Disgraced Water Board Member Xavier Alvarez spent the morning in a Pomona Superior courthouse during his preliminary hearing on charges of illegally using public funds. The elected official's defense attorney acknowledged that Alvarez knowingly signed up his ex-wife, Juanita Ruiz, for health benefits between April and November 2007.
But he argued that Alvarez was "ignorant" about what exactly defines a spouse. There was no clear definition of a spouse on the insurance sign up form, the attorney noted. Apparently, Alvarez simply didn't know the woman he divorced in 2002 was no longer his wife!
This is from the same man who used the argument that lying is a protected form of speech while fighting earlier charges of falsely claiming to have earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. He eventually pleaded guilty to those misdemeanor charges in a federal court.
When Alvarez signed Ruiz up for the benefits, he used a church certificate as proof, not the civil certificate. "Due to his religious beliefs" Alvarez thought the couple was still married through the church, his attorney argued.
Despite the alleged confusion, Alvarez never bothered to ask the staff at Three Valleys Municipal Water District if Ruiz was a legal spouse or not, according to Three Valleys staffer Kirk Howie, who testified in court. According to testimony from Michael Holguin, a DA investigator working the case, Alvarez no longer lives with his ex-wife but maintains "a friendly relationship" with her, seeing her once or twice a month.
Judge Charles Horan didn't buy into the defense's ignorance argument. "You don't need a legal definition or a bylaw dictionary handed to you to know what a spouse is," he said.
The judge scheduled an arraignment hearing for March 10. The actual trial with jury will not likely come until months after. If he is convicted on a felony count, he could be kicked off the board of directors. Three veterans attended the preliminary hearing. Afterwards, one of the men said the judge should require Alvarez to sit in a phone booth on Garey Avenue that is labeled "liar and thief."
"He is a disgrace to the military and all the men and women who served," the man said.
Not to mention the people who elected him, his fellow board members, and all the staff at the Three Valleys Municipal Water District.
But he argued that Alvarez was "ignorant" about what exactly defines a spouse. There was no clear definition of a spouse on the insurance sign up form, the attorney noted. Apparently, Alvarez simply didn't know the woman he divorced in 2002 was no longer his wife!
This is from the same man who used the argument that lying is a protected form of speech while fighting earlier charges of falsely claiming to have earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. He eventually pleaded guilty to those misdemeanor charges in a federal court.
When Alvarez signed Ruiz up for the benefits, he used a church certificate as proof, not the civil certificate. "Due to his religious beliefs" Alvarez thought the couple was still married through the church, his attorney argued.
Despite the alleged confusion, Alvarez never bothered to ask the staff at Three Valleys Municipal Water District if Ruiz was a legal spouse or not, according to Three Valleys staffer Kirk Howie, who testified in court. According to testimony from Michael Holguin, a DA investigator working the case, Alvarez no longer lives with his ex-wife but maintains "a friendly relationship" with her, seeing her once or twice a month.
Judge Charles Horan didn't buy into the defense's ignorance argument. "You don't need a legal definition or a bylaw dictionary handed to you to know what a spouse is," he said.
The judge scheduled an arraignment hearing for March 10. The actual trial with jury will not likely come until months after. If he is convicted on a felony count, he could be kicked off the board of directors. Three veterans attended the preliminary hearing. Afterwards, one of the men said the judge should require Alvarez to sit in a phone booth on Garey Avenue that is labeled "liar and thief."
"He is a disgrace to the military and all the men and women who served," the man said.
Not to mention the people who elected him, his fellow board members, and all the staff at the Three Valleys Municipal Water District.
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