Venue change granted in murder trial
Judge rules alleged killer may not get fair local hearing
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

A quickly shrinking jury panel offered the defense team for Guillermo Paniagua Paniagua the opportunity to petition for and receive a change of venue in the defendant's murder trial.

Paniagua, 30, of Wharton, is charged with one count of felony murder and one count of failure to stop and render aid in connection with the Jan. 19 traffic death of Needville ISD Police Chief Earnest Mendoza

With the change motion, the trial location will be shifted to Galveston, according to the Wharton County District Attorney's Office.

Assigned to prosecute the case, Assistant D.A. Gordon Dudley Jr. said no new trial date has been scheduled, but it would probably not take place before the end of the year.

"It will be hard to schedule because we anticipate the trial taking from 10 days to two weeks," he said. "Since it is a murder trial, we have more people testifying to establish the facts."

Those additional people being called include pathologists and other expert witnesses, District Attorney Josh McCown said.

In discussing the murder charge, Dudley confirmed it will be the first such trial prosecuted by the county under the law that allows for the charge if the death results during the commission of a felony and "is the result of an act clearly dangerous to human life."

That act, according to the D.A.'s office, was driving on the wrong side of the road while the felony was a potential third DWI offense.

"If this had been is first or second DWI, we would probably be looking at intoxication manslaughter," Dudley said. "But all the elements are in place for a murder charge."

District Attorney Josh Mc- Cown added this was not a race-based prosecution as has been alleged by some area residents.

"The grand jury indicted this for what it is, a case of murder," he said. "This office prosecutes cases based on the facts. (Paniagua) was indicted by two different grand juries and if he went before 10 more he'd be indicted 12 times."

Dudley added the two previous DWI convictions in Texas - Paniagua also has two convictions in Georgia - demonstrate the defendant was aware of the consequences of driving under the influence. He also pointed out the victim was also Hispanic.

"We operate in a race blind system," he said. "If race were an issue, we would be treating the victim different rather than prosecuting to the full extent of the law."

According to the trial's original schedule, jury selection was set for Monday with opening arguments Tuesday morning.

Dudley said it never reached that point.

"The way the system works is you bring in a jury pool with a number of people granted excuses by the judge in advance," he said. "Then you work through the legal exemptions - people over 70, caregivers and students - and then the judge is entitled to grant excuses if justified."

After the various exemptions and excuses, Dudley said the initial pool was down to 51 potential jurors. At that point, jurors can be struck for cause.

"Those include people who say they can't presume the defendant is innocent or award him the right to not speak in his defense," Dudley said. "Each side also has 10 preemptory strikes and you need 12 jurors and an alternate making up a minimum of 33 people. After the strikes for cause, we were left with only 26 people. We tried to re-habilitate some of them, but couldn't get enough."

The Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol report of the wreck states the fatal collision took place 3.2 miles east of Wharton on Farm-to-Market Road 1301 near where it intersects with County Road 113 at around 9 p.m. when Paniagua's pickup reportedly cross the centerline of the roadway and impacted with Mendoza's vehicle.

Paniagua reportedly left the scene on foot and was later taken into custody at the Shell Station in Boling, about five miles from the crash site.

Defining Murder

According to the Texas Criminal Code, a person can be charged with murder under the following circumstances.

Sec. 19.02 (b) (3): commits a felony, other than manslaughter and an act clearly dangerous to human life.

Sec. 19.02 (b) (2): intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life.

Sect. 19.02 (b) (1): intentionally causes a death. Guillermo Paniagua Paniagua was charged under Sec. 19.02 (b) (3).