U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore is currently presiding over a rather ugly criminal case in Houston against against three people accused in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants who were being smuggled into this country in the back of a blistering hot trailer. To say that the prosecution has not gone smoothly is an understatement.
On this past Thursday, after the prosecution closed its case in chief and the defendants chose not to put on any evidence in defense of the case, Judge Gilmore dismissed charges against one of the defendants, ruling that the government had failed to show that the defendant had benefited financially from an arrangement in which illegal immigrants were harbored and transported.
Then, on Friday, Gilmore threatened to hold one of the prosecutors in contempt if he failed to get a letter from U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft by the end of the day explaining his refusal to disclose why the death penalty sought against one of the black defendants in this case is the first time that the death penalty has been sought against a defendant in an immigrant smuggling case. According to this Chronicle story on the matter, Judge Gilmore stated from the bench:

“They are taking the position that they can indict whoever they want to and charge the death penalty and not disclose the reason.”

Judge Gilmore has not yet issued an order for the prosecutors to show cause why they should not be held in civil contempt for failing to disclose the information, which is a prerequisite for the enforcement of the civil contempt penalty.