{"id":214865,"date":"2026-03-22T00:11:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T00:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214865\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T00:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T00:11:44","slug":"soros-backed-austin-da-faces-resignation-calls-over-alleged-secret-meetings-in-case-against-cop-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214865\/","title":{"rendered":"Soros-backed Austin DA faces resignation calls over alleged \u2018secret meetings\u2019 in case against cop"},"content":{"rendered":"

A criminal case tied to the 2020 Austin, Texas<\/a>, George Floyd riots is erupting into a broader controversy, with prominent law enforcement groups calling for the Soros-backed district attorney to resign over accusations of misconduct, political coordination, and withholding key evidence.<\/p>\n

Attorneys for Austin Police Department officer Chance Bretches\u00a0filed a motion<\/a> in Travis County district court to dismiss the case against him, alleging prosecutors in DA Jose Garza\u2019s office violated the officer\u2019s constitutional rights and compromised the integrity of the case by not disclosing alleged behind-the-scenes communications with Austin officials about potentially holding the city or police leadership criminally responsible for harming injured protesters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bretches is facing charges of aggravated assault by a public servant after being deployed as part of a crowd-control response during the 2020 riot, where officers worked to disperse demonstrators and restore order in downtown Austin. His attorneys argue he relied on department-issued \u201cless-lethal\u201d beanbag rounds that were later called into question, contending the equipment itself was defective and contributed to the injuries at issue.<\/p>\n

The alleged \u201csecret meetings\u201d with Austin officials about the city being responsible for the defective beanbag rounds that caused more harm than they were designed for, Bretches\u2019s attorney says, were something the prosecution was\u00a0\u201crequired to give us\u201d because it showed the belief and possibility the city had \u201ccriminal culpability\u201d in the case.<\/p>\n

TRAVIS COUNTY DA FACES RENEWED \u2018SOFT ON CRIME\u2019 CRITICISM AFTER CAREER CRIMINAL CHARGED WITH MURDER<\/a><\/p>\n

The motion bases its claim of \u201csecret meetings\u201d on two sworn declarations: one from a former Austin city manager, who says he personally met multiple times with Garza and prosecutors in 2023 to discuss potential charges against the city, and another from a former city council member, who says she was aware of internal communications indicating the DA\u2019s office was considering such charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cProsecutors can hold meetings with anybody, there\u2019s nothing illegal about that,\u201d Bretches\u2019 attorney Doug O\u2019Connell told Fox News Digital. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell argues that Garza triggered disclosure obligations under Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you follow that logic, then the basis of his indictment of the city, which never materialized, is, in fact, Brady,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cEven if he thought he had enough evidence and later determined he didn\u2019t, it\u2019s still Brady. It\u2019s a violation of the Michael Morton Act, a violation of the court\u2019s order, and the defendant\u2019s constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

SOROS-BACKED \u2018ANTI-POLICE\u2019 DA SPARKS OUTRAGE AFTER SHOWING UP TO FALLEN OFFICER FUNERAL: \u2018SLAP IN THE FACE\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The Michael Morton Act, a Texas law enacted after a wrongful conviction case, requires prosecutors to turn over most evidence in their possession to the defense, including information that could be favorable to the accused.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell says that the law mandates that \u201cexculpatory mitigating evidence\u201d must be given to the defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear they didn\u2019t 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,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cSo one of two things is true, either he had the evidence and he didn\u2019t produce it to us, or he didn\u2019t have any basis to indict the city, and he was just threatening them, and that would be official oppression anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two of the most recognized police organizations in the area,\u00a0Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) and the Austin Police Retired Officers Association (APROA), reacted to the motion by calling on Garza, who has long been accused of harboring animosity toward police, to resign from his role as the county\u2019s top prosecutor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of the final straw, everything that\u2019s 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\u2019re trained to do their job,\u201d Farris told Fox News Digital about the APROA\u2019s official letter calling for Garza to step down, the first time they have done so despite intense criticism of Garza over the years.<\/p>\n

Garza has faced public blowback from his critics for years over his treatment of police officers and from\u00a0families of crime victims<\/a> who have spoken out against what they view as a lack of willingness to put criminal offenders behind bars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHis focus has been on the cops and now we\u2019re finding out that he did some shady stuff and it\u2019s time for him to go,\u201d Farris said.<\/p>\n

After winning an election following a campaign, backed by liberal megadonor George Soros<\/a>, that pledged to prosecute police officers, Garza indicted over 20 police officers, including\u00a0Bretches, for their role in quelling the Black Lives Matter riot. Garza has attempted to prosecute multiple other officers on deadly force-related charges with only one successful conviction that was later overturned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be no worse violation of the oath taken by a District Attorney than to intentionally deny a defendant a fair trial,\u201d Robert Leonard, CLEAT executive director,\u00a0said about the motion<\/a>. \u201cIt is a direct violation of their Constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, O\u2019Connell\u00a0filed a motion<\/a>\u00a0requesting a court of inquiry calling on a district judge to investigate whether Garza committed a crime through his actions.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell described the move as utilizing an \u201cobscure provision in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure that allows a district court judge to hold a hearing to determine whether the law has been violated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this case, it would be a hearing to determine if the elected DA and top lieutenants committed an offense of official oppression and tampering with evidence by not producing the mitigating or exculpatory evidence in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some in local media have cast doubt<\/a> on the likelihood of the motion being successful, O\u2019Connell says he is optimistic that he will be granted a hearing on his motion, possibly on a previously scheduled court date on April 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Garza\u2019s office for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to litigate this case in the press,\u201d Garza\u2019s office said in a statement this week to local media vowing to carry on with their case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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\u2019s actions violated the law.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A criminal case tied to the 2020 Austin, Texas, George Floyd riots is erupting into a broader controversy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-214865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}