ATX PULSE 2/19/25 (free) (sponsored by TX Flyover): Bombshell: Travis County DA Office Missed Indictment Deadlines, Murder Suspects Released // Multi Day Artic Blast Hits ATX // City Opens Warming Centers // Austin Pets Alive! Seeks Fosters Through Sunday // Convicted Felon, Tren de Aragua Member Arrested in ATX by ICE // Liberty Hill ISD Adopts 4 Day School Week // Austin Startup Saronic Raises $600M at $4B Valuation

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2025

Compiled by Matt Mackowiak

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TODAY’S WEATHER

H: 35° / L: 23°. Cold front is here, per Fox 7 Austin. Sub-freezing wind chills expected all day, per KXAN.

TOP NEWS

“EXCLUSIVE: Travis County prosecutors missed indictment deadlines, murder suspects released,” Austin American-Statesman’s Tony Plohetski — “Using forensics, security video and eyewitnesses, Austin Police Department investigators spent 18 months building a case against a man suspected of killing someone during a botched drug deal before they finally arrested him in May.

A judge set Juan Antonio Ramirez's bail at $1 million. But several months later, Ramirez paid just $1 to get out of jail after the Travis County district attorney's office failed to meet a deadline that requires prosecutors to indict within three months when a suspect remains behind bars.

It marked the first of two instances in the past nine weeks in which a Travis County felony court judge dramatically decreased a murder defendant’s bond – what multiple judges say is a legally required move to facilitate their release – after the district attorney’s office missed a deadline for an indictment.

The second instance sparked a social media furor over the weekend, with Gov. Greg Abbott posting on X that the release of a suspected killer puts the public at risk and that “those responsible for this release should be held legally liable if anyone is harmed by this criminal.”

Neither defendant has reoffended while out of jail. In both cases, the judge imposed multiple conditions, including GPS tracking.

But the cases raise questions about the oversight of the most serious offenses by prosecutors in District Attorney José Garza’s office. 

Under state law, a person in jail on a felony charge “must be released either on personal bond or by reducing the amount of bail required” if the state has not brought an indictment in 90 days. A 2021 opinion by the state Court of Criminal Appeals said a judge must lower the bail to an amount “that the record reflects the accused can make.”

Veteran defense attorneys and judges say the back-to-back instances in which suspected violent offenders were released because of a missed indictment deadline are rare. However, several judges told the American-Statesman that since Garza’s administration began in 2021, attorneys have more frequently sought their clients’ release after prosecutors failed to indict within three months.

Neither the Travis County Office of Court Administration nor the Travis County district clerk’s office tracks how often a defendant is released for that reason.

Garza did not address the missed deadlines in a statement. However, he said prosecutors will argue at a hearing Wednesday morning that a judge overseeing one of the cases raise the defendant's bond now that he has been indicted.

Several of the county’s nine felony district judges, all Democrats, said they are left with no option when an attorney seeks their client’s jail release because prosecutors failed to obtain an indictment by deadline. Judges also are not tracking the frequency of instances court by court.

State District Judge Tamara Needles said “this just didn't happen” when she was a defense attorney before taking the bench in 2017.

“I do think I am seeing it more,” she said.

Fearing potential public blowback if a violent suspect reoffends after being freed, Needles said she always documents the reason for the release on bond paperwork.

State District Judge Selena Alvarenga said she estimates that attorneys bring several motions a month for their client to be released after prosecutors did not indict their case within 90 days.

"I am seeing them,” she said. “I don’t know that I am seeing an increase (since she took office in 2021, when Garza’s term also began). They are pretty high as it is – more than I would like."

State District Judge Karen Sage, who took office in 2014, said the number of instances in which she is releasing a defendant on a reduced bond because of a lack of an indictment “has increased substantially” during the Garza administration. 

"The judge, if the 90 days pass, has no discretion under the law,” she said. “We must let them out of jail. Our hands are tied."

State District Judge Dayna Blazey said: “I have definitely seen an increase in the number of defense requests for personal bonds when the state has not indicted a case within 90 days. As a former prosecutor, who was over the grand jury division in previous administrations, this is a disturbing trend that has not typically happened in the past.”

Geoffrey Puryear, a former prosecutor and Travis County felony judge and current defense attorney in Austin and Lubbock, said not bringing an indictment within 90 days has often been considered a breakdown in the prosecutorial process.

“As a prosecutor, that was always the stuff of nightmares – that you would fail to calendar a 90-day deadline in a big case, in a murder or aggravated sexual assault,” he said. “That was always something, as a prosecutor, you wanted to be conscious of.”

He added that during his time on the bench in Austin from 2019 to 2020, “It was something I would see infrequently as a judge.”

The two recent Austin murder cases in which the defendants were freed involved the same judge and defense attorney.

State District Judge Chantal Eldridge, who signed the bond reductions, said in a text message that she believes the Legislature should amend the current law to give judges more discretion “if we make a finding that the defendant poses a threat to an individual or the community at large.”

Eldridge said she was unable to comment further.

In the first instance, Ramirez is charged with shooting a man in an empty apartment that police said he and others were used for drug dealing. A judge in Cameron County, where he was arrested, originally set his bail at $1 million. While he is out on a $1 bond, he must not have contact with the victim’s family.

In the second case, Austin police charged Stephon Morson with murder after detectives said he shot a man who had cooperated with law enforcement authorities investigating other crimes in which his friend was a suspect. Eldridge lowered his bail from $800,000 to $100. He was booked Nov. 6 and released Friday.

Eldridge noted on both bond documentations that she was releasing the defendants because of “17.151 issues” – the number of the statute that sets the deadline for indictments.

Attorney Brian Erskine, who represents both defendants, said prosecutors offered no explanation for the missed indictment deadline and that he believes it was the result of a lack of calendar tracking.

"It is my absolutely ethical obligation,” Erskine said of bringing the requests for his clients’ release. “Once the calendar hits, I have no choice but to file that motion."

Austin attorney Pam Madere, president of the Central Texas Public Safety Commission, a nonprofit that supports first responders, said: “It is not too much to ask the DA to be competent enough to keep up with deadlines and prosecute suspected murderers. The victims of violent crime deserve that. Austin deserves that.”” AAS ($)

TOP NEWS

“Austin Pets Alive! seeks foster homes ahead of cold snap” CBS Austin

THE BLOTTER

“Convicted felon & suspected TdA gang member in country illegally arrested by ICE” Fox 7 Austin

“Austin police looking for suspect in attempted sexual assault on Walnut Creek Trail” KVUE

“Austin warehouse fire leaves building a total loss; 400 customers without power” CBS Austin

“7 people injured in I-35 crash involving semitruck, multiple vehicles” Fox 7 Austin

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

“Austin weather: City prepares for upcoming arctic blast” Fox 7 Austin

“Liberty Hill ISD adopts four-day school week amid budget cuts, layoffs” CBS Austin

BUSINESS NEWS

“Austin drone boat startup Saronic raises $600M at $4B valuation” ABJ ($)

“Site of planned 37-story tower downtown listed for sale” ABJ ($)

“Frontier Airlines announces new routes from ABIA to Miami and Philadelphia” CBS Austin

2025

“1 incumbent, 3 new candidates file for Eanes ISD board election” Community Impact Austin

LOCAL SPORTS

TEXAS BASEBALL: “Texas baseball’s home opener vs. Houston canceled due to weather” KXAN

AUSTIN FC: “‘Really stoked’: La Barbecue, Mighty Cone available to fans for Austin FC season” KXAN

QUICK LINKS

~ Austin group ride-sharing startup secures seed investment led by Mark Cuban - ABJ

~ Multiple injured in crash involving semi truck in north Austin - KXAN

~ Rainey Street transforms into Austin's densest hub from its sleepy, residential roots - ABJ

~ Winning $83.5M Lotto Texas with Extra! ticket purchased in Austin - KVUE

~ Mobility, flood risk improvements: 3 North Austin construction updates - Community Impact Austin

~ ATP opens multibillion-dollar search for Project Connect contractor - Community Impact Austin

~ Equity overlay study draws criticism from Community Development Commission - Austin Monitor

~ Twin Creeks Country Club renovates dining room, bar - Community Impact Austin

~ Appointments open for free pet rabies clinic in Bastrop Feb. 22 - Community Impact Austin

~ Austin Animal Services Office releases fiscal year statistical report and waives adoption fees - Austin Monitor

~ Kyle seeks input on South Goforth Road renaming - Community Impact Austin

~ Apartment complex opens in Southeast Austin with 135 units at below-market rate rents - Austin American-Statesman

~ Commercial EV station moves forward despite opposition - Austin Monitor

~ Should you drip or stream faucets during freezing winter weather in Texas? What to know - Austin American-Statesman

~ Ocean Blue Oyster Bar opens in Kyle - Community Impact Austin

AUSTIN CULTURE

~ COCKTAILS: “The 15 Hottest New Cocktail Destinations in Austin Right Now” Eater Austin

~ WINERIES: “46 Hill Country wineries give free tastings during wildflower season” Culture Map Austin

WHAT TO DO TONIGHT

~ STAY IN and BE WARM.

COOL JOB ALERT

~ City of San Marcos. Downtown Program Coordinator. Salary: $29.96 - $37.45 Hourly. Info / apply here.