Uresti says prosecutors withheld steamy texts that could help criminal case
Lawyers for indicted state Sen. Carlos Uresti say steamy text messages sent between one of his co-defendants and Denise Cantu of Harlingen were wrongfully withheld and cast doubt on her credibility as the government’s star witness in his upcoming criminal trial.
Uresti contends that federal prosecutors failed to obey court rules by timely turning over the text messages, which he believes may help exonerate him. Uresti’s legal team led by Tab Turner filed a court motion Monday to force prosecutors to disclose any other information that might help to his case.
Uresti, Stan Bates and Gary Cain were indicted in May on 22 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and other crimes for their roles in a now-defunct oil field services company called FourWinds Logistics. Uresti served as the company’s outside legal counsel for a short time and recruited Cantu as an investor. She is slated to testify against Uresti, a San Antonio Democrat.
Bates was the company’s CEO and Cain was a consultant. The trio’s trial is scheduled to start Jan. 4.
The "sext" messages between Cantu and Bates are relevant because they raise doubts about Cantu’s credibility, Turner says.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/business/local/article/Uresti-says-prosecutors-withheld-steamy-texts-12407495.php?ipid=hpctp
