Staring into a computer monitor at the talking heads of defense attorneys, defendants, prosecutors, jurors and witnesses Friday, Court-at-Law Judge Rosie Speedlin-Gonzalez presided over the inaugural session of a specialty court for first-time domestic abuse offenders with drug problems.
It’s called the Reflejo Court — “reflection” in Spanish — and it offers adults charged with Class A misdemeanors for assault of a spouse or family member the chance to get their cases dismissed if they plead guilty and agree to a year of close court supervision.
Among other things, the defendant must agree to random drug testing, individual and group counseling, and a $1,000 court services fee on completion of the program.
When Speedlin-Gonzalez first contemplated such a program as a child welfare attorney, she never thought she’d be conducting court from her chambers via Zoom, a concession to the coronavirus pandemic.
Friday’s session wasn’t a hearing or a trial. Speedlin-Gonzalez, who presides over County Court-at-Law No. 13, called it “an introduction or welcome” for four defendants whom court personnel, public defenders and private attorneys thought would be good candidates for the Reflejo program.
They had to meet a host of criteria, and two of them ended up being rejected Friday.
It turned out that one man was the subject of a “hold” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A woman in her 20s was rejected because “she didn’t really have a substance abuse issue,” Speedlin-Gonzalez said.
A 39-year-old woman who was accepted has two children and a night job at a bank. The judge thought she would be highly motivated to keep her job and do right by her children.
A 34-year-old man who was accepted has a 9-year-old son and was accused of assaulting his wife.
“We’ll put him in the program,” Speedlin-Gonzalez said, “because of his son and our interest in breaking the cycle of violence. So many offenders were beaten as children or lived a childhood where violence, screaming and verbal threats were commonplace.”
Formally known as the Bexar County Domestic Violence Pilot Program, the Reflejo Court has been funded with $100,000 from Commissioners Court and $68,000 from the Alamo Area Council of Governments. It was authorized by the Legislature.
The fledgling program joins numerous specialty courts and dockets, each focused on a particular type of offense or offender. They include Adult Drug Court, DWI Court, Mental Health Court and Veterans Treatment Court (Misdemeanor).
Speedlin-Gonzalez said research indicates domestic violence often starts with verbal abuse and escalates.
“When we see them in this court, it may not be the first time they’ve ever had a domestic violence issue,” she said, “but it’s the first time they’ve been handcuffed and charged
“We have put so much time and money into domestic abuse prevention, but we still have record numbers of cases. We have to address the behavior and catch it upstream so we don’t have to deal with the tsunami of cases downstream.”
The program’s team of advisers will meet every two weeks to propose new participants, and they hope to have a graduating class of about 25 by late this year or early 2021.
Not every domestic abuse defendant is a good fit for the program’s rigorous requirements.
“If you don’t have the right kind of defendant,” attorney Melanie Lira said, “you could be setting them up for failure. What if he fouls up half-way through and they send him back before the judge and they reimpose his guilty plea?”
If that happens, the defendant returns to the traditional criminal justice environment, where he can attempt to plea bargain with a prosecutor or try his luck before a judge or jury.
Speedlin-Gonzalez said she hopes the reservations some defense attorneys might have about Reflejo Court would disappear when they see how the court, its staff and advisers operate.
“This is the stick and the carrot,” she said. “It’s a huge opportunity for getting a case dismissed that would have given you lifelong problems if you had a conviction.”
bselcraig@express-news.net
August 01, 2020 at 08:15AM
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‘The stick and the carrot’ — a new Bexar County specialty court aims to turn around first-time domestic abuse defendants - San Antonio Express-News
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