Constable Victor Trevino to stand trial in May

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A year and a half after his indictment, Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino will stand trial on four counts.

Thirteen months after he was indicted, a judge finally set a trial date for Trevino on Ma 9y. By the time he's tried, he will have served as an indicted lawman for a year and a half. Trevino was charged with four crimes by a Harris County Grand Jury in November 2012:

• Two counts of Tampering with a Governmental Record -- The Grand Jury alleged Trevino twice failed to report campaign donations on state forms.
• One count of Abuse of Official Capacity -- The Grand Jury alleged Trevino used on-duty Deputy Constables and county owned vehicles to serve vacate notices to tenants in private rental homes and apartments. That's not a required duty for constables.
• One count of Misapplication of Fiduciary Property -- The Grand Jury alleged Trevino misused money donated to his CARE charity. A 13 Undercover investigation questioned Trevino's use of the money from the charity a year before the indictments.

Though he may be under indictment and facing a spring trial date, he is, and always has been, a pretty good politician.

First in Spanish and later in English, the lawman -- who's accused of breaking the law -- wished his supporters a Merry Christmas and thanked them for their support in this "difficult time."

But then he turned his attention to the his portrayal in the media.

"I think the issue with the media, it's more important for you to have good ratings" he said.

Trevino says he's looking forward to his day in court to clear his name and clear up what he called a media distortion of his conduct.

"Sometimes we give the media everything and then they take it and they go with whatever distortion they want," Trevino said.

"Let's clear up the distortion," we said.

"No it will come out in court," he replied.

Trevino's trial in May will be on just one of the four counts he's facing. A jury will be asked to decide if he improperly spent money donated to his charity.

13 Undercover first dove into Trevino's charity in 2011, a year before he was indicted, raising questions about how Trevino reported donations and spent money given to his charity.

At the time, the constable said he was reviewing the issues and folded the charity a year later.

On Tuesday, he looked to the trial to set it all straight.

"When the information comes out, the public will see my innocence as compared to what's been portrayed," Trevino said.

Trevino said his office is more open and transparent than ever before, that despite a June letter from the DA's office questioning his response to open records requests.

Trevino said the county attorney reviews discipline and new policies, and he's even working closely with the district attorney.

"We work very closely with the district attorney's office, making sure anything that's questionable is run by the district attorney's office," Trevino said.

The DA's office says they only review normal criminal cases brought by Trevino's office; there are no special reviews.

It was all part of the Trevino show on Tuesday. It was the first time the indicted constable's talked to us in months, reminding us he's not done anything wrong, it's the media's fault but you just have to wait another six months to hear a jury say so.

"The only resolution is the trial where the public can see everything. We're looking forward to that," Trevino said.

After the May trial on the charity count, prosecutors will decide what to do with the campaign finance reporting and abuse of official capacity charges.