What to expect in trial for Uvalde officer set to begin next week

UVALDE, Texas - For the families of those murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, next week will reopen wounds that never fully healed.

And due to the highly public nature of the case, defense lawyers have their work cut out for them.

Uvalde shooting response trial

For more than three years, there have been reports, investigations, and federal findings of systemic failure. Now, for the first time, there's a trial.

Jury selection starts on Monday for former Uvalde school police officer Adrian Gonzales, one of the first officers on scene that day.

He faces 29 felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child, and has pleaded not guilty.

Gonzales' lawyers successfully argued for a change of venue, so a judge moved the proceedings to a Nueces County court in Corpus Christi, more than 200 miles away.

A pool of 450 potential jurors have been called up — far more than the 65 or so in a similar felony case.

Attorney theorizes on trial trajectory

What they're saying:

George Milner is a former prosecutor himself, now a criminal defense lawyer. He's not affiliated with the Uvalde cases.

"I mean, it's going to be difficult. I don't know that moving it to Nueces County is going to resolve any of these problems," said Milner.

He suspects the defense strategy may zero in on individual decisions, not the collective response of more than 400 members of law enforcement who waited over an hour before taking out and killing the suspect.

"They may be able to say it would not have made any difference. I mean, we don't know the timing of everything that happened. They'll know some of that," Milner said.

Families of victims prepare for trial

Local perspective:

Jackie Cazarez was 9 years old when a gunman took her life inside Robb Elementary alongside 18 of her classmates and two teachers on May 24, 2022.

Her uncle, Jesse Rizo, told FOX Local that what comes next will force them to relive the darkest moments of their lives.

"We know we’re going to hear a lot of detail that we probably haven’t heard before. Intimate things that happened and what they saw in the hallway, in the classroom," said Rizo.

Rizo says he and his family intend to do everything they can to get justice for Jackie. 

"It’s right there at our doorstep. So what do we do now? Do we fold? Do we bend? Or what to do, right? And we will finish it to the very end," Rizo said.

Second Uvalde shooting response trial

Dig deeper:

A second case, involving former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo, is still pending.

He was indicted on 10 counts of child endangerment, with no trial date set.

What's next:

For Jackie’s family, and all the others, meantime, the courtroom can’t give them back what they lost, but they're ready to see justice prevail — whatever that looks like.

"In the court of public opinion, he will always be a failure. He will always be found guilty," Rizo said.

The trial is expected to last several weeks.

FOX Local spoke with a second family Friday as well. They say they intend to make the trip and be present for most of the proceedings.