13 Investigates ties cases to officer in racist rant, DA files notices
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- After 13 Investigates shared a list of cases linked to the former Houston police officer who posted racist videos on social media, the Harris County District Attorney's Office is now issuing Brady notices in those cases.
In April, then-Houston Police Department officer Ashley Gonzalez posted a two-minute, expletive-laced rant that went viral and led to her indefinite suspension from the department. Gonzalez is appealing that decision.
Still, many wondered after watching the videos whether Gonzalez exhibited bias in the cases she worked on.
In April, the DA's Office said it would begin a "thorough, analytical process of reviewing every case" involving Gonzalez, citing its ethical obligation to issue Brady notices.
But when 13 Investigates asked the DA's office about it on May 27, they told us there weren't any pending or adjudicated criminal cases linked to Gonzalez, so they weren't issuing any notices.
13 Investigates wanted to know how that was possible, since she had been on the force for 2 years.
Defense attorney Joe Vinas, who we spoke with earlier this month, said he wondered the same thing.
"They're saying there's nothing, which just doesn't sound right," Vinas, former president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, said.
13 Investigates began digging into the cases after the DA's Office told us Gonzalez wasn't linked to any cases, and we found dozens of cases Gonzalez was associated with.
13 Investigates sent a list of 10 of those cases to the DA's Office on June 8.
A spokeswoman at the DA's Office confirmed to us Monday that after we sent over that list, they searched again and found cases, leading to the Brady notices they sent out.
The DA's Office said it has now issued 75 Brady notices in pending cases tied to Ashley Gonzalez and that it intends to issue about 100 more this week in cases that have been resolved.
A Brady notice being filed in a case doesn't mean that there were any issues. It just flags attorneys so they can review the facts of the case and ensure anything out of the ordinary is accounted for, so their client can have a fair trial.
13 Investigates asked the DA's Office why they couldn't originally find any of Gonzalez's cases. They told us on Monday that it came down to a technicality related to an error in the search results for her name.
A spokeswoman said they've never seen that happen before and are working with IT to figure out why.
