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2d ago

Uvalde Officer Adrian Gonzales’ Trial Moved to Corpus Christi for Jan. 5 Start

Arredondo’s prosecution remains paused because Border Patrol has barred agents from testifying in state court.

FILE - Flowers and candles are placed around crosses on May 28, 2022, at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, to honor the victims killed in the school shooting. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
James Alvarado, left, holds signs that say “Your failure! not mine!” and “Remember their names” as Adrian Gonzales, flanked by two defense lawyers, walks toward the Uvalde County Courthouse for a hearing. Gonzales, a former Uvalde school police officer, is charged with child abandonment in connection with the police response to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting.     on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Gonzales and former UCISD police Chief Pete Arredondo were indicted by a Uvalde grand jury in late June following an investigation into the shooting.
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Adrian Gonzales, center, leaves the Uvalde County Courthouse as Cristine Olivarez, whose daughter survived the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, walks behind him on July 25, 2024. Gonzales, a former Uvalde school police officer, is charged with child abandonment in connection with the police response to the 2022 Robb Elementary shooting.

Overview

  • Judge Sid Harle confirmed an agreement to shift Gonzales’ case to Nueces County, though a formal venue order had not been signed as of Tuesday.
  • Gonzales faces 29 counts of child endangerment or abandonment tied to his response at Robb Elementary and has pleaded not guilty; an Oct. 14 pretrial hearing was canceled with trial planning underway.
  • Former school police chief Pete Arredondo faces 10 counts in a separate case that is on hold as local prosecutors seek federal court help to compel testimony from three U.S. Border Patrol agents.
  • CBP has refused to allow its agents to testify before the grand jury or at trial, according to court filings, and both prosecution and defense say the agents’ accounts are important to Arredondo’s case.
  • Gonzales and Arredondo are the only officers charged from a response that involved nearly 400 personnel, and investigations documented roughly a 77-minute delay before police breached the classroom where the gunman was located.