The Austin Police Retired Officers Association has formally called for Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza to resign, joining other law enforcement groups in accusing his office of misconduct, political coordination, and withholding evidence in a case against a police officer charged during the 2020 George Floyd protests.
Attorneys for Austin Police Department officer Chance Bretches filed a motion to dismiss the aggravated assault case, alleging prosecutors violated his constitutional rights by failing to disclose communications with Austin officials about possibly holding the city criminally responsible for defective “less-lethal” beanbag rounds used in crowd control.
The motion cites two sworn declarations. One from a former city manager describes multiple meetings in 2023 with Garza and prosecutors to discuss charges against the city. Another from a former council member references internal communications about the same possibility.
Bretches’ attorney Doug O’Connell said the undisclosed information amounted to exculpatory evidence under Brady v. Maryland and the Michael Morton Act.
“Prosecutors can hold meetings with anybody, there’s nothing illegal about that,” O’Connell said, per Fox News. “The problem in this case is the district attorney felt he had enough evidence to indict the city as a corporate entity, which would make the city an alternative suspect or an unindicted co-defendant.”
O’Connell added, “If you follow that logic, then the basis of his indictment of the city, which never materialized, is, in fact, Brady. Even if he thought he had enough evidence and later determined he didn’t, it’s still Brady. It’s a violation of the Michael Morton Act, a violation of the court’s order, and the defendant’s constitutional rights.”
He further stated that “It’s clear they didn’t turn over the evidence of why they felt they could indict the city and the city was legitimately scared about this enough that the city went out and hired their own criminal defense attorney. So one of two things is true, either he had the evidence and he didn’t produce it to us, or he didn’t have any basis to indict the city, and he was just threatening them, and that would be official oppression anyway.”
The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) and the Austin Police Retired Officers Association responded by demanding Garza’s resignation. Retired officer Dennis Farris told Fox the call marked a breaking point.
“It’s kind of the final straw, everything that’s been going on with the continuing political prosecutions of Austin police officers who are out simply doing their job and doing the job the way that we’re trained to do their job,” Farris said.
He added, “His focus has been on the cops and now we’re finding out that he did some shady stuff and it’s time for him to go.”
Garza, who won office after a campaign backed by left-wing megadonor George Soros that promised aggressive prosecution of police, has indicted more than 20 Austin officers for actions during the riots. Only one conviction resulted, and it was later overturned. CLEAT Executive Director Robert Leonard said the alleged actions crossed a fundamental line.
“There can be no worse violation of the oath taken by a District Attorney than to intentionally deny a defendant a fair trial,” Leonard said. “It is a direct violation of their Constitutional rights.”
O’Connell also filed a motion for a court of inquiry, asking a district judge to investigate possible crimes, including official oppression and tampering with evidence.
Garza’s office declined to address the allegations in detail.
“We are not going to litigate this case in the press,” the statement said, per Fox. “We remain ready to try this case and expect to start the trial in June as previously agreed with the defense. Justice delayed is justice denied, and four years is too long to wait. It is time for the community to weigh in on whether they believe that the defendant’s actions violated the law.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott weighed in on social media, stating, “All of this will be taken into consideration when I have the final say on the fate of the police officer. This DA’s failure to prosecute murderers & repeatedly letting dangerous criminals go free, while prioritizing prosecuting police, will have consequences.”
