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All court dates in the trial of John Allen Rubio were suspended temporarily. The U.S. 13th Court of Appeals granted a stay on Monday.
           
"It will last until the 13th Court of Appeals disposes of it, which will be quickly,” Action 4 News Legal Analyst John Blaylock said. “But it will delay the trial just a little bit."

He added that the stay, the legal term for stopping the court proceedings, stemmed from a dispute between the defense and state attorneys over Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos.        

"All their asking is to disqualify the DA's office apparently because he won’t plea bargain and that just a ridiculous thing to be asking," Blaylock said.

According to court document obtained by Action 4 News, the defense attorneys for John Allen Rubio issued a subpoena for Villalobos to testify in court.

The state then filed a motion to quash, or overturn, the subpoena. But that motion was denied and Villalobos was ordered to testify in court.

The prosecution then filed a writ of mandamus, taking things up to the 13th Court of Appeals. That higher court ordered all proceeding to stop temporarily.

"The defense in a death penalty case has a very difficult job of making sure that they do everything possible to save the life of their client. That's their job," Blaylock said.

To simplify it, Blaylock added that Rubio's attorneys are basically trying to cover all their bases.

But with the trial now possibly dragging on a bit longer, taxpayers will have to pay for this process.

"There's a cost for that, operational costs to the taxpayers but it's not that significant,” he summarized. “In the scheme of things compared to the overall numbers in this case, this is going to be a drop in the bucket.”