Bexar County may create system to manage indigent defense cases, help reduce jail population
FacebookTwitterEmail
District Court Judge Ron Rangel, shown appearing before Bexar County Commissioners Court in April, called creation of a new system to manage indigent defense cases “the next step in criminal justice reform in Bexar County.”Billy Calzada /Staff Photographer
Bexar County commissioners backed a plan Tuesday to create a system that would track and reform indigent defense.
Commissioners supported a proposal to apply for a five-year grant for a managed assigned counsel program, or MAC, to improve the quality of legal representation for indigent defendants. If approved, the Texas Indigent Defense Commission would provide 80 percent of the $1.86 million cost in the first year of the grant program, with the county paying the remaining $372,577. The county’s share of responsibility for the cost would gradually increase each year to the full amount in the fifth year.
Jury selection resumes Friday for in-person trials in Bexar County
500 prospective jurors to be interviewed remotely on Friday, in-person trials to begin Tuesday
Tags:
SAN ANTONIO – After a 13-month delay, in-person jury trials will begin Tuesday in Bexar County.
A moratorium on jury service was ordered 13 months ago due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
In preparation for the trials, the juror qualification process will begin on Friday.
”We’re going to qualify up to 500 people through virtual means,” Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel said Thursday. ”They’re all going to appear on computer screens and I’m going to talk to them through a computer screen. The panelists will be questioned, and concerns and exemptions will be discussed.”
Lawyer: Popular San Antonio cyclist killed by drunken driver was more intoxicated than she was
FacebookTwitterEmail
2of6
Councilman Manny Pelaez said he is frustrated with traffic deaths of cyclists and pedestrians and “didn’t think twice” when the bicycle community asked him to advocate against probation for the drunk driver who killed Tito Bradshaw in 2019./Show MoreShow Less
3of6
Cyclists take a moment of silence at a memorial on Houston Street for Tito Bradshaw on would have been his 36th birthday, Oct. 20, 2020. The “ghost bike” memorial is near the spot where Bradshaw was struck by a drunk driver on April 1, 2019. A dispute over the driver’s possible sentence prompted her lawyer to assert that Bradshaw himself had been “signficantly” more intoxicated than his client that night.Kin Man Hui /Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less
Masks will continue to be required in Bexar County courtrooms despite new CDC guidelines
Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel to follow Texas Supreme Court guidance
Tags:
SAN ANTONIO – Anyone entering a Bexar County courtroom next month when in-person jury trials begin will be required to wear a mask despite new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionthat allows fully vaccinated people to stop wearing them in most indoor settings.
“We are going to continue with the minimum standard protocols that I have already filed,” Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel said Friday.
In addition to wearing masks, social distancing will also be practiced in courtrooms, Rangel said.