CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — A Texas judge on Jan. 7 rejected a motion for a mistrial in the case of a former school police officer accused of failing to protect children during the Uvalde school shooting in 2022.
Judge Sid Harle denied the mistrial request by defense lawyers for Adrian Gonzales, a former officer for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, during a hearing on Jan. 7. Gonzales' lawyers sought a mistrial due to concerns that a witness' testimony on Jan. 6 had new details not previously shared with the defense.
Gonzales' lawyers argued that this violated the laws that the prosecution share evidence with the defense. Harle said inclusion of the testimony appeared to have been inadvertent, and that the trial would resume with the jury at 9 a.m. local time on Jan. 8.
Speaking to reporters outside the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi on Jan. 7, Gonzales' defense team said the intention is for the jury to hear the witness' original statements to law enforcement. The witness, Stephanie Hale, who was a third-grade teacher at the school, will return on Jan. 8 to continue her testimony.
Gonzales, 52, was charged in 2024 with 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child and has pleaded not guilty, according to court documents. An indictment accused Gonzales of failing to confront the shooter, who killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022.
