Embattled Texas prosecutor over 2019 Walmart attack resigns

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

an hour ago

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A Texas prosecutor facing mounting criticism over the handling of the 2019 Walmart mass shooting in El Paso that killed 23 people resigned Monday after the county took the extraordinary step of seeking to remove her from elected office.

El Paso County District Attorney Yvonne Rosales, a Democrat who was elected in 2020, agreed to resign during a court hearing Monday, El Paso television station KTSM reported. Her last day will be Dec. 14.

Rosales’ job was put in jeopardy over accusations of incompetence involving hundreds of criminal cases in El Paso and slowing down the case against Patrick Crusius, the suspected Walmart shooter who faces the death penalty if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.

El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal wrote last week in an amended petition that when it came to the Walmart shooting, Rosales’ office “could not even tell the court what work had been done on this case in the last few months.”



FILE - Mourners visit a makeshift memorial on Aug. 12, 2019, near the Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where people were killed in a mass shooting. On Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, a Texas prosecutor, facing mounting criticism over the handling of the 2019 Walmart mass shooting in El Paso, resigned after the county took the extraordinary step of moving to remove her from elected office. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/shootings-texas-el-paso-patrick-crusius-47e3a2459b062993522304dd0b8374c4

[imavoter]

1. Anyone local to El Paso?

Is this political or is there a real issue
with her performance?

Abbot will be able to appoint a Republican
to replace the Democratic Rosales.

[Scruffy1]

3. She is incompetent.

El Paso politics is all Democratic. She managed to win in a "get tough on crime" campaign and of course get the cop's support. The problem is she had no experience as a prosecutor and managed to alienate the experienced staff in the office. The previous prosecutor had many years of experience and was well respected. I think the new people she brought in also rubbed the staff wrong. To be fair, there was a massive backlog of cases because of covid and probably some understaffing issues. There were a whole lot of issues between her and the Judge handling the mass shooting. Also, a large number of other cases were dropped because they were never filed on time. I just hope someone with experience as a prosecutor takes her place.

[stopdiggin]

5. so - the next time somebody is advocating 'new blood'

(which does have its merits on occasion) - it might not also be a bad idea to ascertain if the new blood has any idea of what the job they'll be asked to perform entails.

alternate way to look at this - as much as incompetence, this might have been a case of a 'reformer' - that got 'rolled' by the system already in place? (and that certainly has precedence as well)

[bobandrileysmom]

2. El Pasoan here

I voted for this lady and she talked a great talk. However, since being in office, she has been a complete joke. Dropping domestic violence cases, her staff not showing up for meetings, her ADAs not being prepared. The list goes on. Yes, I know this from personal experience.

[Scruffy1]

4. I've only lived in El Paso a few years.

I didn't feel like I was up to speed for the primaries, so I didn't vote the last go around. From what I saw of her I think she had good intentions, but lacked management skills.

[onetexan]

7. my only concern is whose replacing her - R or D?

[Jimvanhise]

6. DONALD TRUMP WENT TO EL PASO IN 2019

Over the objections of the mayor, Trump went to El Paso the week after the massacre where he literally treated it like a campaign stop, played up to the press and did a Fonzi pose for their cameras! You can find the picture on line. It should have been a scandal. If a Democrat had done that at the scene of a massacre, Fox News would still be screaming about it.