(This story was updated to add new information.)
The trial of a former Uvalde officer charged with failing to respond to the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School will continue, with a request for a mistrial denied.
The trial of Adrian Gonzales, a former police officer for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, is taking place in Corpus Christi. Gonzales faces 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child, according to court documents.
Gonzales is one of two former police officers, including former Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo, facing criminal charges for their role in the law enforcement response to the shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers on May 24, 2022.
The defense requested a mistrial due to concerns that a witness’ testimony on Jan. 6 had changed since the initial investigation. Judge Sid Harle denied a request for a mistrial during a hearing on Jan. 7.
On Jan. 6, witness Stephanie Hale, a teacher at Robb Elementary School, testified that on the day of the shooting, she and her students were on the playground when gunshots were heard. Hale testified that she saw the shooter while running with her students to get back to the classroom, and she gave details that were not included in her earlier statements to Texas Rangers related to the location of the shooter.
Defense attorney Jason Goss said the defense team was not aware of this and accused the prosecution of a “trial by ambush.” The judge halted witness testimony until Jan. 8.
On the afternoon of Jan. 7, the judge and lawyers reconvened to discuss the matter outside of the presence of the jury.
The defense asked for a mistrial, which Harle denied.
Harle said that he does not believe the prosecution intentionally withheld information, instead citing negligence. Harle also said that he does not believe the new details of the testimony resonated with the jury enough to impact the defense strategy.
The defense and prosecution teams were given the opportunity to discuss other potential remedies. The judge stated he was ready to strike the relevant testimony from the record, which would entail asking the jury to disregard the information in their decisions.
The prosecution agreed they believed striking the testimony from the record was sufficient, but the defense wanted to wait to decide on whether to strike the testimony, referencing an interest in reserving the right to later argue that the mistrial was wrongfully denied.
The trial will reconvene with the jury at 9 a.m. Jan. 8, with Hale returning to continue her testimony.
Speaking to the press outside the Nueces County Courthouse on Jan. 7, Gonzales’ defense team said that the intention is for the jury to hear the witness’ original statements to law enforcement.
Judge instructs jury to disregard Stephanie Hale’s testimony
On the morning of Jan. 8, Harle instructed the jury to disregard Hale’s entire testimony, characterizing it as “critical” to the defense’s strategy. Excluding the testimony was necessary to protect due process rights, he said before the jury returned.
Harle brought the witness back into the courtroom to address her directly and shared a personal experience of a traffic crash and how stress and trauma impacts memory. Harle thanked the witness for her bravery.
“I want to emphasize to you, you did absolutely nothing wrong,” he said to Hale regarding the testimony being excluded. “It is not on you.”
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: After pause in testimony, judge denies mistrial for Uvalde officer
Reporting by Olivia Garrett, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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