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MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2026 - TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2026

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TOP NEWS

"Secret meetings alleged between Travis County DA and Austin officials in motion to dismiss APD officer protest case" KXAN’s Dalton Huey and Kevin Baskar – Attorneys representing an Austin police officer charged in connection with the city’s 2020 protests are asking a judge to dismiss the case, alleging Travis County prosecutors held secret meetings with city officials and concealed evidence that could have helped his defense.

Attorneys for Officer Chance Bretches filed a motion in Travis County district court arguing that the District Attorney’s Office violated constitutional due process requirements by failing to disclose negotiations with the city of Austin over potential criminal liability tied to police actions during the protests. Doug O’Connell is one of Bretches’ attorneys and called the situation “hugely concerning.”

“If that’s the case, we had an absolute right to be told about it,” O’Connell said. “The district attorney has had three years to produce this evidence, and instead of producing it, he hid it, and that’s absolutely illegal.”

KXAN reached out to the DA’s office about the allegations outlined in the motion to dismiss and will update this story once a response is received.

The motion claims the undisclosed discussions show prosecutors themselves believed the city — not individual officers — may have been criminally responsible for the use of allegedly defective “less-lethal” ammunition during the unrest.

Bretches was indicted in 2022 on two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant related to his use of beanbag rounds during demonstrations outside Austin Police Department headquarters on May 31, 2020. A subsequent indictment in 2024 added additional counts, including deadly conduct and assault.

The officer’s attorneys argue that throughout the case, prosecutors certified they had turned over all required evidence, even though defense lawyers say key information about negotiations with city officials was never disclosed.

“The District Attorney’s Office has once again illegally suppressed exculpatory and mitigating evidence,” the motion states, asking the court to dismiss the indictments with prejudice.

The motion centers on two unsworn declarations from former Austin officials who say private meetings occurred between the district attorney and city leadership in 2023 to discuss possible criminal charges against the city related to the protests.

Former Austin Assistant City Manager Bruce Mills said in a declaration that he met with District Attorney José Garza and members of his office at least three times, beginning in March 2023, to discuss the city’s potential criminal liability for the police response.

According to Mills, Garza indicated during the first meeting that he intended to indict the city over the police department’s actions during the protests.

Mills said the city then retained a criminal defense attorney and entered discussions with prosecutors about how to avoid an indictment. The negotiations included proposals that could have resulted in charges against individual officers being dismissed if the city took some form of accountability for the events, the filing states.

KXAN reached out to Mills for comment, and he said he did not want to comment at this time.

The motion claims the talks ultimately stalled after prosecutors realized the statute of limitations had expired for potential charges against the city.

Defense attorneys argue the existence of those negotiations should have been disclosed because it supported their theory that responsibility for the use of the munitions lay with police leadership or the city, rather than individual officers. O’Connell added that with the now known knowledge of these meetings, he has no idea how that could’ve change how the attorneys defended the case.

“Once we get information, we have a duty to investigate it. To start pulling on threads to do our own investigation,” O’Connell said. “We’ll probably never know the answer to that question because the information wasn’t provided to us.”

Charlie Baird, owner of the Baird Law Firm and a retired Travis County District Court judge, said that under Brady’s Rule, prosecutors must disclose any evidence that could show the defendant is not guilty, undermine the credibility of a state’s witness, or lessen the potential punishment.

“Sometimes the state will say this is work product and work product is not required to be disclosed. And as a general rule, that may be true,” Baird said. “But if the work product produces evidence that is exculpatory or that is impeaching or that would mitigate punishment, then it takes it out of the work product, exception and makes it part of Brady—and so it must be disclosed.”

(KXAN)

"Lines at Austin's airport not caused by government shutdown, Republican and Democratic lawmakers say" via KUT – Early morning lines for TSA screening have again been spilling out the front door and onto the sidewalk at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in recent days. Both major political parties are seizing on the lines as evidence of why the other side should compromise to end a partial government shutdown that began on Valentine's Day.

But there's one thing both sides appear to agree on: The lines at ABIA are not being caused by TSA officers calling out sick as they work without pay — a common occurrence during government shutdowns as federal employees stay home in protest or find other ways to make ends meet.

(KUT)

"Austin wasn’t always expensive. Here’s how it became Texas’ priciest metropolis." Austin American-Statesman's Chaya Tong, Tony Plohetski, Alex Driggars, Karina Kumar – About this series: The Cost of Living will explore how Austin became so expensive, who is being squeezed by the city’s economic boom and what local leaders are — or aren’t — doing to address it.

Robert Thayer packed his keyboard, his cat and everything else he owned into a Ford LTD coupe and drove east from El Paso to Austin in 1988. Like a lot of young musicians at the time, he had heard the same promise: if you wanted to make it in music, Austin was the place to be.

Within a few years, Thayer’s band — Joe Rockhead, fronted by future Austin music fixture Bob Schneider — was one of the city’s most recognizable funk acts. On Wednesday nights at the Black Cat Lounge, crowds paid $4 at the door, and the band packed the room every week.

“We did incredibly well,” he said. “I would walk out of there with $500 in my pocket and a babe on each arm.”

He and his bandmates still considered themselves “starving artists.” But in Austin, starving artists could survive. Thayer lived in an unairconditioned housing co-op in West Campus with a dozen or so roommates.

(Austin American-Statesman)

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