A federal judge ruled that Daniel Villegas, an El Paso man wrongfully convicted of murder and jailed for nearly two decades, provided enough evidence to move forward with his lawsuit against the city of El Paso and several police officers.
Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama ruled Friday, Aug. 22, that Villegas and his attorneys have shown enough evidence for a jury to determine if the El Paso Police Department was “encouraging officers to clear cases at all costs and tolerating dishonesty while deliberately failing to supervise officers.”
“We are very happy to get Daniel justice from the almost 20 years of his life that was taken away from him 31 years ago,” Felix Valenzuela, Villegas’ attorney, said in a statement. “Daniel always said the outrageous conduct by the police detectives was something he thought only happened in the movies or nightmares.
“He lived it: he was physically and emotionally abused and still lives with those scars today. We look forward to bringing to the jury Daniel’s case and only ask for justice for Daniel.”
Villegas was wrongfully convicted in a 1993 fatal shooting of two teenagers and spent 18 years in prison. Villegas maintained his innocence for nearly three decades, claiming he was wrongfully arrested, that authorities fabricated and suppressed evidence, and officers coerced a confession from him.
An appeals court overturned the conviction in 2013 and he was released from prison to await a new trial. An El Paso jury found Villegas not guilty of the murders in 2018.
A trial date for the lawsuit has not been set. Guaderrama asked both sides to report when they would be available for trial. The lawsuit has been pending for nearly a decade. Villegas and his attorneys filed the lawsuit in December 2015.
The defendants named in the lawsuit are city of El Paso, current and former El Paso police officers Carlos Ortega, Scott Graves, Ray Sanchez, and the estate of Alfonso Marquez, a former police detective who died in 2023.
“The City of El Paso respects the court’s ruling in the lawsuit filed by Mr. Daniel Villegas,” Laura Cruz-Acosta, a city of El Paso spokeswoman, said in a statement. “While some claims were dismissed, others remain and will proceed as directed by the court. Because this matter is still active litigation, the City cannot comment further at this time.”
Judge rules evidence could show misconduct
Villegas made three main arguments in his lawsuit, which Guaderrama reviewed to determine their merits and decide whether to move forward with a trial.
The first allegation was made by Villegas, who stated that the city and police department were “encouraging officers to clear cases at all costs and tolerating dishonesty while deliberately failing to supervise officers,” the judge’s ruling states.
Attorneys for the city and the officers named in the lawsuit argued Villegas provided insufficient evidence to support this claim.
Guaderrama argued that Villegas did provide “evidence that Defendant’s policymakers were aware that officers were fabricating evidence, lying about and covering up abuse, and engaging in other forms of dishonesty,” including incidents occurring over many years.
Another key piece of evidence was proof that “police supervisors did not regularly review detectives’ reports in high-stakes investigations. Specifically, detectives in the Crimes Against Persons division were not required to have their reports approved by supervisors,” the ruling states.
Guaderrama also ruled Villegas “provides evidence that Defendant maintained a policy requiring officers to record confessions and juvenile witness statements, yet detectives in the Crimes Against Persons division continuously did not abide by this requirement,” his ruling states.
The city’s attorneys countered in court filings that there is evidence “supervisors in the Crimes Against Persons division regularly met with and oversaw officers in the division.”
Guaderrama denied the city’s request for a summary judgment and will allow these allegations to go to trial. A summary judgment is a judgment entered by a judge for one party and against another party without a full trial.
“The conflicting evidence presented by Plaintiff and Defendant creates a genuine dispute of material fact,” Guaderrama wrote in his ruling. “Defendant presents evidence that supervisors oversaw detectives in the Crimes Against Persons division, while Plaintiff offers evidence supporting the contrary. This dispute cannot be resolved at summary judgment.”
Judge dismisses allegations against city, police officers
Two other allegations made by Villegas were that the city and police department failed “to train its officers to exercise care and caution with juveniles,” and failed “to investigate and discipline officers for threatening and physically harming juvenile suspects and violating juvenile policies.”
Attorneys for the city and the police officers argued that Villegas failed to show a pattern of violations and failed to establish that former El Paso Police Department Chief John Scagno “noticed similar persistent violations and did not take corrective action.”
Guaderrama ruled that Villegas and his attorneys failed to meet the legal standards required by law on those allegations to sue the government.
Daniel Villegas’ Saga
Villegas, who was 16 years old at the time, was charged with capital murder in the 1993 shooting deaths of Armando Lazo, 17, and Robert England, 18.
He first went to trial in 1994, but an El Paso jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. The trial was declared a mistrial.
A second trial was held the following year. A jury convicted Villegas of capital murder. He received an automatic life sentence because the state did not seek the death penalty.
Villegas remained in jail for 18 years as he fought to be released, claiming he was wrongfully convicted. Villegas and his attorneys argued his confession to police was coerced and should not have been permitted to be used in the trial.
The Texas Eighth District Court justice upheld the guilty verdict. The appeal was heard by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal appeals court in Texas. The justices overturned the conviction in 2013. They ordered a new trial to be held.
Villegas’ case gained national attention as he faced trial for a third time in 2018, now as a 41-year-old man. Judge Sam Medrano presided over the trial. The jury hearing the case was sequestered because of the high publicity the case received.
After hearing several days of testimony, an El Paso jury deliberated for more than eight hours over two days before reaching a not guilty verdict, ending a 25-year saga of trials, appeals and dozens of court hearings.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Daniel Villegas wins ruling to pursue claims of misconduct by El Paso police detectives
Reporting by Aaron Martinez, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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