AUSTIN, Texas — A judge presiding over the removal suit of Travis County District Attorney José Garza said in a new document that he is not ready to dismiss the case – despite a request from his own appointed prosecutor that it not go forward.
On Monday, the KVUE Defenders reported that Bell County prosecutor Jim Nichols had filed a 3-page motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Garza, filed by Travis County resident Mary Dupis. In the motion, Nichols said that he investigated claims in the suit and determined that none were grounds for removal.
The allegations included that Garza’s office did not prosecute certain classes of crime, including drug cases, and improperly handled cases against police officers involved in use-of-force investigations.
Nichols said he investigated the assertion that Garza’s office did not prosecute drug cases and determined that office directives about such cases were rescinded and replaced with new directives before the new “rogue prosecutor” law was put in place in September 2023.
Now Judge Dib Waldrip, a Republican from Comal County who appointed Nichols, is asking that Nichols submit sworn testimony or affidavits with “admissible proof” to his motion that he did not find grounds to remove Garza.
Waldrip wrote “due diligence by the court requires an adequate openness or transparency on behalf of the public [and] dictates such consideration be supported by more than a synthesis of information and hearsay.”
Waldrip said he is willing to have a hearing on the matter and asked Nichols to amend his motion to dismiss the case to include “evidentiary support.”