El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales' steady rise and rapid fall
District Attorney Yvonne Rosales wrote the ending to her own story — a story marked by historic moments in El Paso politics.
"It's been an honor and pleasure serving as District Attorney of El Paso, Hudspeth and Culbertson Counties, so it is with a heavy heart that I tender my letter of resignation effective 5 p.m., December 14, 2022."
Rosales wrote those stunning words in a two-paragraph resignation letter delivered to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. He accepted her resignation earlier this month.
Rosales enjoyed a meteoric rise to become the first woman elected district attorney, the region's top law enforcement official. Her fall from grace was equally eye-catching.
Within the past year, Rosales would see her political career collapse under the threat of forced removal. A judge had hinted he would suspend her from office while an aggressive campaign to remove her quickly moved to trial.
Rosales' historic resignation spared her from the public humiliation of possibly being officially found incompetent and unfit to hold office. She has declined to comment on the controversy, with her office's spokesperson citing the litigation.
Rosales didn't get through the second year of her four-year term.
Here is a timeline of Rosales' rise and fall:
Dec. 15, 2015: The deadline to file for the 2016 primary elections brought three candidates for El Paso County district attorney: Yvonne Rosales, incumbent Jaime Esparza and Leonard "Lenny" Morales. No Republican ran.
March 1, 2016: Jaime Esparza and challenger Yvonne Rosales prepared for a runoff May 24 after a close election.
May 24, 2016: Jaime Esparza was reelected to a seventh term, defeating challenger Yvonne Rosales. Esparza won 8,382 votes, or 51%, with Rosales earning 7,959, or 49%, a 423 vote difference.
July 10, 2019: After more than 25 years as district attorney, Jaime Esparza announced he would not seek reelection.
July 14, 2019: El Paso County Assistant District Attorney James Montoya and criminal and family law attorney Yvonne Rosales were the first contenders to join the race to be the region's top prosecutor. Both worked under Esparza.
March 02, 2020: James Montoya received 34% of votes cast, Yvonne Rosales 39%. The runoff election was scheduled for July 14.
July 14, 2020: Yvonne Rosales became the first woman elected to lead the District Attorney's Office, finishing with 51.9% of votes.
Dec. 8, 2020: It is reported that the District Attorney's Office will lose a quarter of its employees, including several prominent prosecutors, who won't be retained by the incoming leader.
April 19, 2021: Yvonne Rosales blamed the former administration for plea deals made in the death of a 5-month-old baby and the beating of a 2-year-old boy. The blame comes despite her administration having the authority to retract or alter plea agreements before they are signed and accepted by a judge.
Dec. 2, 2021: A Texas Ethics Commission draft opinion says DA Yvonne Rosales violated state law when her office allegedly misused more than $2,600 of public money on items promoting herself as district attorney.
Dec. 9, 2021: The request for a Texas Ethics Commission opinion on whether DA Yvonne Rosales might have committed criminal violations was withdrawn.
Dec. 14, 2021: A state judge dismissed a capital murder case, stating that the District Attorney's Office attempted to use an "unjustifiable penalty" — the death penalty — against a defendant seeking his constitutional right to a speedy trial.
July 1, 2022: State District Court Judge Sam Medrano issued a gag order for the attorneys in the Walmart mass shooting case. "The grandstanding ends today," Medrano said in issuing the order.
Aug. 17, 2022: Criminal felony and misdemeanor charges against nearly 100 people were dismissed by a jail magistrate because El Paso District Attorney's Office prosecutors had not taken action on their cases.
Aug. 25, 2022: An internal email revealed the District Attorney's Office is taking steps to address the backlog of cases after a judge dismissed roughly another 370 criminal cases due to lengthy prosecution delays.
Aug. 24, 2022: A petition seeking the removal of El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales on accusations of "official misconduct and continued incompetence" was submitted by a local defense attorney.
Aug. 26, 2022: District Attorney Yvonne Rosales struck back, submitting a motion calling for the petition to be dismissed on technical grounds.
Sept. 2, 2022: In her quest to beat back a petition to remove her from office, District Attorney Yvonne Rosales filed a motion seeking to have El Paso County Attorney Jo Ann Bernal disqualified from representing the state in the case over a "potential conflict."
Sept. 12, 2022: Judge Tryon Lewis dismissed all pleadings filed by DA Yvonne Rosales in response to the petition to have her removed from office due to "official misconduct and continued incompetence."
Sept. 14, 2022: Visiting Judge Tryon D. Lewis issued a citation allowing a petition to remove Rosales from office to move forward.
Sept. 21, 2022: A hearing on a motion to recuse Judge Sam Medrano in the Walmart shooting case was delayed after the El Paso District Attorney's Office asked for more time to gather witnesses. Assistant El Paso District Attorney Curtis Cox asserted that the defense's plan to present evidence related to a Sept. 13 status hearing was new to him.
Sept. 22, 2022: A notice of evidence was filed as part of the District Attorney's Office's request to recuse Judge Sam Medrano because of alleged "personal animus" against District Attorney Yvonne Rosales.
Sept. 26, 2022: El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales was served with court documents, starting the clock for her response to defense attorney Omar Carmona's petition to have her removed from office.
Sept. 27, 2022: A state judge denied the El Paso District Attorney's Office's motion to recuse Judge Sam Medrano in the death penalty case against the defendant in the Walmart mass shooting case.
Oct. 6, 2022: An attorney representing the family of mass shooting victim Alexander Gerhard Hoffmann filed a report alleging the El Paso District Attorney's Office broke the gag order in the Walmart case and made it appear the Hoffmanns were at fault.
Oct. 6, 2022: Yvonne Rosales filed a legal response denying all allegations and asserted a lack of any "credible factual or legal basis" in a citation to remove her from office over "official misconduct and continued incompetence."
Oct. 11, 2022: The El Paso District Attorney's Office accused attorney Justin Underwood of bias in his report, which alleged that Vinton Municipal Court Judge Rogelio "Roger" Rodriguez, on behalf of the DA's Office, was responsible for emails released to the media in violation of the gag order issued in the Walmart mass shooting case.
Nov. 1, 2022: El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal filed her notice of intent to prosecute the dismissal from office case against District Attorney Yvonne Rosales.
Nov. 3, 2022: Assistant El Paso District Attorney Curtis Cox resigned from the Walmart shooting case and directed that all further communications in regard to the case be directed to El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales.
Nov. 18, 2022: A day after being ordered to appear for a Nov. 30 status hearing, El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales filed an emergency motion requesting a stay on court proceedings in the Walmart shooting case.
Nov. 21, 2022: Judge Tryon Lewis set a Dec. 15 court date to decide whether El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales should be temporarily suspended from office while the removal case against her proceeds.
Nov. 28, 2022: El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales announced her plan to resign; her tenure will come to an end at 5 p.m. Dec. 14.
Nov. 29, 2022: DA Yvonne Rosales and recently resigned Assistant DA Curtis Cox are ordered to appear before Judge Sam Medrano for a hearing on violations to the gag order in the Walmart mass shooting case.
Dec. 1, 2022: El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales appeared at a special hearing on the gag order in the Walmart mass shooting case, but refused to answer any questions. Rosales invoked the Fifth Amendment after being sworn in as a witness.
Dec. 2, 2022: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott accepted the resignation of El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales, capping off a tumultuous two-year tenure.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso District Attorney Yvonne Rosales' steady rise and rapid fall
