Tyler

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

A 19-year-old gang member was convicted of assaulting a Tyler police officer and sentenced to 50 years in prison Thursday for biting the officer's finger as he tried to escape.

Jaime Casas Juarez was convicted of assaulting a public servant by a Smith County jury in 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s court after less than five minutes of deliberation. The offense was a first-degree felony, carrying a punishment range of probation or five years to life in prison, because the jury found that Juarez used a deadly weapon - his mouth and teeth - which were capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.

The jury sentenced Juarez to the prison term and a $5,000 fine after less than an hour of deliberation. Juarez will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years in prison.

Tyler Police Officer J.H. Burge and other officers found Juarez and two other men burglarizing cars at an apartment complex on Calloway Road at 4 a.m. on June 10.

Officer Noe Balderas said he ordered them to stop, stating that he was police, but they took off running. He said he chased two of the suspects until Burge began screaming for help. When he approached, Burge was holding his hand as officers Steve Black and Robert Holcomb continued to try to detain Juarez as the suspect fought the officers. Balderas said they eventually were able to get Juarez handcuffed and called paramedics.

Juarez had a warrant out for his arrest for violating probation he had received in November for assaulting his girlfriend. In May, he was charged with burglarizing a home.

Tyler Police testified that Juarez was a member of the East Side Locos, a violent street gang. The jurors were shown pictures of Juarez flashing gang signs, marijuana and stolen property, including several guns, which were found in Juarez's bedroom during two searches.

A man and woman testified about how their home was burglarized on May 4, which police charge was broken into by Juarez. The couple testified about how they worked hard for the things that were stolen, especially the sentimental jewelry that belonged to the woman.

Juarez's uncle and mother testified on his behalf, about how the high school dropout's father died and how he was a good kid.

Carina Lopez, Juarez's girlfriend, said he had lived with her for four years and he was not a member of a gang. She said she may have told police that because he was an "amateur" or a "want to be" gang member. She said Juarez was convicted of hitting her but she loved him.

Assistant Smith County District Attorney Zach Davis said Juarez had used up his chance at probation when he continued to commit criminal offenses when on probation before. He said the defendant's crimes were escalating from misdemeanors to a first-degree felony and asked the jurors to protect the community by sentencing him to life in prison.

"What happens to this young man for the rest of his life will depend in part by what you do," defense attorney Lana Johnson-Johnston told the jurors during closing arguments.

She said placing Juarez on 10 years probation would give him the opportunity to mature, learn by his mistakes and prove himself. If the jury did sentence him to prison, she asked that the punishment be reasonable.

Assistant District Attorney Joe Murphy called Juarez a "gangster" who has guns because they're "cool" and easy to steal and sell. He breaks into cars and houses because he doesn't want to go to work.

Murphy said when Juarez started to fight Burge to get away, the officer didn't let go and tried to hold him down until help arrived. But as he radioed for the other officers to assist him, Juarez saw an opportunity to get out and bit down on Burge's finger, Murphy said.

The doctor said if Juarez would have continued to bite down with that force, he would have bitten the officer's finger completely off, he said.

Emergency room Dr. Collin Moreno testified that Burge's finger was severely bitten and was at a high risk of serious infection. He said the officer's finger is still disfigured.

Moreno agreed that Juarez's mouth could be a deadly weapon, which the definition states could cause permanent disfigurement or impairment of the function of the finger. He said if Burge's injury would have become infected, it could have spread to his bone, resulting in the loss of his finger or hand.

He said Black, who, after Burge was injured, assisted other officers in detaining Juarez, suffered two fractured bones in his hand from the scuffle.

Juarez testified he acted as a lookout while the other two men stole things out of a car. When they saw someone peeking at them from around a corner and someone told them to stop, they ran, he said. The defendant stumbled and was tackled by a man he said he did not know was an officer until he heard the police radio.

Juarez said his mouth was in the dirt, he was out of breath from running and the officer was on top of him so he couldn't breathe and felt like he was going to die. He said the officer's finger was in front of his face so he bit it to get the officer off of him.

He said when the other officers ran up to him, he knew he was in trouble so he didn't try to do anything else. He said he was on the ground with his hands behind his back when the officers punched and kicked him.

Juarez, who said he was on alcohol and Xanax at the time of the incident, denied being a member of the East Side Locos gang. He admitted he was on probation for assaulting his girlfriend and to breaking into a house in May, for which he has a pending charge.

Juarez has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of failure to identify/fugitive from justice, evading arrest and two burglaries of a vehicle for the June 10 incident.

Updated Friday, Oct. 5, 2007 at 10:36 a.m. CDT