Judge denies motion to suppress evidence in Burgos-Aviles double murder case

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - After several weeks of testimonies on what will or won’t be presented during the trial of a former federal agent accused in the death of a woman and her child back in 2018 continued in a Webb County district court.

Ronald Anthony Burgos-Aviles is accused of causing the deaths of Grizelda Hernandez and her son Dominic Alexander Hernandez. Burgos was a Border Patrol agent at the time of his arrest.

In March, Burgos’ defense filed a motion to suppress evidence, particularly statements Burgos made to police.

On April 13th, another evidentiary hearing was held, specifically on the recorded statements of Aviles. During the hearing, a detective that had been previously interviewed at another evidentiary hearing was called back to the stand to testify.

He was asked about the interview he did with Burgos on April 9th, 2018 -- the day Grizelda and Dominic were found dead. The state asked the detective on the recorded interview he did with Burgos, whether his Miranda rights were addressed (his right for an attorney), the time stamp of the interview between 2 p.m. and after 5 p.m., and whether the video was altered.

The detective stated the video was not altered and no glitches were seen on it. Burgos’ defense asked the detective on how the video was recorded, transferred, when the supplemental testimony was done by the detective, and when the district attorney obtained the copy of Burgos’ video testimony. Burgos’ attorneys went through the motions of the transferring of the video plus the testimony itself, including Burgos’ denied request to speak to his wife. The detective was then excused from the stand.

Both parties gave their closing statement, with Burgos’ attorney, William Boggs, saying that the state “lacked probable cause to arrest Mr. Burgos on April 9th, 2018.”

Boggs continued: “What was known to them at that time, was that Mr. Burgos had reported finding a body of a woman. They saw a white Mercedes parked in the parking lot of Father McNaboe Park. They traced a license plate to the owner, the sister of Grizelda Hernandez (one of the victims). They went to the address the vehicle was registered to and the mother of Ms. Grizelda Hernandez had told the officers that Grizelda had gone to Father McNaboe Park.”

Boggs went on to say, “[the mother] stated that Grizelda had gone to meet with the father of her child and that the father was a Border Patrol agent named Anthony Aviles. That was broadcast over the police radio, and because Burgos did not tell [the officers present] that he knew the woman -- that he knew that body that was found was Ms. Hernandez -- and that he was going to meet with her at the park and supposedly because he didn’t give his complete name [since] he identified himself as Ronald Burgos rather than Ronald Anthony Burgos Aviles, they decided to arrest him based on nothing more than that.”

“The fact that [Burgos] didn’t tell them he knew that was Grizelda Hernandez and that he was going to meet with her does not provide sufficient probable cause,” said Boggs.

The state then presented their closing statements, stating they had probable cause to link Burgos to the crime and on his arrest, since Burgos and the police officers at the scene heard that Grizelda was said to meet with a Border Patrol agent shortly after her death with the last name of Burgos. Marisela Jacaman, Webb County First Assistant District Attorney said, “he had a name tag, that said R. Burgos. That individual, instead of being forthcoming and say, ‘My name is Ronald Anthony Burgos Aviles,’ he tried to keep that information. It was a deliberate non-disclosure of information. Because they knew, that once that connection was done, although it was pretty evident when the name Burgos was used [since] it’s not a very common name, it would be a eureka moment for all those officers, Judge.”

Jacaman harkened back to testimony from witnesses who stated that Burgos allegedly was at the crime scene. “He was kicking the bloody rock; this is an individual who is in law enforcement and highly trained -- has experience, knowledge, and training in crime preservation. He was there at that very crime scene. This is information that they had, collectively, at Father McNaboe Park. He was there,” Jacaman stated.

In the end, Judge Joe Lopez ruled in favor to deny the motion to suppress the evidence. Jury selection is still set for January 2023.

If convicted of the crime, he could face the death penalty.

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