all the way through that interview…it was fine,” Garcia said. ‘”
Waits said he didn’t remember saying those words, but said he wouldn’t be surprised if he did.
Witnesses interviewed 30 of the 40 people involved.
“From what you saw, they didn’t appear to live where they put their address on their voter registration card. Remember when I said that?” Garcia commented during the exam.
“No,” Waits said. “What I remember saying was that there was a chance they had. I didn’t draw any conclusions before the interview.”
Waits acted on the complaint at the start of the investigation. This included a compact disc containing a pdf document.
The compact disc had documented records and was said not to have been tampered with, but there were indications that the items inside were not official.
“Is that from Mary Alice Palacios?” Garcia asked.
Waits said the petitioner was Palacios, but it was provided by the Texas Attorney General’s Office rather than directly to him.
Garcia asked Waits why Palacios had made no effort to find a motive for filing the complaint.
“We accept what is in the complaint,” Waite testified.
Waite did not record that Palacios lost her contract with the city of Edinburg after the defendant’s mayoral victory, or that her brother was a city judge and her nephew was a district attorney.
“My goal was to look at the complaint objectively and gather evidence to refute or support the claim.
Towards the end of his testimony, he showed the court the keys that belonged to the defendant’s brother, Ray Molina’s apartment.
“What is the significance of that key in this investigation?” Garza asked.
“That key represents access to one of the defendant’s relatives’ apartment dwellings,” Waits said.
“Was it used as a ruse? What is it used to deceive law enforcement?”
Wait answered yes to both before being questioned further and then dismissed.
Richard Molina and counsel Jaime Peña look at evidence on screen at the 92nd District Court on August 18, 2022. Photo by Maria Ruiz for Progress Times.
Friday morning’s testimony was cut short because Judge Carlos Valdes requested a break for the rest of the day until 10 a.m. Monday. discussed the motion to introduce the
Defense attorneys have filed a subpoena and access to criminal files for District Clerk Laura Hinojosa for the sealed indictment of Border Patrol agent Richard Ramirez, who testified Tuesday morning.
The jury was not in court during this debate.
“This raises serious concerns because the state was involved in discoverable information,” said attorney Jaime Peña.
However, there was a motion to revoke the subpoena by Attorney Alex Benavides of the District Clerk’s Office, who was present when Hinojosa spoke with the judge.
“The issues we advocate directly affect our clients,” Hinojosa said.
Judge Valdez requested attorneys speak on the recorded floor on the issue and denied the motion to vacate.
Valdes then dismissed the jury and welcomed them to continue hearing testimony on Monday, August 22, 2022 at 10:00 am.
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