Aaron Montes
The El Paso County District Attorney's Office filed an assault charge Friday afternoon against Northeast city Rep. Samuel Morgan.
The charge came more than a month after Morgan's Oct. 4 arrest by El Paso police on a domestic violence charge after he allegedly struck his wife on the face during a verbal dispute. The case was filed in County Court-at-Law No. 1.
Morgan, 54, is charged with one count of assault causes bodily injury to a family member, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a possible sentence of up to one year in county jail and a fine up to $4,000.
He has been out on a $3,000 surety bond since his arrest.
Morgan's attorney Leonard Morales told the El Paso Times on Friday he and his client would "be responding to the allegations and following through with the legal process."
According to the arrest warrant affidavit filed Friday along with the charging document, Morgan and his wife were inside an upstairs bedroom of their home in the early morning hours of Oct. 4 when police arrived in reference to a verbal argument.
When his wife left the room, officers observed her to "be terrified and crying hysterically," the affidavit states. She told police in a recorded video statement that Morgan had been drinking, became upset and struck her with "a right, open hand." She told police she "felt pain" and police observed she "had redness and swelling to the left side of her face," according to the affidavit.
Morgan exited the bedroom only after police repeatedly asked him to come out and police saw a handgun tucked into his waistband. Previously, police noted they "heard the racking of an unknown firearm" coming from the room.
Morgan cannot be within 200 yards of his wife or their home, per a protective order issued by an El Paso County court after his arrest. His wife filed for divorce Oct. 10, according to county court records.
Despite calls to resign from constituents as well as members of the El Paso legislative delegation, Morgan said at an Oct. 29 City Council meeting that "no one can understand what I am going through" and that he loved his family.
Mayor Dee Margo and city attorney Karla Nieman said the council cannot act on the allegations against Morgan unless he is convicted of the misdemeanor charge.
An effort by Reps. Alexsandra Annello and Cassandra Hernandez to publicly condemn the allegations against Morgan was delayed when other city representatives wanted to wait to see how his case plays out.
The council, however, replaced Morgan as the alternate pro tempore on Oct 29. It's a role that allowed Morgan to chair the council in the absence of the mayor and mayor pro tempore Claudia Ordaz Perez.