CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Nueces County District Attorney is setting the record straight after some backlash over his new policies in the prosecution of misdemeanors -- specifically when those misdemeanors are tied to more serious crimes, like felonies.
District Attorney Mark Gonzalez said despite some reports to the contrary, misdemeanors are not being dismissed. He said it is just a matter of streamlining the process.
"Every misdemeanor that comes to our office will be processed just the way it is," Gonzalez said.
At issue was a letter sent to all law enforcement in Nueces County last week. It contained a list of 27 misdemeanors ranging from crimes like possession of marijuana to public lewdness or driving with a suspended license -- all serious crimes enforced by the Corpus Christi Police Department and Nueces County Sheriff's Department.
The new procedure involve cases where someone committing these misdemeanor crimes along with a felony. In those cases, the lesser charges might not be prosecuted.
The procedure change caused such an uproar that on Wednesday, Gonzalez decided to clarify the purpose behind the change. He said it's all about making his office more efficient.
"If you commit a misdemeanor out there in the public, you will be held accountable. That's always going to happen," Gonzalez said. "It's when you commit a felony and, in the course of committing that felony, you create multiple misdemeanors or even multiple felonies -- then we're going to go with the highest charge to save our resources."
"We're always going to work in cooperation with the District Attorney's Office," CCPD Commander Billy Breedlove said. "Ultimately we all have the same goal, to keep our community safe."
CCPD said Wednesday that the questions and concerns they had about the change in procedures have all been resolved.
"On Friday, late afternoon about 4:20 p.m., we did receive a letter from Mr. Gonzalez' office kind of clarifying the directive that he had given us," Breedlove said. "And it probably made more sense of what they're doing, now allowing us to file all felony cases with the misdemeanors at the same time and just giving them one case packet."
The Police Officers Association called Gonzalez' action "a reckless disregard for laws enacted by the Texas Legislature." Gonzalez said the change should make more sense to them now.
"I think once the public understands what's going on here, you're still going to jail, it's how we do our jobs," Gonzalez said.
The district attorney said the goal is to be more efficient.
"That's exactly what it's about. Resources and manpower," Gonzalez said. "We are overwhelmed. We are inundated. People are sitting in jail. It's overcrowded, and so we're just trying to alleviate the problem."