What could lead an entire District Attorney’s office, the size of the Bexar County District Attorney’s office, to recuse itself from the prosecution of an individual charged with the improper sexual filming of his stepdaughter? We don’t know specifically because we could not find an official public statement explaining to the taxpayers of Bexar County the reasons for punting on the prosecution of Christopher Anthony Flores, charged in April of 2014 with the improper sexual filming of his stepdaughter. Allegedly, Mr. Flores, Vice-President of Hospital Klean (which by the way has the contract to clean the Bexar County Courthouse), installed a video camera in the bathroom of his stepdaughter’s room in the prestigious San Antonio neighborhood of Rogers Ranch.
The defendant’s parents have been regular contributors to Susan Reed’s campaigns for District Attorney. Public campaign documents show Antonio and Irma Flores plopping down a grand on several occasions to her campaign. The only other connection we could make between the defendant, his family and Susan Reed, is the fact that the building that houses the District Attorney’s office, the Bexar County Courthouse, is the subject of a contract between Flores’ family-owned company, Hospital Klean, and Bexar County, which gives that company the very lucrative and exclusive cleaning services contract for the Courthouse.
It still doesn’t seem like enough though, without more, to cause an entire department to have to back away from prosecuting this accused. Political donations are par for the course, and as long as there is not a return on your investment for this type of donation, it should not lead to passing the buck to the State’s Attorney General’s office, who while very diligent and capable of prosecuting this type of case, are slightly disadvantaged because of their unfamiliarity with the local, unwritten rules which provide a roadmap to the lay of the land in Bexar County criminal cases.
Similarly, the big-bucks contract to clean the Bexar County Courthouse does not seem to provide the insight concerning the recusal, that Bexar County taxpayers and voters deserve to know when a District Attorney takes the position that there is an actual likelihood of favoritism to the Defendant if they handle the case. That’s basically what they are saying, because if it was the defendant’s motion to recuse them [the D.A. or Judge], it would have to allege that there is an “actual likelihood of prejudice” to the defendant should the D.A. or Judge stay on in the case. That’s a strong statement that amounts basically to this: “If we prosecute the case against Christopher Anthony Flores, there is an actual likelihood that we would offer favoritism to the Defendant.” That is the nature of recusal in the first place.
The people of Bexar County though, should in a sense, especially if Susan Reed’s sentiments for recusal in this case are close to the description of recusal above, be relieved that she was able to admit an almost familial relationship with Christopher Anthony Flores and allow an impartial, very professional prosecutor, like the State Attorney General’s Assistant Attorney General, Jane Starnes, now handling the matter, to go after this guy with everything they have, just like they would have against any other Defendant. A true miscarriage of justice would have been the Bexar County District Attorney staying on in the case and then not putting her heart into it, perhaps letting the case fall apart, or offering a plea deal not consistent with the gravity of the offense.
She [Susan Reed] did the right thing it seems, we just think she should explain the reasons for doing so in more detail to the people who put her in office and to those in her charge. The public in Bexar County deserves to know the standard for recusal, perhaps so that past cases as well as future cases may be judged in the public arena, and the office of the District Attorney, which yields such enormous power and influence, may continue to preserve its integrity and avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
Christopher Anthony Flores may find himself in this same position even if Susan Reed does not win the upcoming election, as he has brought on to his defense team, the current D.A.’s opponent in the race for District Attorney, Nico Lahood.
CHICANO CHANNEL MAGAZINE © 2014
Image Source: freedigitalphotos.net by sakhorn38
