Case Explained: Law enforcement orgs call for change in DA’s office after allegations of hidden evidence – Legal Perspective

AUSTIN, Texas — Calls for change at the Travis County District Attorney’s Office are mounting as fallout continues over allegations that the office hid evidence in a felony case against an Austin police officer.

Austin Police Officer Chance Bretches is set to stand trial this summer for charges of aggravated assault by a public servant.

The charges stem from 2020 protests in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. Bretches is accused of injuring protestors.

Last week, Bretches’ attorney, Doug O’Connell, told CBS Austin he believes District Attorney Jose Garza hid evidence, alleging prosecutors held “secret meetings” with the city. He filed multiple motions to dismiss the case.

Governor Greg Abbott took to social media over the weekend to comment on the allegations.

“This DA’s failure to prosecute murderers & repeatedly letting dangerous criminals go free, while prioritizing prosecuting police, will have consequences,” Abbott wrote on X.

Garza’s office plans to proceed with a June trial.

“We are not going to litigate this case in the press. Justice delayed is justice denied. It is time for the community to weigh in on whether they believe that the defendant’s actions violated the law,” a public information officer for the Travis County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a statement in response to the allegations last week.

Law enforcement supporters and unions are calling for the district attorney to make changes, with some calling for his resignation.

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“Our officers deserve fairness, not political prosecution. They deserve the same presumption of good faith we ask them to extend to the public every day,” Michael Bullock, the president of the Austin Police Association, wrote on X last week following the statement from the district attorney’s office.

Jennifer Stevens, incoming board president for the Central Texas Public Safety Commission, said the allegations add to already existing mistrust in the DA’s office among law enforcement.

“Our police officers, when they arrest a criminal, they are arresting someone who has broken the law, and all they’re looking for out of the district attorney is for them to do their job, which is to prosecute the crime,” Stevens said. “But yet here we see him going aggressively in an effort to try to seek a conviction against a law enforcement official. I find it to be incredibly concerning.”

Garza, now in his second term as the Travis County District Attorney, ran on a progressive, criminal justice reform agenda. His office has indicted over 20 Austin police officers during his tenure.

His policies have led to tensions with law enforcement despite recent public statements suggesting Garza and APD leadership were working to build a better relationship.

CBS Austin reached out to the Austin Police Department and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office on Monday for a response to the backlash over the allegations. As of Monday evening, it has not heard back.