Uvalde school shooting trial: Judge denies mistrial motion after 'discrepancies' in teacher's testimony
Uvalde trial: Judge denies mistrial motion | FULL
A judge presiding over the trial of a former school police officer charged after the deadly 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, denied a motion by his attorneys Wednesday for a mistrial.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A judge presiding over the trial of a former school police officer charged after the deadly 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, denied a motion by his attorneys Wednesday for a mistrial.
Gonzales is one of two officers charged in connection with the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 students and two teachers.
Gonzales has been charged with 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment after prosecutors said he failed to act during the massacre.
Mistrial motion denied
Adrian Gonzales
The latest:
The motion came after attorneys for former police Officer Adrian Gonzales flagged "discrepancies" in the testimony of a former Uvalde elementary school teacher who testified during the first day of the trial.
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Uvalde school shooting trial closes for day; set to resume Thursday
Opening statements are set to begin Tuesday morning in the trial of a former school district police officer charged for his role in the delayed law enforcement response to the 2022 massacre at Robb Elementary School.
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On Wednesday, some of the most compelling testimony was when a former third-grade teacher, Stephanie Hale, walked the jury through the day of the shooting.
"I yelled to the kids to let us into the classroom, the 2nd grade teachers opened their doors to let us in, and I went to the first classroom and I stood outside the door to make sure everybody had gotten off the playground," said Hale.
Hale testified that she saw the shooter in the south area of the campus, the same area where Gonzales was, which could add to the prosecution's arguments that Gonzales was there but did not take action.
Uvalde school shooting trial: Prosecution presents case
The criminal trial for Adrian Gonzales' role in the deadly massacre at Robb Elementary in 2022 took an unexpected turn. Prosecutors began presenting their case on Jan. 7.
The defense says that Hale's testimony is different from what she previously said to a Texas Ranger.
"It is of a matter of such importance because it has placed the gunman on the southside. It's the same place where my client was, where he responded to and where he went to and so if this witness, I understand witnesses testify, they remember things differently, but when the prosecution hears something the witnesses remembered differently than anything we’ve heard, it's their obligation to provide that to us," said Goss.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Robb Elementary teacher testifies during trial | FULL
A third grade teacher at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas testifies during the trial for Adrian Gonzales, a former police officer who is accused of abandoning and endangering children.
On Wednesday afternoon, the judge asked for remedies to proceed forward.
The defense asked for a mistrial and says it impacts its strategy. The judge found it was not an intentional act but rather negligent and denied the motion.
The defense is now requesting Hale's interview with the Rangers be played to the jury, then the judge will make the decision to exclude the testimony or not.
The trial was moved to Corpus Christi after defense attorneys argued that Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde.
What happens now?
What's next:
Upon returning from recess, both sides came back having agreed they don't want the teacher's testimony excluded just yet.
The defense asked that they retain the right to exclusion, but still allow the teacher to return for cross-examination Thursday morning. They said they wanted to keep the options open in case the teacher's testimony was beneficial to their side.
The judge repeated that he was ready to exclude the testimony immediately, but both sides declined.
The trial is set to resume at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8.
The Source: Information in this story came from previous reporting by FOX Local.