Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Man forced to post sign overdoses

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Thursday, May 24, 2001
Man forced to post sign overdoses
Registered sex offender was treated and released
By Jeremy Schwartz, Mary Moreno and Stephanie L. Jordan
Caller-Times

   Days after being ordered by a state district judge to place a warning sign outside his apartment, a registered sex offender overdosed on muscle relaxants and was rushed to the hospital by his sister.
   Nestor Gutierrez, 57, had told friends and family members he was disturbed about being forced to post a sign telling neighbors he was a sex offender. He had quit his job and had been told by his apartment complex - Harper's Corner - that he would have to move out because he didn't say he had been convicted of a sex offense on his lease application.
   According to a police report, Gutierrez's sister checked on him Tuesday and became alarmed when he sounded drunk. His sister, who declined comment, told police Gutierrez was groggy and dazed and told her had had taken five or six over-the-counter muscle relaxants. His sister also told police their mother recently died.
   Gutierrez's sister took him to Doctors Regional Hospital, where he was treated and released. Officials there said they believed he had been taken to Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial for psychological follow-up. Christus Spohn officials would not release any information.
   Gutierrez's friend and co-worker at an upholstery shop said Gutierrez had been distraught because of an order by Judge J. Manuel Bañales that forced Gutierrez and a dozen other registered sex offenders to put signs in their yards and on their cars warning the public of their presence.
   "I talked to him (Monday)," Rudy Ramirez said. "He was so broken up about it. He didn't want to face the other guys. I told him not to do anything foolish because everything would be taken care of. I tried to express to him to be strong and keep going. Everyone makes mistakes."
   'I've paid my price'
   Gutierrez called in tears Saturday to say he was quitting, Ramirez said. He explained he was quitting because people were going to see his car, Ramirez said. "He said, 'I've paid my price,' but now he's having to live through it all over again."
   "He was a good employee," Ramirez said. "That's what was so surprising about it, because I would never have thought it. He never showed any signs of it here."
   Butch and Tonie Hughes have been friends with Gutierrez, whom they called "Jimmy" since he moved into the apartment below theirs about seven years ago. They knew he was a convicted sex offender because he told them years ago.
   But now, with the sign just below their apartment and outside his, they're worried someone may think that they're sex offenders. They also don't want him to become the victim of vigilantes.
   "I mean, why don't we build a thing in town square, put their heads and necks in it and we can all throw rocks at them," Tonie Hughes said. "It feels like Mayberry around here."
   'Out of control'
   The couple said that when Butch Hughes had a heart attack, Gutierrez checked in on Tonie Hughes to help her. They've planted foliage together in the complex, they've shared meals, with Gutierrez insisting on it being his treat, and when he has gone to the store, many times he has stopped by to ask if they wanted anything.
   "We think Bañales is totally out of control," Butch Hughes said. "He did this without even considering who it would hurt."
   Ava Hopkins said that Gutierrez hasn't ever been any trouble in the four years she has worked at the complex, where she is now manager, and that he always has been polite and congenial. After the judge ordered that the sign be placed, Gutierrez told the complex about it. When Hopkins pulled his rental form, she said he didn't answer truthfully when asked if he was convicted of a sex-related crime.
   Gutierrez was arrested in 1992 on charges that he had sexual contact with a 10-year-old girl who told investigators Gutierrez had sexual intercourse with her several times.
   As a result of a plea bargain with prosecutors, Gutierrez received 10 years probation for a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
   'No choices'
   Gutierrez now has until Saturday to move or the complex will seek legal means to force him out.
   Hopkins said that she got several calls from residents at the 216-unit apartment complex. Mostly the calls came from single female residents worried about what type of sexual offense of which he was convicted.
   "They all asked if we were going to do something," Hopkins said. "At that point I didn't know because I hadn't seen his application. I couldn't violate his rights and tell him he had to go. They have left him with no choices. Who's going to want him to live next door? They've ostracized him from society."
   Bañales said he would have to hear the facts of the case in court before taking any possible action on Gutierrez's case.
   "I'm saddened, but I'll just have to wait and see what happens," Bañales said. "If someone comes up with a particular problem, it can be addressed (through a hearing)."
   'We were worried'
   Gerald Rogen, president of the Corpus Christi Criminal Defense Lawyers' Organization, said he plans to fight Bañales' order in court.
   "This was one of the things we were worried about when this decision came out," said Rogen, who along with a group of local attorneys is planning a legal challenge to the order.
   "For the good of the community we ask Judge Bañales to immediately rescind his order until a higher court can review the constitutionality of this modification of probation."
   Bañales has said he made the order, which resulted from meetings with probation officials, as a way to protect the community and rehabilitate the sex offenders.
   Community needs
   The importance of the signs to the community, he has said, overrides the sign's impact on offenders' family members.
   But the signs are vague, said one of Gutierrez's neighbors, who doesn't know him.
   "I became aware of it from my husband," Patricia Jimenez said.
   "I was surprised to see it. I don't have any children, so I'm not too concerned, but we don't know what the offense was, if it was with a minor or what. I'm just not sure if they should put it up. It doesn't provide enough information."


Contact Jeremy Schwartz at _886-3779 or schwartzj@caller.com

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