Under Jose Garza, a 735% Increase in Released Felons

Under District Attorney Jose Garza, criminal charges are now being rejected in many cases and some suspects are being released before they ever see a judge in Travis County.

Local news channel KVUE Defenders analyzed hundreds of cases thrown out between March 1 and June 30 of this year. Some of the more serious rejected felony charges include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault of a pregnant woman, aggravated robbery, and more.

During the four months analyzed, Jose Garza rejected 142 felony cases – a 735% increase from the same timeframe in 2020.

If a case is rejected during the new “early case review” process, many times a suspect never makes it before a magistrate judge. About 64% of the rejected felony cases reviewed by the Defenders were rejected as part of that process, meaning they were never presented to a judge.

Local news asked DA Jose Garza if there’s any reason to believe the new policy is making the community less safe. Choosing not to prosecute cases is drawing criticism from some in Texas law enforcement.

"When you raise your hand and take that oath, it's to the Constitution and you don't get to decide blanket-style that you're going to prosecute certain kinds of cases. That's not within your purview," said Charley Wilkison, executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), the union that represents officers across the state.

County Attorney Delia Garza’s office handles misdemeanors and is rejecting them by the hundreds. Records obtained by the Defenders show prosecutors in her office threw out 543 cases from March through June.

About 37% or 202 of the 543 rejected misdemeanor cases were not presented to a judge, as part of the new early case review policy. The policy started March 1 for misdemeanor offenses.

Misdemeanor rejections overall jumped 132% from 2020 and 296% over 2019.

Some of the rejected misdemeanors are family assaults, which the county attorney’s office said are extremely complicated to prosecute, especially when victims fear testifying and being re-traumatized.

"A case that is rejected for a survivor could be chilling," said Heather Bellino, CEO of the Texas Advocacy Project.

Bellino expressed concern that cases not presented to a judge could make survivors less safe because a judge can sign an emergency protective order during a hearing to keep the abuser away from the victim. But that may never happen if the case doesn’t go before a judge.

"Right after the time of arrest can be the most lethal time for a victim," she said.

Wilkison is concerned that it will go wrong and will allow lower-level crimes to slip through the cracks.

"You can't have the district attorney [Jose Garza] enter into an office by saying … 'We're going to do this with the law.' It's not allowed and it's not appropriate," Wilkison said. "[Police are] not going to take you anywhere without probable cause. If they haven't established that threshold in the law, then you're not going to be arrested. You may be investigated, you could be detained, but you're not going to jail.”

Local news asked for details on 15 felony cases that were rejected, but so far DA Jose Garza’s office has only provided any specifics on a single case, raising questions about transparency.

Assistant District Attorney Resigns from Jose Garza’s Office After Being Asked to Delete Evidence

Friday, July 2nd, 2021

Assistant District Attorney for Travis County, Ariane Flores, resigned today by way of a Brady Notice submitted to the State of Texas. A Brady Notice relates to “exculpatory or impeaching information and evidence that is material to the guilt or innocence or to the punishment of a defendant”.

At issue is a demand by Jose Garza’s office for the Assistant DA to delete evidence. The case involves a defendant who was charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in June. During meetings to discuss the case, the Assistant DA notes that Garza’s office demanded that she “delete emails and work product notes on this case between myself and Victim Witness Counselor.” After she fought the request to destroy evidence, Garza’s second-in-command First Assistant Trudy Strassburger stepped in to again demand the evidence be destroyed.

After again pushing back against deleting evidence, Garza’s office placed further pressure on her, including a credible threat, at which point the Assistant DA alleges she felt she had no choice but to resign.

Others working in the DA’s office have anonymously shared that, since Garza’s election, a “culture of fear” has developed against speaking out about these changes. We will be keeping a close eye on the story and have opened an anonymous tip line below to report other corrupt activities.

A String of Recent Controversies

The resignation comes at a time when Jose Garza has been under increasing scrutiny over his office’s early release of dozens of violent criminals. This month, two individuals who were suspects in the 6th street mass shooting were released from jail without any charges, despite camera footage showing the suspects holding guns during the shooting. The family of 6th street mass shooting victim, Douglas Kantor, released a statement saying they now have ‘no faith’ in Garza to conduct a fair investigation. The victim’s brother added: “what I took away from the press conference was that they are not prosecuting violent criminals anymore.”

Dozens of other violent suspects have been released early as the DA has applied a new approach to convictions that may be contributing to a surge in violent and property crime across Austin. According to CBS Austin’s interview with Dennis Farris with the Austin Police Retired Officers Association, now “criminals understand that they not being held accountable”.

Joshua Hardesty, for example, was murdered in 2018 in North Austin by Issac Thomas. Thomas was arrested for another murder that same year. In June 2021 the victim’s father says he learned that Garza’s office is giving the killer a plea deal that could make him eligible for parole.

Austin Attorney and former State and Federal Prosecutor Doug O'Connell demanded answers to another internal corruption scandal at the DA’s office on July 1st, publicly challenging Garza: “Did your team direct the APD Homicide Detective to not discuss or raise exculpatory evidence? Did your team demand that the Detective eliminate slides from his power point presentation?”

Opinion:

Compounding the challenge: In addition, the district and county attorneys Jose Garza and Delia Garza now have policies strongly biased against prosecuting and seeking punishment for offenders in fatality, DWI, and property crime cases, the opposite of their policy regarding police prosecution. The DA’s office now selects and presents evidence to grand juries in ways calculated to produce indictments against law enforcement officers. This past Monday, the DA reluctantly dropped its zealous prosecution of an Austin cop because “…an assistant district attorney who initially handled the case failed to disclose favorable evidence to his defense and to colleagues.” In other words, just too many facts got in the way of their inquisition. Hence the mass exodus from APD of experienced, excellent officers who simply do not want to put their pensions at risk, and more importantly, do not want to be subject to abuse by the “progressive” anti-cop legal system resulting in enormous legal bills or prison. For the same reasons, excellent candidates for law enforcement are applying to other departments. (While he’s not up until 2024, we can avoid enablers like District 8 Austin City Councillor Paige Ellis).

Read More:

Austin Star Police Detective Accuses DA Jose Garza's Office of Criminal Witness Tampering in High-Profile Case

Texas Rangers May Be Investigating Witness Tampering Allegation Against Travis County's DA in Austin Protest Shooting Case

Far-Left District Attorney Accused of Suppressing Exculpatory Evidence of Army Sergeant “If true, that is a crime.” Florida.

Austin City Councillors enabling Jose Garza by defunding police include Paige Ellis and Natasha Harper-Madison. You can also read about District 1 City Councillor Natasha Harper-Madison on the Election Page of a 3rd party website.